The Power of All: Building a Multivoiced Church

The New Testament indicates that the early churches were multi-voiced, participative and expectant that the Holy Spirit would speak through all members of the community. First-generation renewal movements have typically been multi-voiced, recovering this New Testament characteristic. But institutionalization (often accompanied by clericalization) has persistently reduced such diversity of participation and resulted in many aspects of church life becoming mono-voiced or restricted to only a few voices. This book surveys the history of mono-voiced and multi-voiced expressions of church, offers a robust biblical basis for advocating the latter, and explores ways of developing multi-voiced communities today. It offers resources that encourage multi-voiced practice in the areas of worship, learning, discernment and pastoral care.