Earthing the Gospel
An Inculturation Handbook for the Pastoral Worker
Imprint: Wipf and Stock
Christians are much the richer for this accomplishment of a long-cherished dream by an experienced missioner-social anthropologist. Gerald Arbuckle has provided a book for the contemporary pastoral care team that mediates basic insights on ministry via the social sciences. He also challenges church workers to rethink and reassess their work in light of the profound cultural changes taking place around them.
'Earthing the Gospel' introduces pastoral workers in the First World to methods of social analysis pioneered by missionaries worldwide. It includes case histories, personal stories, and the results of fieldwork of hundreds of people in both the First and Third Worlds. Applying the insights of social anthropology to the parishes on the home front" Arbuckle offers the tools required to address issues of mission and inculturation in the First World.
Above all, 'Earthing the Gospel' is practical. It presumes no special knowledge of anthropology as it zeroes in on topical issues - racism, fundamentalism, the modern family, youth and senior citizen subcultures - affecting parishes and communities today. Each chapter ends with questions for reflection and action. For pastoral teams and workers on every level, the insights gained from mission around the world can, applying the methods described here, be just as fruitful in our own back yards.
Gerald Arbuckle, a Marist priest from New Zealand, is a leading theologian and anthropologist. He has taught at the East Asia Pastoral Institute in Manila, and lectures worldwide, leading workshops and seminars on inculturation and on refounding religious communities. He is author of 'Out of Chaos: Refounding Religious Congregations'.
"A wonderful combination of theory and practice. This book will enrich every pastoral minister, giving both a lens for understanding our incultured church and a tool for serving and leading it. Father Arbuckle has shared a lifetime of study and experience."
Rev. Timothy E. O'Connell, Director, Institute of Pastoral Studies, Loyola University of Chicago
"Clear in its purpose and presentation, with a minimum of jargon, with illustrations that are not only down-to-earth but very much to the point...'Earthing the Gospel' aims to stir up discussion as much as to inform - and that it indeed will.... The book is insightful, intellectually inspiring, and in fact, exciting.... I commend especially Arbuckle's skillful handling of such difficult but extremely important topics as symbols, myth, and ritual, and his closing emphasis on spirituality and the call to 'refounding' the church and religious life."
Rev. Louis J. Luzbetak, author, 'The Church and Cultures'