Traditional patterns of educating and training clergy face not only crises of increasing cost and declining enrollment, but also a crisis of identity, since at present it is the academy, not the church, that shapes formation for ministry. This collection of essays outlines a history and a new vision of the church as the primary location of ministerial formation for the future of theological education.

God's invitation to join in the love feast of Holy Communion resounds at the very heart of the Christian faith and life. But how are Christians faithfully to gather together in relational bonds of love--in particular, through our daily bread and common cup--amidst a global market economy sustained by social and ecological violence? Drawing on the holiness-communitarian and agrarian-ecological traditions, Rooted and Grounded in Love provides a systematic theological affirmation of holiness ...

Over the last four decades, the focus of M. Douglas Meeks' work has placed him at the center of many of the most important developments in theological reflection and education. As a political, ecclesial, and metaphorical theologian, Meeks has given witness to the oikonomia of the triune God, the Homemaker who creates the conditions of Home for the whole of creation, in critical conversation with contemporary economic, social, and political theory. The essays of this volume were written to ...