'Proclaim the message, be persistent whether the time is favourable or unfavourable.' - (2 Timothy 4:2.)
The times may not seem favourable for the church or its preaching but Keith Rowe is in no doubt that the Way pioneered by Jesus represents values and wisdom greatly needed in our troubled times.
Wounded World and Broken Church is a collection of sermons and reflections by someone who is deeply sensitive to the troubled times in which we live and who seeks to bridge the gap between thoughtful scholarship and lived life.
We cannot deny the troubles facing churches that once offered hope and direction to society: decline in numbers, the demise of Christendom, the indifference of secular society, captivity to economic and social forces that deny the very Gospel that gave it birth. The church is broken, in need of deep healing.
This selection of contemporary reflections offers a little light in what is a difficult time for our fragile planet and a human community shaped by violence, greed and social dislocation. Climate change and environmental destruction, the continuing and growing gap between rich and poor, fresh awareness of human fragility revealed during Covid pandemic times, the perils and promise of technological change, all cry out for fresh thinking and bold and imaginative action. These and other challenges are the setting of our believing, praying, exploring and living.
Wounded World and Broken Church offers encouragement to those who have become disenchanted with versions of Christian believing and living that are no longer credible and to congregational leaders trapped into churchly roles they feel require them to give assent to ancient convictions they no longer agree with.
No one knows what the future form of the church will be. Keith Rowe asserts that though the form 'church' takes in the future is unclear humanity needs groups of people who recall, explore, live within and share the words and deeds of Jesus - people who live in the wilderness in the spirit of Jesus, trusting that within the love of God, their efforts, their prayers, their struggle contribute to the healing of the church and the world.
This is the challenge to us who preach, believe, live, in these unfavourable times.
Rev. Dr Keith Rowe has degrees in history and in theology, including a doctorate in theology from San Francisco Theological Seminary. He was ordained by the Methodist Church in New Zealand and served for thirty years as Parish Minister, Theological College Lecturer and Principal. He transferred to the Uniting Church in Australia, served in two Sydney parishes and was chair of the Assembly Doctrine Commission. Kathleen and Keith returned to New Zealand upon retirement and live in Napier, Hawkes Bay.
