The Power of All

Building a Multivoiced Church

The New Testament indicates that the early churches were multivoiced, participative and expectant that the Holy Spirit would speak through all members of the community. First-generation renewal movements have typically been multivoiced, recovering this New Testament characteristic. But institutionalization (often accompanied by clericalization) has persistently reduced such diversity of participation and resulted in many aspects of church life becoming mono-voiced or restricted to only a few voices. This book surveys the history of mono-voiced and multivoiced expressions of church, offers a robust biblical basis for advocating the latter, and explores ways of developing multivoiced communities today. It offers resources that encourage multivoiced practice in the areas of worship, learning, discernment and pastoral care.