Fire, Salt, and Peace tells what happend to all those Christian communities of the 1970s, why some failed while others thrived, and how new communal groups continue to be born with amazing diversity and vitality. The core of the book is aseries of windows into twenty-nine very different communities seen through visits by outsiders and self-portraits from the communities themselves. In a collection of essays on Jesus' images of fire, salt and peace, the author explores the community movement's weaknesses, its sources of spiritual renewal, and it's potential on the eve of a new millennium.

About the author: David Janzen grew up on a Kansas-Mennonite farm. After graduating from Bethel college (B.A., 1962), he studied at harvard Divinity School, then received his M.A. in history from the University of Kansas (1970). David and his wife Joanne were deeply shaped by two years of teaching in Zaire, David's alternative to military service in Vietnam. In 1971, they helped found New Creation Fellowship, a Christian intentional community in Newton, Kansas. In 1984, the Janzens moved with their two children to Reba Place Fellowship in Evanston, Illinois, where David directed the overground Railroad, a network of host churches assisting Central American refugees to find asylum. currently, David works with a low-income housing cooperative and is coordinator of Shalom Mission Communities.