Postmodernism has become the buzz word among theologians and cultural historians. This critial/pessimistic paradigm (if it can be called that) has been gaining strength sense the 1960's. Unfortunately, only until recently have church leaders become slightly aware of this epistemic move, and just now are attempting to respond to it. If historical trends have any predictive ability, church leaders likely will chisel out a postmodern ecclesiology while the cultural stream will keep moving.

I don't know if postmodernity will become the dominant cultural paradigm, particularly sense it is a reaction against something, rather than a move toward something. What that ultimate something is has not yet been determined. This simply means that the church must continue to be "light on its feet" and respond as the body of Christ in any given cultural situation.

As culture continues to be in flux, it is important to, not only be aware of its trends, but develop a relevant ecclesiology to meet new demands. At this point, we do need to think seriously about a postmodern ecclesiology and what that means for churches who were born out of modernity.

A good resource to assist in this process is: Ancient-Future Faith, Rethinking Evangelicalism for a Postmodern Word, by Robert Webber. The following is Webber's own words regarding the focus of his book:

"The fundamental concern of this book is to find points of contact between classical Christianity and postmodern thought. Classical Christianity was shaped in a pagan and relativistic society much like our own. Classical Christianity was not an accomodation to paganism but an alternative practice of life. Christians in a postmodern world will succeed, not by watering down the faith, but by being a countercultural community that invites people to be shaped by the story of Israel and Jesus."

I think you will find Webber's book a helpful voice for these confusing times. His points about Christus Victor, and the place of baptism and communion are especially good.