Journeying in the Wilderness: Forming Faith in the 21st Century

by Terri Martinson Elton

In Journeying in the Wilderness, author Terri Martinson Elton observes that faith formation in the church setting is contextual, and multiple forces are coming together today to create seismic contextual changes at record speed. These changes are disrupting aspects of our lives, challenging assumptions, and dislodging personal and communal practices. For the church to take seriously its call to form faith in each generation, it must be attentive to current contextual realities. Elton places confessional understanding of faith in dialogue with five contextually altering forces in order to provide a pathway for congregations to reimagine faith formation in the midst of twenty-first-century realities.

The use of stories, nontechnical language, and biblical perspectives make this work accessible for congregational leaders and others who seek to explore new directions in forming faith. Processes and practices are offered to help both leaders and congregations contextualize their approach to their particular settings. Each chapter includes leadership competencies, shared practices, and group discussion questions.

176 pages, Paperback

Published February 4, 2020

Reviews

[Lisa Lewton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am interested in reading with church leadership. This is a great read for lay folks, naming our complacencies in proclaiming the gospel. I really liked how Elton wrote chapters, using her own story, the biblical story and the honest story of the Christian church today. This is an important resource to help churches get unstuck from our affair with the past. She asks both imaginative and very concrete questions to help churches move into the future. Elton names the urgency of our work.

[Sara Gorman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really great book that talks about faith formation in a way that is accessible for those who are not faith leaders. Each chapter is broken down to focus on a particular theme with stories, examples from the Bible, and practices, experiments, and activities that fit within that theme. This would be a great book to read with others who are on a faith formation team.