Paul Lakeland is the Aloysius P. Kelley, SJ, Professor of Catholic Studies and founding director of the Center for Catholic Studies at Fairfield University, a Jesuit institution in Connecticut. Educated at Heythrop Pontifical Athenaeum, Oxford University, the University of London, and Vanderbilt University, he has taught at Fairfield since 1981. He is the author of nine previous books, the most recent of which is A Council That Will Never End: Lumen Gentium and the Church Today (Liturgical Press, 2013). Lakeland is a member of the American Academy of Religion, the American Theological Society, the College Theology Society, and the Catholic Theological Society of America. He blogs occasionally and reviews fiction for Commonweal, a Catholic journal of opinion.

• CONTENTSEditor’s Preface   ixPreface and Acknowledgments   xiChapter One:The Marks of the Church   1Holiness, or “What is the Church?”   2Eternity, or “When is the Church?”   15Oneness, or “Who is the Church?”   29Catholicity, or “Where is the Church?”   42Apostolicity, or “What is the Church for?”   51Chapter Two:Ten Challenges for the Church Today   60Internal Challenges:Identity and Commitment   62Ministry, Ordained and Lay   68The Roles of Women in the Church   74Church Teaching and the Individual Conscience   82The Religious Formation of the Young   87The Scandal of Sexual Abuse   95External Challenges:Ecumenism   100Religious Pluralism   105 The Church and Political Life   110Building on the Strengths of the Church   116Chapter Three:An Inductive Ecclesiology   120The Idea of Inductive Ecclesiology   121Be Attentive, or Read the Signs of the Times   131Be Intelligent, or Practice Discernment   138Be Reasonable: Ecclesiological Models and the American Experience   146The Church as Hospice   147The Church as Pilgrim   149The Church as Immigrant   151The Church as Pioneer   154Beyond the Images: From the Local to the Global   156Be Loving . . .   160. . . And if Necessary, Change   164Democracy in Church Life   165The Reform of Ministry   168Teaching with Authority   170Leadership and the Life of Faith   173Epilogue: Living Communion   179Further Reading   182Index   184

Church is a learned, stimulating, and forward-looking book that will engage both scholarly and general audiences.America

Paul Lakeland is the Aloysius P. Kelley, SJ, Professor of Catholic Studies and founding director of the Center for Catholic Studies at Fairfield University, a Jesuit institution in Connecticut. Educated at Heythrop Pontifical Athenaeum, Oxford University, the University of London, and Vanderbilt University, he has taught at Fairfield since 1981. He is the author of nine previous books, the most recent of which is A Council That Will Never End: Lumen Gentium and the Church Today (Liturgical Press, 2013). Lakeland is a member of the American Academy of Religion, the American Theological Society, the College Theology Society, and the Catholic Theological Society of America. He blogs occasionally and reviews fiction for Commonweal, a Catholic journal of opinion.

• CONTENTSEditor’s Preface   ixPreface and Acknowledgments   xiChapter One:The Marks of the Church   1Holiness, or “What is the Church?”   2Eternity, or “When is the Church?”   15Oneness, or “Who is the Church?”   29Catholicity, or “Where is the Church?”   42Apostolicity, or “What is the Church for?”   51Chapter Two:Ten Challenges for the Church Today   60Internal Challenges:Identity and Commitment   62Ministry, Ordained and Lay   68The Roles of Women in the Church   74Church Teaching and the Individual Conscience   82The Religious Formation of the Young   87The Scandal of Sexual Abuse   95External Challenges:Ecumenism   100Religious Pluralism   105 The Church and Political Life   110Building on the Strengths of the Church   116Chapter Three:An Inductive Ecclesiology   120The Idea of Inductive Ecclesiology   121Be Attentive, or Read the Signs of the Times   131Be Intelligent, or Practice Discernment   138Be Reasonable: Ecclesiological Models and the American Experience   146The Church as Hospice   147The Church as Pilgrim   149The Church as Immigrant   151The Church as Pioneer   154Beyond the Images: From the Local to the Global   156Be Loving . . .   160. . . And if Necessary, Change   164Democracy in Church Life   165The Reform of Ministry   168Teaching with Authority   170Leadership and the Life of Faith   173Epilogue: Living Communion   179Further Reading   182Index   184

Church is a learned, stimulating, and forward-looking book that will engage both scholarly and general audiences.America

Paul Lakeland is the Aloysius P. Kelley, SJ, Professor of Catholic Studies and founding director of the Center for Catholic Studies at Fairfield University, a Jesuit institution in Connecticut. Educated at Heythrop Pontifical Athenaeum, Oxford University, the University of London, and Vanderbilt University, he has taught at Fairfield since 1981. He is the author of nine previous books, the most recent of which is A Council That Will Never End: Lumen Gentium and the Church Today (Liturgical Press, 2013). Lakeland is a member of the American Academy of Religion, the American Theological Society, the College Theology Society, and the Catholic Theological Society of America. He blogs occasionally and reviews fiction for Commonweal, a Catholic journal of opinion.

• CONTENTSEditor’s Preface   ixPreface and Acknowledgments   xiChapter One:The Marks of the Church   1Holiness, or “What is the Church?”   2Eternity, or “When is the Church?”   15Oneness, or “Who is the Church?”   29Catholicity, or “Where is the Church?”   42Apostolicity, or “What is the Church for?”   51Chapter Two:Ten Challenges for the Church Today   60Internal Challenges:Identity and Commitment   62Ministry, Ordained and Lay   68The Roles of Women in the Church   74Church Teaching and the Individual Conscience   82The Religious Formation of the Young   87The Scandal of Sexual Abuse   95External Challenges:Ecumenism   100Religious Pluralism   105 The Church and Political Life   110Building on the Strengths of the Church   116Chapter Three:An Inductive Ecclesiology   120The Idea of Inductive Ecclesiology   121Be Attentive, or Read the Signs of the Times   131Be Intelligent, or Practice Discernment   138Be Reasonable: Ecclesiological Models and the American Experience   146The Church as Hospice   147The Church as Pilgrim   149The Church as Immigrant   151The Church as Pioneer   154Beyond the Images: From the Local to the Global   156Be Loving . . .   160. . . And if Necessary, Change   164Democracy in Church Life   165The Reform of Ministry   168Teaching with Authority   170Leadership and the Life of Faith   173Epilogue: Living Communion   179Further Reading   182Index   184

Church is a learned, stimulating, and forward-looking book that will engage both scholarly and general audiences.America