Re-membering the Reign of God

Reflecting theologically on the 50-year history of ecclesial base communities in El Salvador, this book argues that the church of the poor is a decolonial sacrament of the reign of God. The authors challenge Christians to unlearn colonial expressions of faith, concluding with a retrieval of solidarity in the Catholic social tradition.

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What does it mean for an historically colonial church to become the "church of the poor" in a world marked by pervasive and persistent coloniality? Re-membering the Reign of God addresses this question through historical and theological reflection on the evolution of El Salvador's ecclesial base communities as decolonial protagonists of the church of the poor in their own particular context of coloniality and prophetic hope. In the first part of the book, the authors present sacred narratives of 'Salvadoran Salvation History,' including histories, songs, and testimonies of ecclesial base communities themselves. In the second part of the book, the authors reflect theologically on these narratives, arguing that these communities embody a decolonial sacrament of the reign of God in and through their ecclesial, social, and cultural reclamation of knowledge, being, and power in the church and the world. These communities therefore represent a particularly rich locus for decolonizing theology and challenging the church in the Global North to join the church of the poor in its prophetic praxis of decolonial solidarity.