Christly Gestures: Learning to Be Members of the Body of Christ

By Brett P. Webb-Mitchell

Book Overview

Consensus
"Every so often, one encounters a text which is a real path breaker, simultaneously visionary and practical. . . To me, Christly Gestures is such a constructive and engaging gem "

Journal of Christian Education
"Christly Gestures is significant because it reminds us of the importance of action; that we are body, mind, and spirit; and that education is a continuing process done in the context of Christian community."

George Brown Jr.
"Brett Webb-Mitchell is a new and important voice in the conversation on church education. In this new book he offers a fresh vision for religious educators and pastors as well as a useful introduction to major issues in the field for seminarians and those who teach them. Christly Gestures begins by rehearsing the major issues in Christian religious education today and then outlines the contours of an alternative to the either/or choice between religious enculturation and religious instruction. Webb-Mitchell's conceptualization of 'pilgrim catechesis' offers a way to counter the pervasive influence of North American individualism, to redress the imbalance of overemphasizing on cognition and content in church education, and to affirm the lifelong character of learning Christ. "

Thomas H. Groome
"Brett Webb-Mitchell's concern for people with disabilities has lent him a unique perspective that can broaden the horizon for all religious education. This perspective comes to harvest in Christly Gestures. Here he urges us to be faithful to the incarnation -- even in our mode of teaching -- to 'make flesh' the word we teach, engaging bodies to embody the gospel in daily life."

Jack L. Seymour
"Rarely do we encounter truly pathbreaking books. Christly Gestures is such a book. Brett Webb-Mitchell invites us into the complexity and richness of church education. We are invited to share -- and to be -- the practices and gestures of the Good News. This book is both traditional and liberating -- traditional in helping us to encounter how the tradition embodies the good news of Christ, liberating in helping us to focus on the leading of God in the midst of a broken world. A very important contribution to congregational education uniting mind, soul, body, and will."

Michael Warren
"I consider Brett Webb-Mitchell to be the most creative young voice in Christian education today, and I know I am not alone in that judgment. His attention to what he calls 'Christly gestures' puts pressure on churches and seminaries to pay more attention not to their sometimes self-promoting claims but to the actual deeds that enflesh the Good News today. Webb-Mitchell insists that the Good News must be made actual through habitual acts, particularly responsive welcoming gestures toward all those who 'don't seem to fit' according to society's norms. Such gestures represent the ongoing communication of a gospel sensibility that redefines the meaning of Christian education. This book deserves to be widely read so that all congregants may see that they are in fact communicators -- either of the Good News or of the Bad News."

John Westerhoff
"Building on the most seminal insights and convictions of my generation, Brett Webb-Mitchell in Christly Gestures has found his own voice and made the next significant contribution to Christian formation. This book places Brett in a long line of original scholars in pastoral theology."

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0802849377
• ISBN13: 9780802849373
• Release Date: February 2003
• Publisher: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
• Length: 258 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.3" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

A Christly gesturer

Woderful book for this times of chaos. Well written and defiantly provocative to get out of the ordinary Sunday s[i]ndrome. A well versed oasis for the church and its components. I recommend it very much to anyone that feels dthe wieght ofsocial pressures and sunday morning routine.

A recommended book about Christian education

The author first challenges today's Christian education methods, conventional Sunday school and catechetical instruction, which in his eyes have almost failed its purposes for three reasons: 1) content is irrelevant to people's real lives. 2) Students are not engaged in true dialogue and learning. 3) Individualistic pedagogy fails to embrace community learning. Church life in its entirety should be formational instead of informational. The author argues that Christians should learn to perform Christly gestures rather than simply gain historical facts and other people's theological ideas. When Christians value Christly gestures, practice them in the church community, and learn to live them out in the real life with the help of Holy Spirit, transformation happens. Christly Gestures reshapes the very meaning of Christian education, exploring what the form and content of Christian learning would look like if local churches truly saw themselves as the body of Christ. Another point I like about his book is that it equally emphasizes on the formation of spirit, mind, and body, and contends for a deep unity of body and mind, of thought and action. In fact, as Brett discovers, the formation of human body receives the least attention in the fields of religious education and theology. The cons: this book claims to write for lay leaders and local Christian educators, but its writing style, complex theological discussion, and short of practical examples make it more suitable for students and teachers of religious institutions than for Sunday school teachers.

Learning and teaching with head, hands, and heart

In Christly Gestures, Brett Webb-Mitchell moves from being an advocate for disabled persons within the church to being an advocate for a disabled church. With insight and grace, he diagnoses the disconnect between head, heart, and hands that plagues much of modern Christian education. Then, blending excellent scholarship with stories drawn from his own rich experience, Webb-Mitchell proposes an alternative (but age-old) practice of education that returns the church to its roots in relational, experiential, scriptural, and spiritually-grounded formation of mind, body, and soul. Christly Gestures gives an exciting way forward for those seeking to discover what it truly means to learn, live, and teach together as members of the body of Christ.