Drawing on the documents of Vatican II (Lumen Gentium and others) as well as biblical, theological, and spiritual resources, Hinze seeks to develop a deeper understanding of what it means to foster "prophetic obedience" in a dialogical church. In the spirit of works by Johann Baptist Metz, Ignacio Ellacuria, Jon Sobrino, Dean Brackley, and Sandra Schneiders, this book advances a practical fundamental ecclesiology that combines a constructive theological argument with an argument for greater lay participation and "grassroots democracy" in the church, based on historical descriptions of church practices in history and society.