The Deconstructed Church: Understanding Emerging Christianity - Hardcover

Using social scientific methods, such as participant observation, focus groups and in-depth interviews, as well as surveys and textual sources (including a lot of online material), The Deconstructed Church is one of the most comprehensive guides to the Emerging Church Movement (ECM) to date. (Kevin N. Cawley, Journal of the Irish Society for the Academic Study of Religions)

Marti and Ganiels volume has the considerable virtue of introducing to a wider readership an eclectic range of new Christian groupings ... Emerging churches matter and this volume helps readers grasp their significance. (David Goodhew, Durham University, Theology journal)

As growing numbers of Americans say they are 'nonreligious,' observers note a comparable shift among those who are religious toward looser, more individualistic, anti-institutional, experimental expressions of faith. Marti and Ganiel have done a superb job of examining these emerging expressions, illuminating both the practices and beliefs of individuals and the innovative congregations they are forming (Robert Wuthnow, Gerhard R. Andlinger '52 Professor of Sociology and Director of the Center for the Study of Religion, Princeton University)

In the midst of a polarized landscape, where 'religion' and 'church' signal a lack of vitality and authenticity, Emerging Churches are putting together something new out of the debris. Marti and Ganiel show us why we should pay attention. They describe the faith found here as neither shopping nor seeking, but a conversation carried on in congregations that are determinedly open and inclusive. This book provides a careful analysis of this much-discussed movement and shows why it is so well-suited to our times (Nancy T. Ammerman, author of Sacred Stories, Spirituals Tribes: Finding Religion in Everyday Life)

Marti and Ganiel have written a richly detailed and compelling account of the Emerging Church that empirically situates the movement in the broader social landscape. They make a convincing case for the Emerging Church Movement (ECM) as an orientation which will influence the religious landscape for years to come. (Josh Packard, Sociology of Religion.)

The Deconstructed Church offers a synthesis of ideas surrounding the Emerging Church, and most importantly, the application of a well-known theory of religion to a hotly contested sect of Protestantism...this book will be of interest to those versed in the Emerging Church and students of religious theory (Steven Fouse, Religion)

The Emerging Church Movement (ECM) is a creative, entrepreneurial religious movement that strives to achieve social legitimacy and spiritual vitality by actively disassociating from its roots in conservative, evangelical Christianity and ''deconstructing'' contemporary expressions of Christianity. Emerging Christians see themselves as overturning outdated interpretations of the Bible, transforming hierarchical religious institutions, and re-orienting Christianity to step outside the walls of church buildings toward working among and serving others in the ''real world.''

Drawing on ethnographic observations from emerging congregations, pub churches, neo-monastic communities, conferences, online networks, in-depth interviews, and congregational surveys in the US, UK, and Ireland, Gerardo Marti and Gladys Ganiel provide a comprehensive social scientific analysis of the development and significance of the ECM. Emerging Christians are shaping a distinct religious orientation that encourages individualism, deep relationships with others, new ideas about the nature of truth, doubt, and God, and innovations in preaching, worship, Eucharist, and leadership.