Capturing the dynamics of the church today, both in theological and in social terms, this classic text confirms the truth of the Venerable Bede's saying, 'Every day the church gives birth to the church' by integrating traditional ecclesiologies of the North with emerging insights from elsewhere around the globe. In this revised edition, Richard Gaillardetz has added a new preface and a new concluding chatper which relate the themes of this volume to the ecclesiological developments under Pope Francis