A critical, theological investigation of the ecclesiologies of Leonardo Boff, Stanley Hauerwas and an 'alternative worship' group, Fuzzy

This thesis hosts a conversation between three participants about what it means to be church. This conversation encompasses: one, an' alternative worship' voice generated from detailed, qualitative empirical work with an 'alternative worship' community called Fuzzy, based in Cheltenham, England; two, the postliberal theologian, Stanley Hauerwas from North America and; three, the liberation theologian, Leonardo Boff, from Brazil. The conversation takes place within a framework comprising four guiding, heuristic notions - the church as school, the church as a locus for being made fully human, the church's scripting power as mediated through its liturgy, and the church's relationship with the world. These notions are derived from ecclesiologies emanating from different theological and church traditions and from the issues of ecclesiological importance gleaned from participant observational work within the life of the 'alternative worship' group, Fuzzy. After a brief introduction, the thesis proceeds with an exposition of each of the four heuristic notions chosen. There then follows a detailed description of the methodology deployed - particularly the empirical work undertaken with in the Fuzzy group itself. This empirical work is based on a methodology for understanding Christian communities, devised by James Hopewell. The thesis then discusses the ecclesiology of each of the three conversationalists in turn. Taking Fuzzy first, and then Hauerwas and Boff, these central chapters form the major part of the work. The final chapter draws these chapters into conversation, bringing those issues about which the conversationalists might agree and disagree into direct proximity. What emerges out of this three-way conversation, and which in turn makes a contribution to knowledge, is a consideration of the criteria by which a worship group may identified as church. The study tentatively concludes that Fuzzy may be recognised as an authentic form of church