A Time to Build, by Yuval Levin

Book Review, #4

Yuval Levin, A Time to Build: From Family and Community to Congress and the Campus, How Recommitting to our Institutions can Revive the American Dream (New York, NY: Basic Books, 2020), 241 pages.

Christians are taught to “seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness” (Matthew 6:33), so I’m always a little uncomfortable with promises of “reviving the American Dream.” The American Dream, like everything else, is to be measured by the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, so we should pursue it only insofar as it does not conflict with our commitment to Christ and his Kingdom, which must be our first and greatest love. Having said all of that, this is a wonderful book written by a conservative political theorist. It is filled with great insights that Christians will do well to consider.

Yuval Levin's book, "A Time to Build," offers a compelling analysis of the importance of institutions in the lives of individuals and communities. His focus is on families, churches, schools, governments, and more, and he suggests that institutions such as these bring tremendous value. Their health is necessary for the proper functioning of our society, and we are wrong to think of them as mere bureaucratic structures. Rather, they are building blocks and sources of stability for flourishing communities. According to Levin, institutions shape individuals, preserve values, foster trust, and facilitate cooperation. Institutions cultivate unity and shared values, which enable the formation of cohesive cultures. In the context of religious communities, educational institutions play a vital role in cultivating and transmitting faith across generations, nurturing moral character, and equipping individuals for service and leadership.

I’ve spent the last year recommending this book to fellow Anglicans who are especially focused on institution building, even if we don’t always recognize that this is exactly what we are doing. Having experienced years of institutional turmoil with The Episcopal Church’s moral and theological failings, American Anglicans resolved to build entirely new institutions within which communities of faith could survive and flourish. The ACNA is a work of institution building, as is GAFCON and the GSFA. Trinity School for Ministry can be rightly considered a case of new institution building, which preceded and aided the creation of the ACNA and GAFCON. Institutions like ours make a difference and need to be stewarded well.

Without these new institutions, Anglicans in North America and globally, would be lost at sea, so to speak. Our communities would continue to decline, and the communion would continue to weaken and break apart. To stop and reverse this decline, Anglican leaders at home and abroad have engaged in institution building, and we can all be grateful.

As I’ve already hinted, this book has obvious implications for those of us involved in Anglican renewal, and it is worth purchasing for this reason alone. It can help us all understand better why our own institution building matters, and it can inspire our continued commitment or perhaps reignite our passion for this difficult work. However, the book’s analysis of institutional neglect and breakdown in our broader culture is also highly valuable. Levin will help you understand why churches are in decline and why things have become so turbulent in universities as well as in local, regional, state, and national governments. The book is highly recommended for clergy and laity alike.