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The Unofficial Guide to Alternative Forms of Christian Community

By Kelly Bean

IBSN: 9780801072420
Publisher: Baker Books
Publication Date: 7/1/14
Format: Other Format
Pages: 240
My Rating: 4 Stars

A special thank you to Baker Books and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Kelly Bean’s HOW TO BE A CHRISTIAN WITHOUT GOING TO CHURCH, is extremely informative and insightful for anyone currently attending church, or for those who are interested in alternative ways of worship.

First, this book is not about the flaws of the traditional church or the pain it can inflict. Those who have lived long in church realize plenty of difficult stories could be told as well as plenty of stories of love, care, compassion, commitment, and community.

This book is about those times when, attending organized church does not work. People may not participate in church for a season, or even for the long haul for numerous reasons.

Change happens, like it or not, and currently change is happening in our churches. Longtime members are leaving church and many young people have little interest in church. Fewer than 22% of Americans attend a worship service each week. There is a rise in churchless Christians, as high as 112 million. The church has a whole has been declining in attendance over the last fifty years. The steady stream of departures is not limited to mainline Protestant congregations. The Southern Baptist church, the nation’s second largest denomination and a long reliable generator of church growth, reported membership decline for the third consecutive year.

Small Groups-- Many churches (especially the larger ones), hold small groups within the church in order to offer a more intimate setting and outreach. As the book indicates, 24.5% of Americans now say their primary form of spiritual nourishment is meeting with a small group of 20 or less people each week. More importantly, six million people in the US attend a small group, and never or rarely go to church. There is a significant movement happening!

HOW TO BE A CHRISTIAN WITHOUT GOING TO CHURCH, is written for a broad audience, no matter the religion or denomination. Kelly has tons of experience, research, facts, and testimonials from a diverse group of people—those who genuinely care about their faith; however, may not attend church regularly.

Some people become disconnected over time with church. Some feel God is so much larger than the limitations, politics, and theology represented by the church. It is worth noting that God can use discontentment, partnered with prayer and exploration to usher in change— more than one might expect.

The power and influence of rapidly changing technology shapes us in ways nothing ever has before. Never before have people been so interconnected across the planet and across belief systems. Never before have we had access to so much information instantly available at our fingertips. The significance of this unprecedented shift in history cannot be underestimated.

For non-goers, technological advances open up potential for new communities and connections that didn’t even exist twenty years ago. Clearly the shifts we are experiencing cannot be dismissed as just another round of the next generation and its latest passing trends. Some non-goers and even pastors of small churches are beginning to think that bi-vocational ministry may be the way of future. For people who want to be in touch with their neighbors rather than confined to working within the walls of a church, finding a job that puts them in touch with people is a solution. Many non-goers are leaving the institutional church in hopes of finding something more than what the structures in which they had been a part could provide or allow—they are cultivating relationships with intention.

Presently, both the internet and a greater sense of global community bring a new set of considerations to the table. The internet can be used to find and get to know new friends, network with people who have common interests, share prayer requests, communicate and learn from people of other faiths, share, and get ideas for mission or problem solving, encourage people who are isolated, spark revolutions, raise funds, or help a friend with cancer, those who need legal fees, or a neighbor in need, learn of a new book, or find out when and where a speaker is coming to town, or learn of meet ups, small groups, other avenues non-goers wouldn’t have met otherwise.

For those who are being Christian without going to church, the Internet throws the door wide open for creating new types of community of faith and practice! Used well, the internet and social media hold the potential for moving us far beyond communication to real connection with others!

Even though I am a Christian and church member, I loved this book, as enjoy the small groups. We all need to seek ways to reach people and be open to avenues outside of the church walls. Becoming a non-goer does not have to lead to waning faith or cynicism, but instead can lead to a life-giving, world-changing, growth-inducing, and community building way of being.

Kelly Bean has put together many ideas, projects, and stories of those committed to worship. God has been at work through both good times and difficult times. Life as a non-goer calls on our courage and creativity. As she states, you have to reach and try, find, and connect, risk and learn! From a leader in church and non-goer, Bean takes you on her journey as she explores the non-goer phenomenon. She is a storyteller and writer, an activist, and a practitioner.

“Churches and non-goers alike are called to a life of being church. It’s worth repeating, no matter where we are, we who choose to follow Christ-- are each called to urge one another, on to love and good deeds, and to be church.“