Metropolitan Manifesto: On Being the Counselor to the King in a Pluralistic Empire

by Richard Bledsoe

Half the world's population now lives in cities, and that is where the Church must learn to serve. Rev. Richard Bledsoe has spent his life as a pastor to city leaders in Colorado. Over the years, he has become the unofficial "bishop of his city," a recognized "adviser to the king." In Metropolitan Manifesto, Bledsoe lays out the theology behind his work, explains how to minister to leaders, and shares the lessons of his long experience. The Metropolitan Manifesto is an essential, inspiring treatment to the transformative power of the gospel in today's world.

Genres: Theology, Cultural

164 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2015

About the author

Rev. Richard Bledsoe was born in Tacoma, Washington at the Army Hospital at Fort Lewis on September 13, 1949, where his father was stationed. He graduated from high school in Longmont, Colorado. He graduated from Colorado State University, in Fort Collins, graduating with a BA in Literature and Philosophy in 1972. He moved to Boulder, Colorado in 1974, where he taught a large adult Sunday School class at First Presbyterian Church until he went to seminary in 1981. He graduated from Westminster Theological Seminary in California in 1984 and returned to Boulder to plant Tree of Life Presbyterian Church (PCA), where he served for twenty-one years. Since 2005, he has served as a hospital chaplain at Boulder Community Hospital. He received his DMin in Metropolitan Ministry from the Bakke Graduate School in 2009. He has been married to Carla since 1976, has three children, and enjoys hiking, cycling, and cross-country skiing. He has been a regular lecturer at the Biblical Horizons Summer Conferences for many years.

Reviews

[William Schrecengost · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent.



There was sadly a good deal of typos in the latter portion of the book, especially in the footnotes.

[JonM · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good book, and I'm sure an updated edition would be worthy of four stars. My reasons for giving this edition only three stars are (1) it's not very well organized (although the insights are helpful anyway), (2) it's overly theoretical (which suggests to me that it's difficult to replicate as a "model"), and (3) it has a bunch of editing mistakes, typos, etc. (which doesn't mean squat practically, but it looks bad to others who care about professionalism more than practicality)

[Michael Kidd · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was weird in the best way. At times, it read like journal entry ramblings. At other times, it read like pre-writing for a history of philosophy lecture. Still at other times, it read like a solid work of practical theology. This last category is actually what the book is; a solid work of practical theology.

[Jared Mcnabb · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was like a series of lighting strike ideas, rather than one complete thought.

[Gregory · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thought-provoking and visionary!

[Harley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes when I finish a book I think: "If that book was a hundred pages shorter it would have been a lot better." But the opposite is true with this one. I think it should have been at least a hundred pages longer.

There are lots of interesting ideas here, and I underlined a lot and stopped to think a lot. Some of the book is theological, some is philosophical, and some is political. It is really a bunch of different topics put together (while yet all pointing to the theology of the city), and I think many readers will not like that. Most of the ideas can greatly be expanded on, and that's why I say the book could be longer, or be expanded into two or three more books. This is especially true for the chapter about how western history has progressed through the Bible in reverse. That idea comes from "Out of Revolution" by Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy. Huessy's book is nearly 800 pages long, so there is a lot there. (I have not read "Out of Revolution" yet, but recently received a copy.) I don't think most readers of Bledsoe's book will have read "Out of Revolution", so it would have been helpful if he had expanded on that idea more. I have read many of Bledsoe's articles online and have listened to some of his lectures too, so that helped me to follow his thinking in this book a lot more. Here is a link to some of his lectures which go along with the book:

http://tricitycovenant.com/?s=bledsoe

A good book to read along with this one is "Crisis, Opportunity, and the Christian Future" by James B. Jordan. That 63 page essay deals with the different stages of human history which Bledsoe refers to in his book.

I will come back to this book again and again, as it is filled with many interesting (and sometimes strange -- but strange is good) ideas. Also, after reading this book I am looking forward to reading that copy of "Out of Revolution" I received.

[Scott Moonen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic Bledsoe. Thrilling in that it draws many connections and stimulates further thought, but frustrating in that it is suggestive and incomplete. I am disappointed with the complete lack of copy editing for Theopolis's first book. The many references are very helpful.

I wish the book spent more time on practical suggestions and examples of the great power of local pastors and churches working together in prayer and ministry. Bledsoe has many good things to say in this area!

The main hesitation I have about the great thesis of chapter 5 is that it privileges the present as experiencing a kind of boundary-crossing transition not yet seen in history. When we are exegeting Revelation we are right to reject historicist and pop futurist interpretations as being varieties of chronological snobbery; when we are exegeting history itself it is right to have a similar reluctance. However, I cannot argue with the thought that the new Jerusalem is the right model for the church today, since that is true at any time!

[Clint · Rating 3 out of 5]

The content here is fantastic. The Manifesto is a tremendous project. Bledsoe is a Sherlock Holmesian type of thinker - that eccentric genius whose intellect defies all classification. Though centrally biblical, he draws on a vast array of sources to shape his thinking. This allows him to see and understand complex issues, like cities, and clarify them in striking ways.

I could go on to highlight his many remarkable insights, but for the sake of the Goodreads skimmer, I'll just say that this book gets a three-star rating because it is difficult to follow his organization at points, and the many editorial errors do become distracting occasionally. I understand that they needed to get this book completed faster than their original timeline required, so I'm not surprise that it lacks a final-draft quality.

Don't let that deter you, however, it's still worth digging into - no doubt that most folks unfamiliar with Rich Bledsoe will have their mind blown.

[Jonah · Rating 5 out of 5]

In 164 pages Richard Bledsoe, in his Metropolitan Manifesto, delivers the history of Western civilization through an astute theological and psychological framework opening up the curtains and shedding light on the current state of Christendom in declining nations while unwrapping the only hope of the future, namely, Jehovah God. This book is written, primarily for pastors, but it is not simply for pastors. For any Christian living in a city of any size, ought to read this book, digest its contents, and get to work. This work is too important for Christians to pass by as we look to the future of the church in the world.

[Timothy Nichols · Rating 5 out of 5]

Metropolitan Manifesto is a fantastic book, well worth your time. You're going to want to read it a few times. This is a "deep background" kind of book. It doesn't have a ton of immediately actionable steps to take. But it will profoundly shift your thinking so that you can see the steps you need to take in your context, steps that would never have occurred to you before.

[Emily Tsesmeloglou · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of interesting ideas in this book. Highly recommended.