A House for Hope: The Promise of Progressive Religion for the Twenty-First Century - Hardcover

For over a generation now, conservative religion has seemed to be dominant in America. But there are signs of a liberal religious renaissance. For it to flourish, laypeople need a sense of their theological heritage. A House for Hope lays out, in lively and engaging language, the theological house that religious liberalism has inherited—and suggests how this heritage will need to be spiritually and theologically transformed.

With chapters that suggest liberal religious commitment is based on common hopes rather than adherence to religious creeds, ask why human beings gather in communities with spiritual goals in the first place, discuss the importance of social and cultural context, and seek a Spirit that moves within us and among us, A House for Hope will provide religious liberals not only a theological but also a spiritual foundation for the years ahead.

John A. Buehrens was president of the Unitarian Universalist Association from 1993 to 2001 and is now minister of the First Parish Church in Needham, Massachusetts. He is coauthor, with Forrest Church, of A Chosen Faith (Beacon / 1617-6 / $16.00 pb) and author of Understanding the Bible (Beacon / 1053-2 / $15.00 pb). Rebecca Ann Parker is president of and professor of theology at Starr King School for the Ministry and coauthor, with Rita Nakashima Brock, of Saving Paradise (Beacon / 6754-3 / $26.00 pb) and Proverbs of Ashes (Beacon / 6797-0 / $18.00 pb). An ordained United Methodist minister, Parker has dual fellowship with the United Methodist Church and the Unitarian Universalist Association. She lives in the San Francisco area.