Jack JEZREEL, A New Way to Be Church: Parish Review from the Outside In. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2018. Pp.177. pbk $20.00 ISBN 9781626982901. Reviewed by Jayne L. WILCOX, La Salle University, Philadelphia, PA 19144.

Dorothy Day, a social reformer of the Church, challenged her readers: “Think what the world could look like if we took care of the poor even half as well as we did our bibles!” Like Day, Jack Jezreel has spent a lifetime helping Catholics recognize the vital connection between their faith and the gospel call to social action. He worked among the poor as a member of a Catholic Worker community, collaborated with Catholic and ecumenical faith-based social agencies across the country, and served as director of parish social ministries where he led a marked transformation of the parish into a mission-driven faith community. His cumulative experience prepared him to found JustFaith Ministries, a small-group based program that equips parishes to engage in social ministry. Jezreel envisions renewal of the American Catholic Church by restructuring the parish into centers of compassion and justice within their communities.

In a word, this book is about Christian mission—the Church’s mandate to be collaborators with God in transforming every realm of Creation. Jezreel suggests that the Church has an unhealthy preoccupation with maintaining a “Sanctuary Catholicism” as evidenced in better buildings, more staff, and bigger budgets that prioritize the experience of those who gather for liturgy. While there is nothing wrong with maintaining parish property, according to Jezreel too often it comes to the neglect of serving, helping, and advocating for the poor who live just outside our parish walls. A shift in priorities is needed in the Church today, from “sanctuary focus” to “world focus”, from self-preservation to outward social action.

A New Way to be Church leads the reader from theory to practical strategies in achieving mission-oriented parishes. In the first several chapters Jezreel draws on key teachings of the Church to construct a theological foundation for his vision of a faith-in-action parish. First, drawing from Vatican II, all ministry stems from one’s baptism and calling to put faith to work. There is no place in Jezreel’s program for Christians who are only interested in pew-sitting. Second, drawing on Pope Francis’ description of the “missionary disciple” in Evangelii Gaudium,a parish must re-establish a sense of mission that puts it in the center of the community and in service to the poor, vulnerable, and suffering. A third foundational source is the US Catholic Bisphop’s1993 statement entitled Communities of Salt and light: Reflections on the Social Mission of the Parish in which the bishops challenge parishes to fully live out the Gospel’s call to social mission. Finally, Jezreel looks to the Gospel accounts to demonstrate the rhythm of Jesus both gathering and sending his disciples. “The gospel is a drama of gathering and sending.”Jesus gathered in order to equip his disciples to be sent into the world. Parishes must invest as much time and resources in sending out parishioners for works of charity, outreach, justice and mercy as it gives to preparing bulletins, liturgies, and prayer for times of gathering.

At heart, Jezreel is a practitioner of the Church’s social mission. Having laid the theological foundation for the social mission of the Church he then equips the reader with strategic tools for implementing change in the local parish. The latter chapters are intended for those in leadership positions who want to work at making the most of a parish’s resources. In the chapter, “Moving Parish to Mission: A Tool for the Task”, Jezreel outlines and applies the “Logic Model,” a tool used to reallocate a parish’s budget, staff, and calendar for social ministry effectiveness. The subsequent appendix details “A Five Year Plan for a Vatican II, Mission-Oriented Parish” in order to achieve full integration of social mission into the core of parish life. Perhaps the most encouraging step in the plan includes “Approaching the Pastor” in which the leadership requests pastoral support in prioritizing works of compassion and justice in accordance with the renewed vision of the parish.

A New Way to Be Church is an excellent source for those who are frustrated with parish “navel-gazing,” particularly when it comes at the expense of the poor and vulnerable in our communities. As a blueprint for a re-envisioned American Catholic Church rooted in the Church’s teachings on social mission, Jezreel’s work serves as a helpful handbook in pursuit of Pope Francis’ model of a community of missionary disciples called the Church.