By James D. Wheeler
New Monasticism: What it Has to Say to Today’s Church
Jonathan Wilson-HartgroveBrazos Press, 2008, 147 pp., $14.99,
www.brazospress.comAn intriguing book has arrived informing us about a new development in American evangelicalism. In truth, the development, called new monasticism, is rooted in some very old practices from the Christian church that Wilson-Hartgrove believes will bring a new vitality and truth to the modern church. He is not just a theorist but an active member of a community of new monastics in economically depressed Durham, North Carolina. He believes that just as the monastic movement of old had something to teach mainstream church culture about faith, so do these new modern monastic communities. His is a clarion call to embody the teachings of Jesus. To do this, we must find practices and ethical goals that will take us out of our sometimes com promised mainstream church ruts. For inspiring stories and a way to spark dulled Christian imaginations New Monasticism is an essential read.
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