Refounding the Church: Dissent for Leadership by Gerald A. Arbuckle
This text examines why the official Church leadership is in such confusion, why there are so many efforts to restore the Church to the pre-Vatican II model, and why dissent is so vigorously discouraged. The author helps readers to clarify the purpose and styles of leadership/government required in contemporary Gospel communities using religious congragations as examples of Gospel-oriented communities in an in-depth case study. The author aims to help readers understand how collaborative leadership/government is to be exercised in religious congregations, and to appreciate the value of dissent in decision-making. Readers are encouraged to name the obstacles to effective prophetic congregational leadership within and outside religious congregations and are offered practical ways of overcoming them.