Designed for College Students Taking Their First Course About the Christian Church

This introductory textbook on the Church—its nature, structure, and fundamental saving mission—presents a theoretical and practical basis for helping students think critically about the Church. With this new resource as their guide, readers and instructors can enter into a conversation about the Church that resonates with their experience and challenges their assumptions, without letting the history of the Church or its power structures dominate the discussion. The text is written from the perspective of contemporary Roman Catholic theology, yet offers an account of the Church and its mission that will resonate with Christians from other traditions.

Each chapter includes these sections:

• Questions for Understanding highlight important aspects of each chapter and help students focus their reading.
• Questions for Reflection help students engage with the material in ways that take them beyond the text and the classroom.
• For Further Study sections lead readers to discover additional resources for thinking about the Church.
• Sidebar features throughout the text supplement and advance the central issues.