Is There Hope for the Christian Faith?
Five Hundred Years after Martin Luther, the Christian Church Is Beginning a New Reformation
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Back in the 90’s, one of Rev. William Dopp’s parishioners had been reading all the negative news about the decline of the church. The man asked, “Is there hope for the Christian faith?” This book seeks the answer to that question.
The churches in Europe and in North America have been in decline while the churches in the developing world are growing. In the developed world, secularism and its values have replaced the sacred. The old structures of the main-line churches are not prepared to meet the challenges of today. And importantly, serious cultural and social divisions have caused conditions the established church is ill equipped to handle.
500 years since Martin Luther called for reform; a new call to reform the church has begun. This book first looks at why the church faces so many challenges; then it explores the hope that is shown by mission minded Christians, by great Christian authors and from the example of mission driven ministries like those in Africa.. Yes there is hope; a theme of ministry in Africa says it all, “Jesus is our living hope.”
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About the Book
With a gentleman’s question—“Is there hope for the Christian faith?”—lingering in his thoughts, William Floyd Dopp began to discover its answer while visiting churches in Africa. His experience with the powerful and vibrant life of African Christians, especially in the Anglican churches in Uganda, contrasted sharply with the foundering and fading communities of Christians he encountered in Europe and North America. Is There Hope for the Christian Faith? — shares the results of the author’s grappling with this haunting and hopeful question. He tells how the church in Africa, epitomized by a church convention sign that proclaimed, “Jesus is our living hope,” provides a sense of promise to churches like one in London, where a brochure noted the church’s purpose: “Preserving Holy Worship.”
Five hundred years after Martin Luther called for reform, a new call has led to the beginnings of another reform of the church. Is There Hope for the Christian Faith? looks at why the church faces so many challenges and explores the hope shown by mission-minded Christians, great Christian authors, and mission-driven ministries in Africa. Yes, there is hope. The sign in Africa says it all—“Jesus is our living hope.”
About the Author
William Floyd Dopp, a retired Episcopal priest, has served parishes in California and Florida. He also served for more than a decade in church administration. He received his doctorate in congregational development from Seabury-Western Theological Seminary. In recent years he has worked in development with the Church of Uganda. A recognized authority on the church in the developing world, especially East Africa, he wrote The Tale of Two Churches in 2009.