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For my birthday, I purchased Exploring Ecclesiology: An Evangelical and Ecumenical Introduction by Brad Harper and Robert Louis Metzger. Harper and Metzger are evangelicals and approach this subject with that background in mind. Their critiques of the evangelical church ring true. They know the system. This is far more meaningful for me because I know these critiques to be true. It is different hearing it from an evangelical who knows the system than a Catholic theologian who may not know the system at all.

Harper and Metzger are evangelical, but their ecclesiology is incredibly powerful. While evangelical theology is individualistic, these authors fly against the grain. From the opening paragraphs, they make this clear: The church is our mother. What is vital is the life of the Church. As believers, and especially evangelicals, we have divided up the gospel and made it individualistic and consumer-driven. We need to gather once again around the foundations of baptism, the Eucharist, the Word, and the creeds. We need our faith pared down to the simplicity of this gospel. We need to thoroughly engage our world through the power of the Spirit. The Church is where we learn our uniqueness in Christ. 

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