Urban Ecclesiology

Pascal D. Bazzell brings the Filipino ecclesial community (FECH) into contemporary ecclesiological conversation in order to deepen the ecumenical understanding of today's ecclesial reality. He contributes the relevant data to support a theory of an ecclesial-oriented paradigm that fosters ecclesial communities within homeless populations. There is an extensive dialogue occurring between ecclesiologies, church planting theories or urban missions and the urban poor. Yet the situation with the homeless population is almost entirely overlooked. The majority of urban mission textbooks do not acknowledge an ecclesial-oriented state of being and suggest that the street-level environment is a place where no discipleship can occur and no church should exist. By presenting the FECH's case study Bazzell emphasizes that it is possible to live on the streets and to grow in the faith of God as an ecclesial community. He identifies seven main paradigms that shape unique approaches and strategies to serve the homeless population and develops an ecclesial ethnographical methodology that helps to bridge a gap between the disciplines of ecclesiology and congregational studies. Bazzell uses sociological and anthropological themes and tools in his field research to identify and examine the socio-cultural, theological and ecclesial contours that express the FECH's self-understanding of "church."