This selection of essays and addresses, most of them written between 1996 and 2021, reflects the theological journey of a distinguished Anglican priest and theologian. 

Informed, challenging, accessible and encouraging, Church Matters is an important book in these difficult times for the churches in Australia and beyond.

Written primarily within the Anglican tradition where he has worked as pastor and teacher, the reflections raise significant issues of concern for churches everywhere.

The essays raise primary questions of how the church matters in contemporary Australian society, where Christianity and church are increasingly at the margins of people’s concerns and where various ways of being church compete for the attention of congregations and their leaders.

This ‘gift of secularisation’, Cowdell suggests, is an opportunity for the church to reconsider what is important in its traditions and structures; and asks what may be needed to bring the churches to a fresh understanding of the reasons for their very existence.

Title: Church Matters: Essays and Addresses on Ecclesial Belonging
Author: Scott Cowdell
ISBN: 9781922589255
Publisher: Coventry Press
Date: 2022