Richard LENNAN. Tilling the Church: Theology for an Unfinished Project. Collegeville: Liturgical, 2022. pp. 264, $29.95 pb. ISBN 9780814667439. Reviewed by Thomas E. DRURY, Palm Beach Atlantic University, West Palm Beach, FL 33401.

Tilling the Church: Theology for an Unfinished Project is Richard Lennan’s latest work and displays his broad scholarly acumen. Developing an ecclesiology from a Roman Catholic perspective, the text’s designation of the church as an “unfinished project” suggests its relevance for broader methodological concerns. By echoing scholars who view the Enlightenment as a similar kind of far-reaching “project,” Lennan’s analysis reveals not only that the tensions between religion and secularity are far from resolved, but that both sides would benefit from engaging each other more thoroughly.

Lennan considers the church to be an “unfinished project” as it represents a dynamic process occurring in historical time and space. He notes that many lay Catholics are by and large suspicious of church leadership, while nevertheless holding out hope that such conditions are not irreversible. Echoing this hope, Lennan stresses that Vatican II offers a basis for reproachment between the church and secular society. He argues that, by conceiving the church in terms of “mystery,” one is better able to grasp not only its divine but its radically human nature (35). The text supports this insight in multiple ways— and in particular through examining the complex layers of metaphors that Lumen Gentium employs for the church.

Lennan argues that no particular era in the church’s history may be seen as definitive. Even as he acknowledges that the church’s telos resides beyond worldly affairs, he insists, with nuance, that the church exists in necessary relation to historical reality. The church’s members are historical subjects, and they are called to critique the church in relation to its present situation. Nothing could be more important, because the credibility of Christian faith rests on its capacity to articulate a reasonable coherence between its religious practices and social conditions.

Returning often to Vatican II, Lennan voices his confidence in the promise of dialogue with the secular world that the council signals. Fulfilling this promise entails believers bearing witness to what Pope Francis describes as humanizing ideals that resonate with everyday experience (149). Lennan’s various references to other magisterial teachings serve to underscore the church’s enduring sacramental vision and the text’s own hermeneutical sensitivity.

Lennan makes a persuasive case that the church has much to learn from the secular world, and vice-versa. In contrast to the often-triumphalist narratives emanating from both sides of the church-secularism debate, Tilling the Church approaches its task with studied humility. It is suitable for students of theology at an undergraduate level and would be a solid choice for graduate level students of ecclesiology.