Title: Christly gestures: learning to be members of the body of Christ. Author: Webb-Mitchell, Brett Christly gestures 247 p. Publisher: Grand Rapids, Mich : Eerdmans, 2003

Weigel, Arnold D.

English

Wilfrid Laurier University

ConsensusVolume 30Issue 2 Festechrift: Faith Elizabeth Rohrbough Article 2711-1-2005Christly gestures: learning to be members of thebody of ChristArnold D. WeigelFollow this and additional works at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensusThis Book Reviews is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Commons @ Laurier. It has been accepted for inclusion in Consensus by anauthorized editor of Scholars Commons @ Laurier. For more information, please contact scholarscommons@wlu.ca.Recommended CitationWeigel, Arnold D. (2005) "Christly gestures: learning to be members of the body of Christ ," Consensus: Vol. 30 : Iss. 2 , Article 27.Available at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensus/vol30/iss2/27Christly GesturesBrett P. Webb-MitchellGrand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans PublishingCompany, 2003254 pages $ SoftcoverEvery so often, one encounters a text which is a real path breaker,simultaneously visionary and practical, traditionally foundational andcreatively current and focused. To me, Christly Gestures is such aconstructive and engaging gem! Integrating insights from and buildingon foundations already laid in educational ministries by educators likePaulo Freire, Thomas Groome, Michael Warren, Parker Palmer, JohnWesterhoff, Chuck Foster, Maria Harris plus others, Webb-Mitchellidentifies and explores his central thesis which is that “the church iseducation.” Says the author: “the church in its entirety is a school ofChristian discipleship, a place and a people created and called by God,infused with the Holy Spirit, where we are to learn Christ, to followChrist, and to be more like Christ in our daily lives.” (1-2)Webb-Mitchell notes that: “Being members of Christ’s body, weare each called to perform the gospel, literally the Good News, withwhat I would like to call Christly gestures. Performing gestures offaith in Christ’s name is to follow, imitate, and participate in the‘Jesus-life,’ in which every one of our words and deeds is an actionof our bodies, hearts, and minds, as we are infused by the power ofthe Holy Spirit to love one another as we love and serve God inChrist. When our lives are shaped according to God’s will andChrist’s way in the body of Christ, then our gestures may beinstruments of God’s gift of grace through faith, which is to incarnateChrist in our very lives.” (2)Many Christian educators, both within the Roman CatholicChurch and Protestant churches, have debated the nature, thedirection, the place and the practices of Christian education,struggling with the tensions between the “schooling-instructionalparadigm” and the ecclesial model which sees the church in itsentirety involved in the formative processes of becoming Christiandisciples. Webb-Mitchell, in the writing of this book, is identifyingand adding his voice to these important conversations. He speaks ofthe contents of the book as being in the style of Luther’s Tischreden,an “open table discussion of what is wrong with Christian education.”156 ConsensusPublished by Scholars Commons @ Laurier, 2005(11) He also pursues pointed questions like: “First, what is thepurpose of educating Christians today? Second, where is thateducation to be found in the life of a congregation or parish? Third,simply, how do we education today?” (11) “In this book” claims the author, “I want specifically to expandthe focus from the individual learner, whether student or teacher, toan ecclesial – or body of Christ – consciousness, to move fromthinking about ‘myself,’ alone in relationship to God, to anunderstanding that each one of us can and must do something for therest of the community of Christ’s body.” (15) “Christian formationbegins and ends with being part of a culture – the church – whichteaches a person to be a Christian.” (20)The book is divided into three parts. Part I is basically a reframingof the Christian education context from being only Sunday Schoolclasses and/or programs to regarding the church as a whole being thecontext for Christian education. A detailed and pointed exegesis ofRomans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12, exploring in particular how it is thatthe body of Christ is simultaneously the context and the means forlearning Christ and living in Christ and for Christ living in and througheach and all of us. “One goal of the body of believers in ourcongregations should be to aid others in discovering, naming, andgrowing into their gift.” (59) Part II focusses on the gestures of thebody of Christ. “Because we are part of the body of Christ –physically, intellectually, and spiritually – we are called to performcertain gestures that embody the gospel in our daily lives.” (23)(Compare Galatians 2:20 – “I live now, not I, but Christ lives in me.”)“Because of each gesture’s origin, gestures both have a story andembody a story; the gestures share that story with others, passing itdown to the next generation of Christians.” (91) Christly gestures arequite context-dependent. Part III concentrates on the unique teachingof Christly gestures in the context of Christ’s body; the author refersto this process as “a pilgrim catechesis.” “By pilgrimage catechesis Imean the following: on a Christian pilgrimage, one is a member of acommunity of pilgrims in which we learn and teach others the intricaterelationship that embraces us in being known by God in Christ.” (166)Christly Gestures constitutes a holistic engagement of the gospel,of Good News, within and through the body of Christ – the entirety ofthe church is Christian education – the entirety of the body of Christ,inclusive of he home and the congregation, is Christian education. Book Reviews 157http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensus/vol30/iss2/27This is not a manual for revising current practices of Christianeducation. Presented here is a praxis-based fresh vision for churcheducation which is biblically based in a particular way, context-dependent, holistic, inter-generational, and above all, presented asexperientially gospel-oriented. The subtitle of the book is LearningTo Be Members of the Body of Christ. We are partners on the journey– encouraging and mentoring one another on the life-long pilgrimage. Webb-Mitchell’s excellent and helpful contributions to exploringhow to embrace and embody Christian education as an ever-deepening faith experience congregationally are well worthconsidering, embracing and embodying in context. This is a textwhich needs to be read and digested by Christian educators, includingseminarians, faculty, pastors, Directors of Christian Education,Sunday School teachers, Christian Education Committees – laity incongregations and parishes who are interested in learning together thesharing of hospitable Christly gestures. Arnie WeigelWaterloo Lutheran SeminaryWaterloo, Ontario158 ConsensusPublished by Scholars Commons @ Laurier, 2005

Christly gestures: learning to be members of the body of Christ

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Christly gestures: learning to be members of the body of Christ

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