Assistant professor of Christian nurture at Duke Divinity School, Durham, North Carolina.
Consensus
"Every so often, one encounters a text which is a real path
breaker, simultaneously visionary and practical. . . To me,
Christly Gestures is such a constructive and engaging gem!" Journal
of Christian Education
"Christly Gestures is significant because it reminds us of the
importance of action; that we are body, mind, and spirit; and that
education is a continuing process done in the context of Christian
community." George Brown Jr.
"Brett Webb-Mitchell is a new and important voice in the
conversation on church education. In this new book he offers a
fresh vision for religious educators and pastors as well as a
useful introduction to major issues in the field for seminarians
and those who teach them. Christly Gestures begins by rehearsing
the major issues in Christian religious education today and then
outlines the contours of an alternative to the either/or choice
between religious enculturation and religious instruction.
Webb-Mitchell's conceptualization of 'pilgrim catechesis' offers a
way to counter the pervasive influence of North American
individualism, to redress the imbalance of overemphasizing on
cognition and content in church education, and to affirm the
lifelong character of learning Christ. " Thomas H. Groome
"Brett Webb-Mitchell's concern for people with disabilities has
lent him a unique perspective that can broaden the horizon for all
religious education. This perspective comes to harvest in Christly
Gestures. Here he urges us to be faithful to the incarnation --
even in our mode of teaching -- to 'make flesh' the word we teach,
engaging bodies to embody the gospel in daily life." Jack L.
Seymour
"Rarely do we encounter truly pathbreaking books. Christly Gestures
is such a book. Brett Webb-Mitchell invites us into the complexity
and richness of church education. We are invited to share -- and to
be -- the practices and gestures of the Good News. This book is
both traditional and liberating -- traditional in helping us to
encounter how the tradition embodies the good news of Christ,
liberating in helping us to focus on the leading of God in the
midst of a broken world. A very important contribution to
congregational education uniting mind, soul, body, and will."
Michael Warren
"I consider Brett Webb-Mitchell to be the most creative young voice
in Christian education today, and I know I am not alone in that
judgment. His attention to what he calls 'Christly gestures' puts
pressure on churches and seminaries to pay more attention not to
their sometimes self-promoting claims but to the actual deeds that
enflesh the Good News today. Webb-Mitchell insists that the Good
News must be made actual through habitual acts, particularly
responsive welcoming gestures toward all those who 'don't seem to
fit' according to society's norms. Such gestures represent the
ongoing communication of a gospel sensibility that redefines the
meaning of Christian education. This book deserves to be widely
read so that all congregants may see that they are in fact
communicators -- either of the Good News or of the Bad News." John
Westerhoff
"Building on the most seminal insights and convictions of my
generation, Brett Webb-Mitchell in Christly Gestures has found his
own voice and made the next significant contribution to Christian
formation. This book places Brett in a long line of original
scholars in pastoral theology."
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