Ancient Faith and American-Born Churches

Dialogues between Christian Traditions
Faith and Order Commission Theological Series

Ted A. Campbell, Ann K. Riggs, Gilbert W. Stafford, editors.
With assistance from Faith and Order Intern Charles Hikaru Simpson
Paulist Press, ISBN: 0809143216, Due in stores January 2, 2006
$19.95;  Pre-publication Discount: $13.57 from http://www.Amazon.com
Fuller Theological Seminary Discount: $16.00, http://www.fullerseminarybookstore.com 

ANCIENT FAITH AND AMERICAN-BORN CHURCHES invites Christians and churches into a dialogue of discovery.  

It is an antidote to the limited understandings of the Christian faith, and of the churches, which are only too prevalent today: to an understanding of the churches as one-dimensional and monolithic, all basically the same in thought and practice; or of the churches as formed into competing, if not opposing, camps identified as "conservative" and "liberal", or "culture-bound" and counter-culture; or of the churches as so different, and indeed divided, that they can offer no coherent witness to the faith. On the first view, the churches have no need to dialogue among themselves; on the second, they have no desire to do so; on the third, they could not do so, for want of a common language.

But from these pages emerges a different picture: one of churches in dialogue, sharing their own distinctive faith convictions and practices, learning about the cherished beliefs of others and, in the process, learning more about their own cherished beliefs. We see churches as they - without compromising their own convictions - accept a new vulnerability, opening themselves to others, to new perspectives and possibilities for the life of faith. We are privileged observers, present at the moment when ignorance and fear is replaced by knowledge; when the stranger becomes a partner in a mutual journey in faith; when the familiar ecclesial landscape, dotted with churches grown comfortable and self-sufficient in their division, is challenged by Christ's call that they be visibly one (John 17:21).”

Thomas F. Best, a pastor of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and Director of the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches

About the authors and editors: 

Ted A. Campbell, United Methodist Church, is president of Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois. 

O. C. Edwards, Jr., Episcopal Church, is author of Preaching: A History (Nashville: Abingdon, 2004) and co-chair of the Commission on Faith and Order at the NCCC.  

John H. Erickson, Orthodox Church in America, is Dean and Peter N. Gramowich Professor of Church History at St. Vladimir’s Theological Seminary.  

John T. Ford, CSC, is Professor of Theology and Religious Studies and Co-Director of the Hispanic Pastoral Leadership Program, at The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC.  

Denis Fortin is professor of theology at the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary, Andrews University, in Berrien Springs, Michigan.  

Douglas A. Foster is Professor of Church History and Director of the Center for Restoration Studies at Abilene (TX) Christian University.   

Jeffrey Gros, FSC, Roman Catholic Church, formerly associate director of the Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is Professor of Church History at Memphis Theological Seminary.  

Michael Kinnamon, an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), is the Miller Professor of Mission, Peace, and Ecumenical Studies at Eden Theological Seminary. He is a former Executive Secretary of the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches and current chairperson of the NCCC’s Justice and Advocacy Commission. 

Theresa F. Koernke, IHM, Roman Catholic Church, is chair of the Department of Word and Worship at the Washington Theological Union in Washington, DC. 

Philip Krey, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, is president of Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. 

Kevin McMorrow, SA until his death in 2004 was editor of Ecumenical Trends. A long time and much appreciated participant in Faith and Order work from the Graymoor Ecumenical and Interreligious Institute, he is missed from our dialogue table.   

Samuel H. Nafzger is executive director of the Commission on Theology and Church Relations for the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod, the Executive Secretary of the International Lutheran Council.  

Ann K. Riggs, Director of the Faith and Order Commission of the NCCCUSA, is a Quaker and formerly represented Friends General Conference on the Faith and Order Commission.  

Paul E. Robertson, now Educator/Manager of Chaplaincy Services at Memorial Hermann Southwest Hospital, Houston, Texas was formerly Professor of Theology at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, a seminary connected with the Southern Baptist Convention. 

Charles Hikaru Simpson was Faith and Order intern during the summer of 2003. He is a student in electrical engineering at the University of Maryland at College Park. 

Joseph D. Small is coordinator of the Office of Theology and Worship of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). 

Gilbert W. Stafford, of the Church of God, is Professor of Christian Theology at Anderson University School of Theology, Anderson, Indiana. In addition to his teaching responsibility, he also serves as Associate Dean, Dean of the Chapel, and Director of the Doctor of Ministry Studies Program.   

Clyde Steckel, United Church of Christ, is emeritus professor of theology and former dean of United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities, an ecumenical theological school related to the United Church of Christ.

Contact NCC News: Philip E. Jenks, 212-870-2252, pjenks@ncccusa.org; or Leslie Tune, 202-544-2350, ltune@ncccusa.org