Faith Seeking Conviviality

“Reflecting upon Illich’s call for conviviality, Sam Ewell has written a compelling narrative of his experience of inculturation in Brazil which presents important insights into incarnation and community, while critiquing crude and colonial understandings of mission. Far from appropriating the experience and theologizing of others, Ewell proposes immersion and friendship as core Christian practices, and offers an inspiring understanding of theology and discipleship that is full of celebration and verve.”


—Helen Stanton, Tutor in Ethics and Doctrine, The Queen’s Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Education, Birmingham, UK





“In the 1950s and 60s a new constellation appeared in the sky above the Roman Catholic Church. He was called Ivan Illich, and he preached what he called ‘a new church.’ In his time he was marginalized and misunderstood, but, in Sam Ewell’s acute rereading and redeployment of his incarnational Christianity, Illich has found a worthy interpreter.”


—David Cayley, broadcaster and author of Ivan Illich in Conversation





“A critical need for all of us currently involved in mission is for conversation partners who bring fresh language and renewed imagination. Sam Ewell is proving to be one such companion. Here, Ewell brings alive the incarnational theology of Ivan Illich by setting his insights alongside some of the most challenging struggles of mission in the twenty-first century. The book will be greatly appreciated by thinking practitioners, students, and academics alike.”


—Mike Pears, Director, International Baptist Theological Seminary Centre