New Book on Evangelicalism and the Emerging Church

At the end of August, a new book in Ashgate's Explorations in Practical, Pastoral and Empirical Theology series will be published in hardback: Evangelicalism and the Emerging Church, by Cory Labanow. Cory's very kindly emailed me a PDF copy to review as soon as I'm able. I've had a very quick read through it and it looks very interesting.

Focusing on an ethnographic study of a Vineyard Church connected to the global emerging church milieu, Cory explores the congregational life and culture of a community working through issues of religious identity. Here's a bit of blurb from Ashgate to get you interested. I'll post a review as soon as I can.

"With the Christian church in the west in decline, some churches are undergoing difficult transitions as they seek to become relevant, to both themselves and their surrounding cultures. Evangelicalism and the Emerging Church details an ethnographic study of a Vineyard congregation making sense of their Vineyard roots and their growing relationship with the self-proclaimed "emerging church" network. Through a rich account of congregational life and tensions, universal issues are raised such as relating to religious parentage, creating safe places for spirituality, Christian growth and maturity, communication with contemporary culture, and the challenges of identity reconstruction. This book is the first to conduct an academic study of a Vineyard congregation in the United Kingdom."