FACING THE UNCERTAINTY OF THEIR
PRESENT LIFE AND MINISTRY,
The American and Canadian churches of mainline
Protestantism are, for the most part, responding in one
of two ways. Some are simply choosing to ignore the
process of their disestablishment.They continue to carry
on with their church life as though nothing were
happening, as though they were still occupying a place at
the center of society. Others, knowing that they are
being moved to the periphery of social and political life,
are seeking to regain their past power and influence by
adopting one or another program of church growth,
many of which are being promoted by the newly
emerging megachurches of the Christian right.
Based upon the history and experience of a particular
congregation, Church of the Crossroads in Honolulu,
Hawai`i, this book suggests a third option for the
churches of mainline Protestantism: to embrace their
ongoing disestablishment and to see it not as a burden or
as something to be either ignored or reversed, but as an
opportunity to envision a new way of being in the world.
PRESENT LIFE AND MINISTRY,
The American and Canadian churches of mainline
Protestantism are, for the most part, responding in one
of two ways. Some are simply choosing to ignore the
process of their disestablishment.They continue to carry
on with their church life as though nothing were
happening, as though they were still occupying a place at
the center of society. Others, knowing that they are
being moved to the periphery of social and political life,
are seeking to regain their past power and influence by
adopting one or another program of church growth,
many of which are being promoted by the newly
emerging megachurches of the Christian right.
Based upon the history and experience of a particular
congregation, Church of the Crossroads in Honolulu,
Hawai`i, this book suggests a third option for the
churches of mainline Protestantism: to embrace their
ongoing disestablishment and to see it not as a burden or
as something to be either ignored or reversed, but as an
opportunity to envision a new way of being in the world.
D. Neal MacPherson's Book
"As Christendom dies, real Christianity, which, as Chesterton said, has been 'so little tried,'
looks for a way into the future., And wherever Christians are serious enough to let go of
the tired old forms their religion has assumed in its long and established past, they are
discovering the courage and imagination necessary to put the good wine of the gospel into
new ecclesiastical wineskins. Some of these wineskins will no doubt burst. Some already
have. But some will survive and will prove sources of energy, wisdom, and human hope for
the century ahead. The Church of the Crossroads, in my belief, is one of the latter."
-FROM THE FOREWORD
"Readers of Neal MacPherson's book will find both encouragement and practical help in
his depiction of this remarkable congregation."
-Douglas John Hall, CM
Emeritus Professor of Christian Theology, McGill University Montreal, Canada
For the past nineteen years, D. Neal MacPherson has been the pastor of Church of the
Crossroads United Church of Christ in Honolulu, Hawai`i. This is his first book.
looks for a way into the future., And wherever Christians are serious enough to let go of
the tired old forms their religion has assumed in its long and established past, they are
discovering the courage and imagination necessary to put the good wine of the gospel into
new ecclesiastical wineskins. Some of these wineskins will no doubt burst. Some already
have. But some will survive and will prove sources of energy, wisdom, and human hope for
the century ahead. The Church of the Crossroads, in my belief, is one of the latter."
-FROM THE FOREWORD
"Readers of Neal MacPherson's book will find both encouragement and practical help in
his depiction of this remarkable congregation."
-Douglas John Hall, CM
Emeritus Professor of Christian Theology, McGill University Montreal, Canada
For the past nineteen years, D. Neal MacPherson has been the pastor of Church of the
Crossroads United Church of Christ in Honolulu, Hawai`i. This is his first book.
"Church at a Crossroads:
Being the Church after Christendom"
Being the Church after Christendom"
To order your copy, go to www.wipfandstock.com