The church. What has it become? What was it meant to be? Does it pave the way or get in the way? Are we suspicious of the institutionalization of church bureaucracy? Or thrilled with the relevant impact of its presence? Robert J. Suderman writes about the church as a practitioner. His inspiration emerges out of the crossroads of biblical vision and human sincerity always tempered with frailty. Years of ministry, never a stranger to complexity, only serve to sharpen the vision of possibility. His imagination of what can be is never divorced from the realities of what is. He does not bow to the common assumption that "you can't get there from here." "Here" is the only possible point of origin for us. In his succinct, easy to understand writing style, Suderman provides insightful and thought-provoking perspectives to what it means to be the church. To be a people "called out" to participate together in God's activity in the world, and to create programs and structures needed for effective ministry are two sides of the same coin. This book is for dreamers and bureaucrats alike; indeed, it assumes that the two are indispensable pieces of God's coming presence. Introduction by: Tom Yoder Neufeld