Customer Reviews

Beyond the Box: Innovative Churches That Work

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Great book for helping use your church to expand God's reach in the world. Easy to read; interesting. Great price from Amazon.

The brief book is a real gem for those looking for ideas on how to best do church in a changing culture. I am the pastor of a young church in New York City and we studied this book as a team. The chapters are brief, tied directly to local churches who are doing it and full of in your face questions to get you thinking. The chapters on 'team teaching' and 'church the city' (vs. being one church in a city) were very challenging. My only complaint - the analysis was too brief.

If you are a pastor or on staff of a new church, my advice: Buy this book, read it with your staff, follow the web links and send Dave Travis a donation so he will keep doing this research for us!

My questions below relate to items I believe need further explanation in light of the claims made in the book. The authors present nine categories claimed to present `clutter' or `box baggage' for modern churches. These are the things the authors believe should be left behind in order to embrace `innovation'....

1. Hierarchy - What does a hierarchy-free church look like? Would elders/deacons constitute hierarchy?

2. Structure/Organization - What is a modern day example of an effective, unorganized worship service?

3. Property/Location - Which contemporary churches exist with no property or location?

4. Conflict - Not sure what this means.

5. Centralized Control - If there is no `centralized control' does this mean there is no headship?

6. Ordination - Is ordination when a church body examines a person's beliefs and qualifications for ministry in light of scripture?

7. Clergy - As far as I know there are no clergy-free churches in my area. This one is difficult to imagine.

8. Seminaries - I guess this one is self-evident. If there is no ordination, control, or clergy there would be no need for seminaries.

9. Denominations - Is to abandon denominations the same as abandoning doctrinal statements? If so, what would differentiate churches if not their core beliefs?

What does it mean for the church to `move forward'? Is innovation simply moving away from the things the church has always done? What are the foundational elements of the church, which if left behind would leave the church with no real effect? I wish the authors had attempted to identify those things which can and should never change.