Reimagining faith, church and theology: Who are the "edge-walkers" today?

“Someone should write a book showcasing these incredible people who are doing things differently in the church and in their faith”.

We can’t remember who made that statement but that’s what started our journey towards publishing our first book Edge-walkers: Reimagining faith, church and theology. Little did we know what a long journey it would be and just how much work goes into publishing a book!

Armen and I started a publishing enterprise called At the Edges about a year ago because we love books, reading and mentoring emerging writers. Since then, we have learnt about the intricacies, delight and frustrations of the publishing industry. We publish writers from all walks of life as long as there is a values alignment. We want to publish books that contribute to the flourishing of humanity.

Our first book, Edge-Walkers, was birthed as we became increasingly aware of Christian practitioners who were creatively putting their faith into practice and doing some extraordinary work, yet their voices were not being heard. We often tend to pay attention to the louder voices in our society, while many who are doing the most creative work simply get on with it quietly, never seeking attention. We wanted to highlight their stories because we believe their stories bring hope to a church that is struggling with decline. With so many people paradoxically deconstructing their faith while searching for meaning in our world, we believe these stories breath life into our faith and tradition. What is clear from the writings in this book is the emergence of “Christianities” that are being created and recreated for our times in different contexts through different people of various backgrounds – all of them holding to the tradition of the gospel as good news though Jesus Christ.

We approached these practitioners – some of who we knew, others whom we contacted for the first time as we had heard about the faith and church experiments they were engaging in –and asked them to contribute to our book. Most agreed; others declined as they felt their explorations were not at a stage yet to be shared. Some of the contributors are traditional in the way they express their Christianity and others are cutting edge, experimental and alternative when it comes to theology and faith. Some of the contributors share about the way they do church which may look nothing like what we imagine church to be. We think these leaders are a foretaste of what is coming for Christianity as it continues to contextualise to our times, while holding to the good news.

Each chapter is written by an edge-walker focusing on a particular topic they have wrestled with. Chapter headings tell in one word the crux of the edge-walker’s challenges and joys, such as Neighbourhood, Evangelism, Eucharist, Paki-Paki, Misfit, Mystic, Play, Trauma, Earthy, Kenosis, Making, Gathering, Digital, Decolonisation, Art, Malagigiri and Liminal. Some traditional theological concepts are subverted, and each topic is interrogated so that new creations emerge as each practitioner puts into practice what they are exploring. The stories are honest, from the heart and sometimes poignant in revealing the good but hard work these edge-walkers undertake to birth new things.

Pre-Order and Book Launch Coming Soon! 

Edge-Walkers: Reimagining faith, church and theology (Eds. Armen Gakavian, Karina Kreminski and Steve Taylor) will be available in early March and the book launch will be at Paddington Uniting on 10 March.

We will also participate in a United Theological College research colloquium on 13 March.

All are warmly invited to preorder your copy of this book, and attend these two events to explore the topic of edges and reimagining Christianity for today. More information coming very soon!