Overview

What does it mean for an historically colonial church to become the “church of the poor” in a world marked by pervasive and persistent coloniality? Re-membering the Reign of God addresses this question through historical and theological reflection on the decolonial evolution of El Salvador’s ecclesial base communities (CEBs) in their own particular context of coloniality and prophetic hope. The CEBs’ witness represents a rich locus for decolonizing theology and challenging the whole church to join the church of the poor in its prophetic praxis of decolonial solidarity.

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9781793618955

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Reviews

... Gandolfo and Potter identify the ingredients of a decolonial ecclesiology--the body of Christ imbued with the Spirit--being reborn... [This process] draw[s] together the poor around their saving stories and liturgical actions as sources for ongoing resistance and hope.--Bradford Hinze, Fordham University ... Gandolfo and Potter offer an incisive critique of the structural sins of colonial legacies that mark Christianity in Latin America. Not content with remaining at the level of critique, the authors issue an urgent call to churches in the Global North to join in solidarity with the church of the poor and thereby journey en conjunto toward the reign of God. It is a timely and hopeful work.--Edgardo A. Colon-Emeric, Duke University Divinity School Catholic ecclesiology is reborn in these pages. This book proclaims that another world is possible. It proclaims this by remaining faithfully grounded in the vivid insights, lessons, images, and imagination of Salvadoran peoples who are lxs pobres. It proclaims this in its assertion that a preferential option for lxs pobres fundamentally requires decolonial knowing, being, and practice. It proclaims this in that reading this book is an exercise in decolonial praxis such that readers will be transformed affectively, imaginatively, intellectually, and spiritually. Superb scholarship. Beautifully written.--Nancy Pineda-Madrid, Loyola Marymount University Gandolfo and Potter model a theology that indeed stems from the practice of the pueblo... As a historical sacrament of God's reign, the CEBs pose a decolonial challenge to dominant forms of ecclesiastical structures, pointing to new possibilities of decolonial solidarity for those who benefit from the coloniality of power.--Raimundo C. Barreto, Princeton Theological Seminary Re-membering the Reign of God is a must-read for anyone concerned with what it means to follow Jesus in the church today... This book should become a classic in contemporary ecclesiology and an example of theological method for the coming century.--Mary Doak, University of San Diego This is one of the best books on ecclesiology in Latin America since Leonardo Boff's spellbinding Church: Charism & Power... If you thought liberation theology is dead, read this book. If you thought the church is dead, read this book. If you want to understand how the poor are (again) re-making the church, read this book.--Claudio Carvalhaes, Union Theological Seminary

Author Information

Elizabeth O'Donnell Gandolfo is associate professor at Wake Forest School of Divinity. Laurel Marshall Potter is a doctoral candidate at Boston College.

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