Faith for This Moment

Navigating a Polarized World as the People of God

Cover Art

Where to Purchase

About

What does it mean to be the people of God now?

Today, many Christians in America feel like exiles within their own country. Some yearn to return to the Christendom of an idealized past. Others seek to assimilate the values of our culture into the church. In between are those uncomfortable with either extreme--exiles looking for a new way of understanding what faith looks like in a polarized, pluralistic, post-Christian culture.

In Faith for This Moment, Rick McKinley comforts and equips the spiritually homeless. He shares how people of faith from other times and places lived faithfully, prophetically, and imaginatively, compromising neither their principles nor their compassion and never giving in to despair. For those searching for a better way to live out their faith in our complex cultural moment, this is it.


"Rick offers some of his best wisdom on how to speak truth in love . . . and how to challenge evil without becoming evil. We need this book now more than ever."--Shane Claiborne, founder, The Simple Way; author, Beating Guns

"In this timely book, Rick helps us discern the spirit of the age and faithfully negotiate an increasingly jingoistic, angry, and divisive social context."--Alan Hirsch, award-winning author

"Rick's words will light a fire in your soul. Quite simply: we cannot afford to miss this book."--Ann Voskamp, New York Times bestselling author


Rick McKinley is the founder and lead pastor of Imago Dei Community, the author of five books, and a nationally known speaker. Voted one of Portland's 50 Most Influential People in 2012, he is widely respected as a leader who navigates the issues surrounding faith, culture, and the church. Rick lives in Portland, Oregon, with his wife and four children.


Endorsements

"For twenty years I've had the privilege of being friends with Rick McKinley, one of our country's greatest pastors. In the current chaos of this experiment called American democracy, Rick offers some of his best wisdom on how to speak truth in love, how to be prophetic and pastoral, and how to challenge evil without becoming evil. We need this book now more than ever."

Shane Claiborne, founder, The Simple Way; convener, Red Letter Christians; activist; author, Beating Guns

"Apart from the Civil War in the nineteenth century and the Civil Rights movement of the sixties, it's hard to name a time when America has been so anxious and divided . . . and the church is leading the charge. In this timely book, Rick helps us discern the spirit of the age and faithfully negotiate an increasingly jingoistic, angry, and divisive social context."

Alan Hirsch, award-winning author of numerous books on leadership, organization, and spirituality

"Faith for This Moment will challenge and equip you as we seek to live like Jesus--for such a time as this. Boldly questioning what it means to be the people of God right now--Rick's words will light a fire in your soul. Quite simply: we cannot afford to miss this book."

Ann Voskamp, New York Times bestselling author, The Broken Way and One Thousand Gifts

"There can be few messages more urgent and exciting in our world today than the fact that Jesus Christ is in the business of reconciliation. I'm so grateful to Rick McKinley for distilling decades of experience as a pioneering pastor in one of the least-churched cities in America into this timely book. With his usual blend of intelligence and warmth, he offers us a reason and a way to live with greater hope, grace, and beauty."

Pete Greig, founder, 24-7 Prayer International; senior pastor, Emmaus Rd, Guildford, UK

"In Faith for This Moment, Rick prophetically and practically calls us back to 'Church.' To be it, to love it, and to extend it to a world that is asking us to show them Jesus without all the religious trappings."

Hugh Halter, author, Tangible Kingdom, FLESH, and Happy Hour

"In Faith for This Moment, the caricature that has become known as Christianity is stripped away to reveal what it means to follow Jesus faithfully in this cultural moment. Rick encourages followers of Jesus to return to our deepest identity--children of God--and live as an alternative community in the midst of world that is as polarized as ever. If this is what being a Christian looks like in the future, then the world will take note."

AJ Swoboda, PhD; pastor; author, Subversive Sabbath and Redeeming How We Talk

"Brilliantly insightful and yet delivered with pastoral care. Faith for This Moment not only pinpoints the cultural tensions we all feel but gives us a hope-filled biblical framework to faithfully walk forward as Christians. This book is a huge win for the church today."

Chuck Bomar, pastor, Colossae Church in Portland, OR; author, Serving Local Schools: Bring Christ's Compassion to the Core of Your Community

"In our polarized culture, how are we to live faithfully to Jesus? Faith for This Moment reclaims exile as a powerful biblical theme, one that moves us beyond attempts to baptize the culture or burn it. Instead, McKinley offers constructive practices, 'rhythms of grace' as he calls them, that make us a distinct people who bear a beauty that blesses the world, the marks of our coming King."

Joshua Ryan Butler, pastor, Imago Dei Community; author, The Pursuing God and The Skeletons in God's Closet

"Faith for This Moment is a title that captures the heart-cry of many who are dizzy and confused about how to live an authentic Christian life in the midst of a rapidly changing and multifaceted world. In this short, accessible book, Rick McKinley does what he does best by replacing formula with faith and calling believers to radical discipleship rather than retreat. For anyone looking for a book that both names the unique cultural experience of Christians today while also providing honest biblical ways forward, this book will be like water to your soul."

Ken Wytsma, lead pastor, Village in Beaverton, Oregon; author, The Myth of Equality and Redeeming How We Talk 

"Faith for This Moment is a book for this moment. In our world today, Christians are often categorized by cultural- and agenda-based forms of Christianity. Rick guides us back to Scripturally based vintage Christianity, and you will find yourself being encouraged, feeling like
you aren't alone, and inspired to make a difference again for Jesus in our world. Every day it feels more embarrassing and confusing to say you are a Christian in today's world. Instead of having to either compromise truth or hiding our faith, Rick McKinley guides us into bold confidence of how to live out our faith more than ever in our towns and cities. If you are a Christian and you don't fit the cultural categories that are lately defining us, Faith for This Moment will be fresh wind for your heart and soul."

Dan Kimball, mission and leadership pastor, Vintage Faith Church; author, Adventures in Churchland: Finding Jesus in the Mess of Organized Religion and They Like Jesus but Not the Church: Insights from Emerging Generations

"The church exists today in a cultural flux of unfamiliar change and transition. The strangeness of the moment can leave churches and followers of Jesus scratching their heads and searching their souls in an effort to figure out what to do. In this book Rick shows us that this new space is not so new--people of faith have passed this way before. He masterfully shows us how we can use classical practices, with God's help, to be the Jesus's church in today's culture. His book is a much-needed compass."

Mark Strong, pastor; author; founder, Father-Shift Conference

"Faith for This Moment is a must-read for any follower of Jesus, regardless of political beliefs or socioeconomic status. It proves itself as a thorough road map of the shifting cultural landscape. Read this book!"

Albert Tate, senior pastor, Fellowship Monrovia

"Rick is one of the best leaders, smartest thinkers, and most insightful teachers I know. In Faith for This Moment he brings all that to bear on our cultural moment, plus years of experience church planting in a post-Christian city. I found myself furiously taking notes in between ah-ha moments of insight. This book is a manual for church in the post-Christian world."

John Mark Comer, pastor of Teaching & Vision, Bridgetown Church; author of God Has a Name and Loveology: God. Love. Marriage. Sex. and the Never-Ending Story of Male and Female


The Author

  1. Rick McKinley

    Rick McKinley

    Rick McKinley (DMin, Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary) is the founder and lead pastor of Imago Dei Community and is the author of five books. He is a nationally known speaker at conferences including Q, Catalyst, and The Justice Conference. In 2012,...

    Continue reading about Rick McKinley