Death by Suburb: How to Keep the Suburbs from Killing Your Soul [Paperback]

Dave L. Goetz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 6, 2007

A great number of seekers find themselves in the seemingly unreal world of the suburbs. They read spirituality books but find themselves in carpools and coaching soccer, not in monasteries. Dave Goetz, a former pastor, shows that the suburbs are a real world, but a spiritually corrosive one. The land of SUVs and soccer leagues can truly be toxic to the soul. Suburbanites need to understand how the environment affects them and what spiritual disciplines are needed for their faith to survive and thrive. Goetz identifies eight toxins in the suburban life, such as hyper–competition and the "transactional" friendship, and suggests eight corresponding disciplines to keep the spiritual life authentic. Goetz weaves sociology studies, his own experiences, current events, wisdom of the spiritual masters, and a little humor to equip spiritual suburbanites for how to relate to God amidst Starbucks, strip–malls, and perfect lawns.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Goetz advocates serious examination of motives and actions in everyday life and offers hope and...answers.” (Calgary Herald )

“Death by Suburb addresses and overcomes the split in our religion, our lifestyles, and even our consciousness.” (Fr. Richard Rohr, O.F.M., author of Everything Belongs: The Gift of Contemplative Prayer )

“Goetz lets the shadows of the suburbs show and evokes a thicker sense of our social and religious worlds.” (Leigh Schmidt, Princeton University, author of Restless Souls: The Making of American Spirituality )

“God has given Goetz a gift for seeing … the parched lives beneath the suburban bliss. (William H. Willimon, author of Sinning Like a Christian )

“ Goetz’s witty new book deals with [...] the spirit-deadening alienation sometimes found in [...] housing tracts and cul-de-sacs.” (Mark Pinsky, ORLANDO SENTINEL )

“Goetz envisions a ‘thicker life,’ looking beyond the comfort...of suburban rhythms for a...deeper experience.” (Dallas Morning News )

“With bright writing, Goetz transforms familiar ideas into a provocative new package.” (Columbus Dispatch )

“Goetz points out...that suburbanites like to be in control...and true spirituality is the opposite of control.” (Charleston Post and Courier )

From the Back Cover

A great number of seekers find themselves in the seemingly unreal world of the suburbs. They read spirituality books but find themselves in carpools and coaching soccer, not in monasteries. Dave Goetz, a former pastor, shows that the suburbs are a real world, but a spiritually corrosive one. The land of SUVs and soccer leagues can truly be toxic to the soul. Suburbanites need to understand how the environment affects them and what spiritual disciplines are needed for their faith to survive and thrive. Goetz identifies eight toxins in the suburban life, such as hyper-competition and the “transactional” friendship, and suggests eight corresponding disciplines to keep the spiritual life authentic. Goetz weaves sociology studies, his own experiences, current events, wisdom of the spiritual masters, and a little humor to equip spiritual suburbanites for how to relate to God amidst Starbucks, strip-malls, and perfect lawns.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: HarperOne (February 6, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060859687
• ISBN-13: 978-0060859688
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #395,161 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Useful Discussion Starter, January 31, 2006

By 

JAD (The Sunshine State) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Death by Suburb: How to Keep the Suburbs from Killing Your Soul (Hardcover)

The premise behind this book is a captivating one. Is life in the suburbs detrimental to a living faith? Goetz claims it can be but, with the intentional approach he outlines in this book, it does not have to be. We understand what he means: superficiality and sterility are the suburbia stereotype. In the pleasant bedroom communities of America, it can seem as if people are more concerned with tidy flowerbeds than they are the things that nurture the soul.

Such a message is intriguing to me. I'm part of a 1100-member, 29-year-old Presbyterian Church. Our members are 98 per cent suburbanites (yes, we do have some members who live in the city). In the busy pace and everyday distractions of the suburbs, is it possible for people to know, to speak with and to be guided by the Living God?

What stirs the suburbs may not stir the deeper corners of the heart...but it may prompt them to seek that something else or something more that is missing. Churches in the suburbs have a real mission to help people stop, think, listen, center themselves and reconnect with one another and with the God who is everywhere.

Goetz suggests that suburbanites can grow, spiritually, if they address eight different suburban assumptions with eight correctives that are Biblically sound. Most of the assumptions are present in any suburban gathering, including the congregation. What may not be clear is that most of the correctives are also already present in a church that is centered on God, not centered on the "self".

For instance, Goetz calls for movements toward more silence (a move away from control). Most congregations do offer places of silence (the Sanctuary, open for prayer all week long, the Mediation and Memorial Garden come to mind) and spaces of silence in worship. If congregations don't, they might want to look at the first of these eight concepts. Church leaders could benefit from reading this book and asking first, whether they agree or disagree with Goetz. And then, asking, in turn whether each of the assumptions or the correctives are at work in their congregation. Then, having answered those questions, they might wish to modify existing congregational emphases to offer a greater spiritual haven in their part of the suburbs.

I have one argument with Goetz, and that is that all suburbs are not like the one he describes-every suburb has similarities, but each is distinctive. The forces that drive one suburban neighborhood may not be a blip on the scale of another. Some of the assumptions he makes, such as "everyone in the suburbs goes to church", are open to real debate. Every pastor wishes it were true - but it isn't! Having grown up in and served suburban congregations in four different states, I can say that each one has presented its own unique personality. This book could serve as a useful discussion starter, but that would be just the beginning, not the last word.

If you find this review helpful you might want to read some of my other reviews, including those on subjects ranging from biography to architecture, as well as religion and fiction.

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Thicker Life, February 22, 2006

By 

Timothy A. Barg - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Death by Suburb: How to Keep the Suburbs from Killing Your Soul (Hardcover)

In My Utmost For His Highest, Oswald Chambers draws a distinction between being of use to God and being of value to God. He describes this distintion as follows:

"There are times when it seems as if God watches to see if we will give Him the abandoned tokens of how genuinely we do love Him. Abandon to God is of more value than personal holiness. Personal holiness focuses the eye on our own whiteness; we are greatly concerned about the way we walk and talk and look, fearful lest we offend Him. Perfect love casts out all that when once we are abandoned to God. We have to get rid of this notion - "Am I of any use?" and make up our minds that we are not, and we may be near the truth. It is never a question of being of use, but of being of value to God Himself. When we are abandoned to God, He works through us all the time."

It struck me that this distinction is at the core of Death By Suburb and Goetz does an excellent job of teasing this distinction out by illustrating how the suburban facades of perfection and progress tempt many to focus inwardly on their personal holiness and usefulness to God and miss out on what Goetz describes as the "thicker life" - a life focused outwardly, in abandon and dependence on God which is arguably of more value to the community, the Church and to God Himself.

Goetz has issued suburbia a challenge and an invitation to enter into the "thicker life" of faith.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hysterical yet truthful dilemma for Christ-seekers living in Cookie-Cutter Suburbia..., February 20, 2007

By 

John 3:5 - See all my reviews

This review is from: Death by Suburb: How to Keep the Suburbs from Killing Your Soul (Paperback)

Death by Suburb: How to Keep the Suburbs from Killing Your Soul

A brave and eye-opening masterpiece written, I thought, directly for me?! At times, I thought the author was actually talking in my ear as I read page after page of classic, honest euphemisms describing Plastic Suburbanized Christians, slammed by birthday parties, after-school athletic activities (like soccer - oh, the pain of familiarity reeks in this book!), and the weekly herding to the nearest House of God. Just the epilogue of this book truly gave me some sort of conviction in my heart that this CONSTANT triangulation of the demands of this world, my self-conscious flesh, and my God-conscious inner spirit IS REAL, and especially more so in suburbia. Great read for Christian Stay-at-Home Suburban Mommies who want to know that "Gee, I am not the only one!"