There are not many theologians in the world today, and writing about contemporary ecclesiology, who can match Stephen Pickard's wisdom, insight and prescience. A former Assistant Bishop in Adelaide, and an established theological educator known widely across the Anglican Communion, Pickard is one of the best-placed writers in the world to commentate on the state of the church today. He combines humility and depth in his writing, and the resulting In-Between God may prove to be his finest work yet.

The book is divided into three tight sections, each of which will repay careful attention and reflection. The first part explores theology and the rhythms of faith, with chapters examining uncertainty, religion and trust; the Trinitarian dynamics of belief; the ways of theology – and with insights from the Antipodes; and evangelism and theology in dialogue. Pickard writes with a freshness and flair. But the currents run deep, and the distilled wisdom that comes from the fruit of more than three decades in ministry is more than apparent. One of Pickard's great gifts to the church is to be able to see, interpret and reframe ecclesiology in a three-dimensional way. He handles the church well in his writing, picking it up one way, then another; looking at it this way, then that. He is a skilled ecclesial exegete, and an insightful interpreter of faith.

The second part of the book is a more explicit exploration of ecclesiology. Entitled ‘Church: Finding Community in a Disturbed World’, chapters engage with the recovery of a sense of place (down-under); innovation, un-decidability and patience; and the new monasticism and the future church. This section of the book is, in many respects, the most remarkable. Pickard has done a great service to the Anglican Communion in recent years by lecturing, preaching and writing on the virtue of un-decidability – the practice of a deep wisdom of patience. In a world that often demands certainty and (relatively instant) decisions. Un-decidability is a great gift not only to the church, but as a counter-cultural intuition, which buys time and space in the midst of our more complex debates. Pickard's sense of holding, waiting and adjusting – so all may find a place and space to relocate – is a profound and welcome offering to the churches, and especially the Anglican Communion.

The third part of the book focuses on discipleship and pilgrimage – the common journey of the Christian people, and who belong to the extraordinary ark of salvation that is the church. The chapters here are more diverse – a conversation with Karl Barth; something on mysticism and William Law; an amazing essay on the place of the passions (cautionary) – and worth the price of the book alone; and a final meditation on Emmaus and the unfinished journey. Although this section is more disparate, it is also Pickard at his best, displaying a great range of reading, allusion and connectedness. The influence of his friend and mentor, Dan Hardy, is especially prevalent in these final chapters.

So what of the book as a work devoted to ecclesiology, and the underlying doctrine of God? Take, for example, the chapter on the passions – their comprehension, direction and self-imposed restraint. Pickard understands that most positions of authority within the church require that individuals hold (with poise and care) a complex nexus of competing convictions and emotions that cannot be easily resolved on behalf of the institution. Leading a body is not the same as leading an organization. Many church leaders understand the costly nature of this vocation – a kind of servant leadership – in which the body must be both led and served. Moreover, this leadership comprehends that much of our ecclesial polity is open; and although has a shape, is nonetheless unresolved. It is, like a body, replete with creative dilemmas; checks and balances; the reactive and proactive. The passions sit within this nexus, both in individuals, and within the wider body.

Chapter 12 (on the passions) also relates to Chapter 8 (on un-decidability). In terms of resolving conflict, and in inhabiting dilemmas, one can see that the desire and need to sometimes reach settlements that do not achieve closure is actually a deep formational habit of wisdom that has helped to form Anglican polity down the centuries. It is embodied liturgically, but can also be traced in pastoral, parish and synodical resolutions that cover a range of issues. Put another way, there is a tension between being an identifiable community with creeds; while also being a body that recognizes that a whole range of other issues are essentially un-decidable. (For an earlier version of Chapter 8, see S. Pickard, ‘Innovation and Un-decidability: Some Implications for the Koinonia of the Anglican Church’, Journal of Anglican Studies, Vol. 2.2, 2004, pp. 87–105).

Pickard realizes that any calling to lead the body of the church is all about faithfully inhabiting the gap between vocation, ideals, praxis and action. The in-between church mirrors the in-between God. No neutral or universally affirmed settlements can be reached on a considerable number of issues within the church. But settlements have to be reached that allow for the possibility of continuing openness, adjustment and innovation. Inevitably, therefore, consensus is a slow and painful moment to arrive at, and even when achieved, usually involves a degree of provisionality. This is, of course, a typical Anglican habit, as Pickard argues, embodying as it does a necessary humility and holiness in relation to matters of truth, but without losing sight of the fact that difficult decisions still need to be made. This is the nature of the ecclesial body.

There can be few theologians better placed than Stephen Pickard to address the trinity of theology, community and discipleship, as this book does: his writing emerges out of a deep spirituality formed in the Anglican tradition, a grounded ecclesiology of real depth, and a considerable gift for offering the mind and wisdom of the reflective practitioner. In this pastoral and prescient volume, Stephen engages with a wide range of issues, seeking to articulate the calling of the church to be the embodiment of a deeper theology, community life and discipleship. The essays move effortlessly from systematic theology to spirituality, and from mysticism to evangelism. Stephen is unquestionably one of the finest reflective theologians to have emerged from Australia in recent years. This book, and his work more generally, rightly place him at the forefront of Anglican theologians worldwide.