Out of This World: An Assessment of Christian Community

Pages: 162
ISBN: 1-893729-92-3
SKU: 1893729923
Price: $24.99
Author: McClellan, Darren M
Note: A pastor looks at a dysfunctional congregation and restoring discipleship.

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What does it take to make a church congregation a community that fully carries out its mission? What can be done to correct the problems of a dysfunctional community and encourage healthy discipleship? In Out of This World, Darren McClellan studies these questions, not with a purely theoretical approach but rather by studying a specific congregation in a specific situation, and letting the members and former pastors speak in their own words. He then looks at these views through the lenses of John Wesley and Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

This is a thoroughly researched, hard hitting, and honest examination of ministry, looking particularly at the structures of the United Methodist Church. There are specific recommendations for Bishops, District Superintendents, newly appointed pastors, and congregational leadership.

McClellan, Darren M

Darren M. McClellan is a native of Fort Walton Beach, Florida and currently the Lead Pastor at Perdido Bay United Methodist Church in Pensacola, Florida. With a B.A. in Religion from the University of Florida, a Master of Divinity degree from Emory University, and a Doctor of Ministry degree from Princteon Theological Seminary, his primary interests are in the areas of discipleship and the formation of Christian community. His previous appointments within the Alabama-West Florida Conference include the Society Hill-Williams Chapel UMC Charge, Beulah UMC, associate to Ashland Place UMC, and St. Mark UMC (Pensacola). Darren and his wife, Kristi, live in the Pensacola area with their three sons, Joshua, John, and Maxwell.

Author Page

Reviews and Discussion

This section includes other writings by this book\'s author, other pages about the book and reviews, including the data pages on Energion.com, our web magazine.

Review by John Meunier
Take away:

I imagine this book would be a useful and interesting centerpiece of a practical theology class for seminarians, provisional clergy, or licensed pastors. It provides enough detail about one “clergy killing” congregation to provide much opportunity for fruitful classroom or small group discussion. Conversely, I could see conference cabinets benefiting from engagement with McClellan’s research findings and his suggestions.