Calling on the Spirit in Unsettling Times

Publisher Description

Based upon addresses given to Anglican audiences in North America and Australia,
Bill Countryman directly confronts the challenges that face Anglicans and other Western
Christians at a time of internal division and increasing indifference to religion on the part of
educated elites. He regards these challenges as a work of the Holy Spirit, who is clearing
the ground for a new era of building, and help readers start thinking about what kind of future
the Spirit is leading us toward.
The book begins by presenting the Spirit as a demolition expert, endeavoring to shake us out
of our complacency. It then focuses on three central elements of Christian faith and life: the
image of Jesus, the sacraments, and the scriptures, and notes some different ways in which
we have seen and utilized them over the ages. It holds out the communion of saints as the key
to understanding the ongoing value of the church today. It calls faithful people of all stripes to
reject our tendency to turn God's gifts into idols and to rediscover a humility that will be open
to the rebuilding that must now be done with the leadership of the Spirit.