Wisdom of the Spirit

Pete Ward is one of the leading ecclesiologists - well-known nationally and internationally, and the founder of the ecclesiology and ethnography seminar group, which attracts hundreds of scholars all over the world. He is well known for his writings on evangelicalism and culture. Martyn Percy was from 2004-14 the Principal of Ripon College, Cuddesdon. He writes and teaches on practical and pastoral theology, and modern ecclesiology. In 2014, he was appointed Dean of Christ Church, Oxford.

'This is a remarkable set of essays, exploring the varied interests of an outstanding scholar. The result is a powerful vision of the landscape of British Christianity but also of wider questions pertaining to religion in the contemporary world, bringing together sociology, theology, ecclesiology and history in a unique way.' - Simon Coleman, University of Toronto, Canada'Here is a remarkable collection of essays inspired by a remarkable man who has been a wide-ranging participant and careful observer of much of what the church in the West has been through in the last half century. Andrew Walker is the epitome of Anselm’s faith seeking understanding and has helped us to engage critically, yet constructively with the changing interactions between ecclesia and cultura in an unprecedented period of social transformation. This book carries us further along that trajectory which helps us with the task of the church throughout the ages, to make Christ known.' - Rt Revd Richard Chartres, Bishop of London 'The essays in this volume match very well the character and interests of the person, Andrew Walker, whom they are intended to honour. Like his own innovative and enduring work, they succeed triumphantly in combining adventures and experiments in scholarship with a faithfulness to the Christian tradition and the Christian Church. The distinguished contributors have taken the opportunity, in paying their respects to Professor Walker, to open up the boundaries between theology and sociology, faith and culture, ecclesiology and empiricism, evangelicalism and Orthodoxy, religion and literature. They provide an indispensable guide to the complicated landscape of late-modernity which Andrew Walker has himself trodden with remarkable wisdom, opening up the terrain for us all.' - Paul S. Fiddes, Regent's Park College, University of Oxford, UK

• Introduction; Retrieval and renewal: Andrew Walker, C.S. Lewis, and ‘Deep Church’, Alister E. McGrath; Catholic charismatics and restorationism in the UK, Keith Chappell; Symbiotic alchemy: mapping the futures of English revivalism and evangelicalism, Martyn Percy; Pentecostalism, William K. Kay; Exploring Alpha, James Heard; Fatherhood in British Evangelical Christianity: negotiating with mainstream culture, Kristin Aune; The widening gyre: counter-trends in evangelical theology and subculture, Robert Warner; Post-evangelicalism: exploring progressive orthodoxy, Dave Tomlinson; The charismata and the second naïveté, Nigel Goring Wright; Andrew Walker: on walking the interface between sociology and theology, David Martin; From the linear to the prototypical: an ecclesiology of the Third Article, William J. Abraham; Ahead of the game: Andrew Walker - an academic appreciation, Pete Ward; Interview with Professor Andrew Walker, conducted by the Revd Dr David Hilborn at Holy Trinity Brompton Church, London on 17 February 2011; References; Index.