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Describes the political and social involvement of the church and its activities for protecting human rights, building up a sense of citizenship, and constructing democracy.

Church asylum, or sanctuary, is a practice to support, counsel and give shelter to refugees who are threatened with deportation to inhumane living conditions, torture or even death. This practice can be located at the interface of benevolence and politics.

Community and church: an historical survey and interpretation, by K. S. Latourette.--Church and community, by Ernest Barker.--The church and the nation, by Marc Boegner.--Church and nation, by Hanns Lilje.--The idea of a national church, by Manfred Björkquist.--Nation and church in the Orthodox lands of eastern Europe, by Stefan Zankov.--Church and community, by E. E. Aubrey.--Church and community in the United States, by H. P. Douglass

Jesus was cruelly executed as the alleged "king of the Jews" because of his efforts for grassroots religious renewal and resistance to Roman rule in Palestine through local religious-political elites. By the fourth century ce, however, Christianity had become the official religion of the Roman imperium. An ambiguous account of both resisting and supporting imperialism has shaped all church history. Today the United States of America is widely recognized as the central power in a new global empire. In this article I wrestle with the huge challenge of engaging the forces of empire in our global era. The free-church ecclesial model of an alternative community offers powerful resources that can inform such efforts. Related tasks include: (1) recognizing how American nationalism often supports imperialism, (2) identifying religious support for imperialism in America, and (3) understanding the democratic forces that resist imperialism. All the above are necessary tools for authentic and effective strategies of religious and social transformation. Adapted from the source document.

Statistics documenting the manpower shrinkage of the Amer Catholic Church in the past decade are cited. Seminarians of religious orders have decreased by 35% since 1965. The main losses are in the specialized ministries which used to draw the best-educated. The effects of this manpower shrinkage on the operation of the Catholic church in the US are examined. There is a trend toward greater involvement of the laity in the operation of the parish & a wide exp'tion with parish councils. The central concept of collegiality, which concerns the general relationship between authority & obedience in the church, is shifting. In pol'al terms, it implies a shift in the power centers, from the Vatican Curia to the Episcopal Synod, from the diocesan chancery to the clergy senate. It does not mean popular democracy but it does tend to move the Catholic church from a strongly authoritarian structure to a semblance of representative or participatory democracy. The practice of collegiality has proceeded further in the religious orders than elsewhere in the church. A profound change in the life-style of the church professional is implied, toward acceptance of a sense of personal responsibility & self-direction. This change lifts instit'ized restrictions that had long been felt to be a barrier to initiative, maturity, & creativity. There is also a switch of emphasis from the diocese to the primary group or small task force which carries overtones of an anti-instit'al bias. The instit represents both bigness & repression. The need for self-confidence & self-fulfillment is emphasized & the younger clergy & religious are often very critical of church leadership. The increasing openness of the church is reflected in the seminaries & training places of church personnel, who are now receiving a much broader & diversified professional preparation. The youthful & decimated generation of trainees will unquestionably add a new dimension to the whole ecclesiastical profession of the future. They appear to be adaptive to sudden change & willing to accept the challenge of a more professional approach to the work of the new church. Modified HA.