Gemeinschaft Der Glaubenden Gestalten: Nahe Und Distanz in Neuen Sozialformen

In the current upheavals in congregations and churches, small groups are proving amazingly adaptable: People are building networks, starting small groups, connecting with home groups, effecting changes in initiative groups, communicating in digital communities. Is it possible to balance self-determined closeness and distance in these church groups, or does the range of the church end somewhere between constricting parlour spaces and membership without participation? Is the community of believers set for the church - and if so: when and where, with whom and with whom not? How much and what kind of communion is necessary or superfluous? A central concept is examined on the basis of new social forms in order to determine the limits and future potential of communion for a missionary, cosmopolitan and participatory church. With contributions by Ulrike Bittner, Christian Grethlein, Ralph Kunz and Thomas Zippert, among others.