Wisdom from Babylon

What does it mean to provide leadership for the church in an increasingly secular context? When religion is privatized and secularism reigns in the public square, Christians are often drawn toward either individualist escapism orconstant cultural warfare. But might this context instead offer a fresh invitation for the church to adapt and thrive? Gordon Smith is passionate about the need for capable, mature leaders to navigate and respond to a changing society. In thisbook, he draws on his extensive experience as a university president, pastor, and international speaker to open a multidisciplinary conversation about the competencies and capacities essential for today's leaders. After analyzing the phenomenonof secularization in the West and charting common Christian responses, Smith introduces four sources of wisdom to help guide us through this new terrain: the people and prophets of Judah during the Babylonian exile, the early church in its pagan environment, contemporary churches across the Global South, and Christian thinkers in post-Christian Europe. From these resources he identifies practices and strategies¿from liturgy and catechesis to mission and hospitality¿that can give shape to faithful, alternative communities in such a time as this. In cultures fraught with fear and division, Smith calls for leaders who can effect change from the margins, promote unity and maturity among Christians, and provide a non-anxious presence grounded in the presence of Christ. Educators, church leaders, and those seeking to understand the times will find this book to be an indispensable resource for cultivating distinctively Christian leadership.

Gordon T. Smith is the president of Ambrose University and Seminary in Calgary, Alberta, where he also serves as professor of systematic and spiritual theology. He is an ordained minister with the Christian and Missionary Alliance and a teaching fellow at Regent College, Vancouver, British Columbia. He is the author of many books, including Institutional Intelligence, Called to Be Saints, and Your Calling Here and Now.

Introduction:"The Times They Are A-Changin'"
Part I: Reading and Understanding the Times
1. Secularity: An Interdisciplinary Consideration
2. Four Contemporary Responses to Secularity, Part 1
3. Wisdom from Babylon: Attending to the Exilic and Postexilic Prophets
4. Perspective and Wisdom from the Early Church
5. Learning from Historic Minority Churches
6. Christian Voices from Secular Europe
7. Four Contemporary Responses to Secularity, Part 2: The Options Reconsidered
Part II: Forming the Alternative Community: Competencies and Dispositions
8. Cultivating the Capacity for Liturgical Leadership
9. Cultivating the Capacity for Catechetical Leadership
10. Cultivating the Capacity for Missional Leadership
11. Ecumenism in a Secular Age: A Theological Conviction, a Practical Necessity
12. Cultivating Interiority: Spiritual Practice in a Secular Age
Conclusion: Hospitality, the Gospel, and Leadership in a Secular Age
Essential Reading List for Leading the Church in a Secular Age
Name and Subject Index
Scripture Index