Overview
"Evangelism" is a contested, even conflicted word. But churches are declining in numbers and resources. What if we aren't thinking about evangelism in the right way, culturally or theologically? This book proposes a conversation that contextualizes evangelism in our late modern times and reimagines what the call to outreach means in today's world.
Our sad times are made sadder by the realization that our all-out pursuit of happiness has made us stressed, anxious, lonely, and depressed, says leading practical theologian Andrew Root. The French thinker Michel de Montaigne taught us to focus on making ourselves happy, but Blaise Pascal pointed out that we are creatures of soul as much as self--so happiness does not satisfy. Root offers a vision for how a theology of consolation can shape a hopeful approach to evangelism. We all need consolation, others to care for us in our sadness; if we can find such a minister and lean into our sorrow, we will find the presence of Jesus Christ.
Root uses a fictional church to show rather than tell us how consolation evangelism works. For support he looks to the ministries of Gregory of Nyssa and his sister Macrina, Jean Gerson, Johann von Staupitz, and Martin Luther, who all contend that consolation is central to our transformation into the life of God.
Our sad times are made sadder by the realization that our all-out pursuit of happiness has made us stressed, anxious, lonely, and depressed, says leading practical theologian Andrew Root. The French thinker Michel de Montaigne taught us to focus on making ourselves happy, but Blaise Pascal pointed out that we are creatures of soul as much as self--so happiness does not satisfy. Root offers a vision for how a theology of consolation can shape a hopeful approach to evangelism. We all need consolation, others to care for us in our sadness; if we can find such a minister and lean into our sorrow, we will find the presence of Jesus Christ.
Root uses a fictional church to show rather than tell us how consolation evangelism works. For support he looks to the ministries of Gregory of Nyssa and his sister Macrina, Jean Gerson, Johann von Staupitz, and Martin Luther, who all contend that consolation is central to our transformation into the life of God.
Table of Contents
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1. Get 'Em Healthy, Get 'Em Happy
The Surprising Openness to Evangelism
2. Sad Times and a Sad (Pathetic) Church
Is Evangelism's Task to Keep the Church Alive?
3. The Architecture of Our Sad Times
Meeting the Positive Genealogists
4. Why All the Happiness Is Making Us Miserable
Montaigne, Dead French Kings, and Immanent Contentment
5. "Not Okay"--Our Sad Times of Stress
The Forgetting of Soul
6. The Math Savant and the Fire
Pascal and the Promise of Our Sad Souls
7. Sisters as Pastors
Leaning into Sorrow and the Promises of Consolation
8. Goodbyes That Save
Great Sorrow and Consolation Evangelism
9. When Temptation Is Good
And God Is Full of Sorrow
Epilogue
Index
1. Get 'Em Healthy, Get 'Em Happy
The Surprising Openness to Evangelism
2. Sad Times and a Sad (Pathetic) Church
Is Evangelism's Task to Keep the Church Alive?
3. The Architecture of Our Sad Times
Meeting the Positive Genealogists
4. Why All the Happiness Is Making Us Miserable
Montaigne, Dead French Kings, and Immanent Contentment
5. "Not Okay"--Our Sad Times of Stress
The Forgetting of Soul
6. The Math Savant and the Fire
Pascal and the Promise of Our Sad Souls
7. Sisters as Pastors
Leaning into Sorrow and the Promises of Consolation
8. Goodbyes That Save
Great Sorrow and Consolation Evangelism
9. When Temptation Is Good
And God Is Full of Sorrow
Epilogue
Index
Endorsements
“In this invaluable study of the central place of consolation in the practice and theology of ministry and its power to fundamentally reshape our witness, Root proves once again to be the teacher we need. By story and argument, with characteristic humanity and theological insight, he bids us to repent of our culture’s official optimism and to embrace the one thing genuinely needful: the good word of the cross that claims and consoles us still amid this vale of tears.”
Philip G. Ziegler, professor of Christian dogmatics, University of Aberdeen
“In a world marked by fleeting happiness, pervasive stress, and deepening despair, Andrew Root confronts a new set of urgent pathologies facing the church as it seeks to evangelize a secular age. Returning the church to the consoling vision of the theology of the cross, this book leads readers through these ‘sad times’ to a life transformed by the crucified God, calling for a reimagined evangelism—one that consoles rather than counts souls.”
Ashley Cocksworth, reader in theology and practice, University of Roehampton
“Having read much of Andrew Root’s work, I had some sense of what to expect from him on the topic of evangelism. I wasn’t wrong—Root’s practical theology continues to be drenched in philosophy and saturated in love for God. Still, the depth of this new conversation on the church’s unique and invaluable calling to follow Jesus into sorrow stunned me. No contemporary voice of faith gives me more hope in Christ or sustenance for my ministry.”
Rev. Katherine Willis Pershey, co-pastor, First Congregational United Church of Christ, Appleton; author of Very Married: Field Notes on Love and Fidelity
“Evangelism is an area of theological inquiry that many avoid in the church and in seminaries today. Andrew Root invites us to explore evangelism anew through the lens of consolation, addressing the sorrow of this age with witness to, and participation in, the living God we know in Jesus Christ. Root’s reimagining of evangelism, attending to the sacramental shape of divine-human encounter, will bless and challenge those who long for a deeper, more wholistic understanding of how best to share our Christian faith with others.”
Ross Lockhart, dean of St. Andrew’s Hall and professor of mission studies, Vancouver School of Theology
“In Evangelism in an Age of Despair, Andrew Root piques my curiosity about the recovery of evangelism in our late-modern context. Somehow he compels me to see its surprising and miraculous usefulness for church ministry. Giving us more than a history on evangelism or another how-to program, he completely reframes it as ‘the reception of care that places a person on a path of encounter with the divine.’ The use of words such as care and consolation in his framing is especially resonant. It underscores a discipleship that is oriented to the human—and the relationship between the human and the divine—in such a way that the good news is an invitation to a way of being in this world that lifts up all the complexity of being human: sorrow, blessing, conflict, and the persistence of God’s presence. As always, Root’s work is rich and generative, and I’m eager to ponder this more.”
Mihee Kim-Kort, Presbyterian minister; author of Outside the Lines: How Embracing Queerness Will Transform Your Faith
“Andrew Root is my personal go-to when it comes to expositing the spiritual landscape in which we live. His unparalleled insight never fails to inspire compassion for my neighbors and renewed excitement about my faith. Evangelism in an Age of Despair is another astounding contribution in this regard, a book that dares to rehabilitate Christian evangelism in fresh and heartfelt ways, with urgency but without alarm or anxiety. I greatly needed this book (and the consolation to which it points). So too, I’d expect, does the world—to say nothing of the church. Highly, highly recommended.”
David Zahl, director, Mockingbird Ministries; author of Low Anthropology
Author
Andrew Root
Andrew Root (PhD, Princeton Theological Seminary) is Carrie Olson Baalson Professor of Youth and Family Ministry at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota. He is the author of more than twenty books, including Faith Formation in a Secular Age, The Pastor in a Secular Age, The Congregation in a Secular Age, Churches and the Crisis of Decline, The Church after Innovation, and The End of Youth Ministry? Root is also the coauthor (with Kenda Creasy Dean) of The Theological Turn in Youth Ministry. He is a frequent speaker and hosts the popular and influential When Church Stops Working podcast.