{"product_id":"the-church-after-innovation-questioning-our-obsession-with-work-creativity-and-entrepreneurship-9781540964823","title":"The Church After Innovation: Questioning Our Obsession with Work, Creativity, and Entrepreneurship","description":"\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eOutreach\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e 2023 Resource of the Year (Church)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eNamed One of Fifteen Important Theology Books of 2022, \u003ci\u003eEnglewood Review of Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eChurches and their leaders have innovation fever. Innovation seems exciting--a way to enliven tired institutions, embrace creativity, and be proactive--and is a superstar of the business world. But this focus on innovation may be caused by an obsession with contemporary relevance, creativity, and entrepreneurship that inflates the self, lacks theological depth, and promises burnout.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn this follow-up to \u003ci\u003eChurches and the Crisis of Decline\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003eleading practical theologian Andrew Root delves into the problems of innovation. He explores where innovation and entrepreneurship came from, shows how they break into church circles, and counters the \"new imaginations\" like neoliberalism and technology that hold the church captive to modernity. Root reveals the moral visions of the self that innovation and entrepreneurship deliver--they are dependent on workers (and consumers) being obsessed with their selves, which leads to significant faith-formation issues. This focus on innovation also causes us to think we need to be singularly unique instead of made alive in Christ. Root offers a return to mysticism and the poetry of Meister Eckhart as a healthier spiritual alternative.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis is the fifth book in Root's Ministry in a Secular Age series.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAndrew Root\u003c\/b\u003e (PhD, Princeton Theological Seminary) is Carrie Olson Baalson Professor of Youth and Family Ministry at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota. He is the author of numerous books, including \u003ci\u003eFaith Formation in a Secular Age\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Pastor in a Secular Age\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Congregation in a Secular Age\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eChurches and the Crisis of Decline\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eThe End of Youth Ministry?\u003c\/i\u003e Root is also the coauthor (with Kenda Creasy Dean) of \u003ci\u003eThe Theological Turn in Youth Ministry\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Baker Academic","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50561954119954,"sku":"9781540964823","price":20.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_c602f7b5-4def-4e31-aa1e-7c8a75d679fa.jpg?v=1731855526","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-church-after-innovation-questioning-our-obsession-with-work-creativity-and-entrepreneurship-9781540964823","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}