New face of the Church in Latin America

About this book

This timely anthology surveys Latin American developments through the eyes of Christians of all major churches and every socio-historical perspective. Their writings offer the basis for ecumenical understanding and cooperation, even though these churches seem at one level engaged in divisive combat throughout Latin America. New Face of the Church in Latin America offers thoughtful and nuanced evaluations of churches there in current conditions of economic and social malaise. It provides important information and perspective, especially when the story - in the U.S. in particular - is often reduced to such sensational and simplistic queries as, "Is Latin America turning Protestant?" or, "Why is the Catholic Church 'losing' Latin America?". The contributors to New Face of the Church in Latin America provide firsthand accounts and insider perspectives on such issues as Protestant evangelism and base communities, Catholic renewal efforts, Native American inculturation, and new developments in liberation theology. Rather than add to enflamed rhetoric, these noted authors - Catholic and Protestant, women and men - show that there remains ample ground for richer, more finely-textured understanding and collaboration between supposed adversaries in lands where religious faith is a vital component of life and history.