From Isolation to Community: A Renewed Vision for Christian Life Together Paperback - 2022

From the rear cover

"A vital book for helping us to rediscover the promise and hope of life together"

The church often tends to perpetuate cultural isolation rather than offering an alternative to it. With the help of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Myles Werntz demonstrates how reframing familiar practices can shift the church away from isolation and toward community.

"Werntz, like Bonhoeffer himself, is not satisfied with practical tools or techniques for building church-community. Instead he offers theological clarification about the main barrier to community--a state of isolation present in the crowd and the autonomous individual--and describes how the practices of the gathered church might heal our isolation. While Werntz uses Bonhoeffer as a guide, he offers a constructive vision for the contemporary church that is thoroughly his own. His vision invites Christians into shared life together for our own sake and for the life of the world."
--Jennifer McBride, International Bonhoeffer Society-English Language Section; McCormick Theological Seminary

"Community has become a buzzword in much Christian writing. Lest you be tempted to pass by this book, then, in apathy or frustration, I can assure you there are no clichés here. Werntz has written a sharply observed, sensitively and creatively ecumenical, intelligently hopeful book on this perennially elusive theme. I was dazzled and instructed by his range of reading and cultural engagement, and I was heartened and delighted by his humbly orthodox Baptist theological intervention in a time when people the world over are imagining with real desperation what a rescue--a redemption--from isolation might involve."
--Wesley Hill, Western Theological Seminary, Holland, Michigan; author of Spiritual Friendship: Finding Love in the Church as a Celibate Gay Christian

"With dexterity and depth Werntz brings Bonhoeffer to life in a way that will help churches faithfully minister in this time. This book is a valuable read."
--Andrew Root, Luther Seminary; author of Churches and the Crisis of Decline

"A vital book for helping us to rediscover the promise and hope of life together."
--Brian Bantum, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary