{"product_id":"staying-at-the-table-the-gift-of-unity-for-united-methodists-9780687645060","title":"Staying at the Table: The Gift of Unity for United Methodists","description":"\u003cp\u003eUnity is a gift of God that involves us staying at the table to find common ground in \"the extreme center.\"  Talk of a United Methodist denominational split is not going away  only intensifying. Unless we can go beneath the issues that divide us to find our common ground  we will splinter or worse  just argue ourselves into irrelevance and oblivion.  Here  Bishop Scott Jones reminds us that \"the strength of Wesleyan doctrine is its ability to articulate holistic  balanced  and practical interpretation of Scripture. It is conservative in some ways and liberal in other ways; it occupies the extremem center and is totally opposed to the dead center. Tackling divisive issues such as homosexuality  race and gender  and authority of Scripture  Jones shows the logical contours of the conversation by locating them in larger questions of doctrine and ecclesiology. He outlines the logic of our current position and explains why it is defensible  while at the same time suggesting a logic for change.  Responders include: William J. Abraham  Lonnie D. Brooks  Mary Brooke Casad  Amy DeLong  Sudarshana Devadhar  Sally Dyck  James A Harnish  Carolyn E. Johnson  Susan J. Laurie  Bill McAlilly  Patricia L. Miller  John R. Schol  Joe M. Whittemore  Gerald Jay Williams  William H. Willimon  and David K. Yemba.  Scott J. Jones is Bishop of the Kansas Area of The United Methodist Church From the Circuit Rider review: \"Scott Jones  Bishop of the Kansas Area  has offered a gift to The United Methodist Church. His stated aim  as a church leader  is to contribute to the continuing conversation about how best to think about  receive  and live more fully into Gods gift of unity. Expanding upon his work in his earlier book  United Methodist Doctrine: The Extreme Center  the major contribution of his new book is in the format of the book itself. It consists of his essay (about half of the book) followed by responses and reflections from a diverse group of United Methodists expressing a range of viewpoints.\" (Click here to read the entire review.)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45275009384501,"sku":"ByrdShop_0687645069","price":65.4,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780687645060.jpg?v=1780500064","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/staying-at-the-table-the-gift-of-unity-for-united-methodists-9780687645060","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}