Dying Church, Living God: A Call to Begin Again [Paperback]

Chuck Meyer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2000

Make a new church. That's the challenge Chuck Meyer lays down for readers. He writes that the institutional church we know so well is dying. In fact, it may already be dead. Its structure and theology make no sense today, and haven't for decades. It has ceased to be an adequate instrument for the Living God who refuses to be bound by it, to it, or in it. Dying Church, Living God is a provocative, radical look at the church as it enters the 21st century. ""In the midst of all this enormous change, the Church still conducts worship services at hours based around 19th-century milking schedules...There is an incredibly deep spiritual hunger gnawing at people"" that Chuck Meyer believes the church must address. Acknowledgement of the death of the church and the inevitable resurrection is both the premise and the promise of this provocative, enlightening book.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Do not be afraid of this book. It is a gift. -- R'vd Dr. Richard B. Gilbert, Executive Director, The World Pastoral Care Center and author of Finding Your Way After Your Parent Dies: Hope for Adult Children

Meyer is a prophet. His book is a radical yet overwhelmingly positive word for the faithful and the lapsed of organized religion. Dying Church Living God is the most searingly honest, courageous call to genuine church resurrection I have yet read. It's essential for the millions who may grieve for the 'old wine skins', but who know with heart and with mind that it's long past time for the new. --Tom Harpur, author of Prayer: The Hidden Fire

About the Author

During his life Chuck Meyer gave 200-300 speaking engagements a year on the hard topic of death and dying and managed to have audiences rolling in the aisles. A graduate of Earlham College, Union Theological Seminary, and the University of Bridgeport, he got his practical education working in a New York prison and a Texas jail. He was Vice President of Operations and chaplain at St. David's Medical Center in Austin Texas, he is the author of 10 books, including murder mysteries, humor, and titles on death and grieving. When he married Debi Ludeman, daughter Michal (age 6) came along as a part of the package. She inspired him to write. Unfortunately, this gifted author died in a tragic car accident in 2000.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Northstone (January 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1896836399
• ISBN-13: 978-1896836393
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,170,710 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dying Church, Living God .... COURAGEOUS AUTHOR, March 28, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Dying Church, Living God: A Call to Begin Again (Paperback)

This book is an act of PROFOUND COURAGE and SUBLIME FAITH. As the author himself warns, it is not for the faint-hearted or complacent church goer. But if you are spiritual questioning and/or starving then this short, daring, funny book is a cool glass of water in the Sahara. If you are searching for I became a fan of Chuck Meyer in 1999 when I heard him speak at a conference about "A Good Death". Aside from being both eloquent and amusing, his ideas on how we can better prepare for death and honor this passage were riveting. But nothing he said then prepared me for this latest work.... "Dying Church, Living God" is the rare kind of book that's capable of setting off an inner earthquake, but out of the destruction such new GLORY can come. I just read (in an Amazon review of his book "12 Smooth Stones") that he died in a traffic accident in November 2000. It is a grave loss. I can only believe that he is already busy doing the work of the Holy Spirit elsewhere.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars insightful, Humorous, March 31, 2000

By 

K. Colombo (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dying Church, Living God: A Call to Begin Again (Paperback)

Chuck Meyer offers a witty and insightful commentary on the current and future states of the Christian Church as it fails to acknowledge, let alone keep pace with, the changes of modernity. Meyer critiques the church not as an embittered outsider casting stones but as an member of the Episcopal clergy who finds honest shortcomings with the institutional church. Filled with humor and Hopeful in tone, the book is straight forward in its language without becoming simplistic. A worth while read for those grappling with the desire to remain an active member a Christian while unable to sincerely concur with orthodox theology.

1.0 out of 5 stars Just Another "Death of the Church" Book, February 8, 2011

By 

Kevin W. Haug - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dying Church, Living God: A Call to Begin Again (Paperback)

I recently purchased this book at a seminary book store in Austin, TX thinking it might offer some insight into the decline of Christianity in North America and offer some insight into how clergy can effectively stem or reverse the tide. Instead, I have come across one more book opting for heresey instead of truly wrestling with the core doctrinal, orthodox beliefs which changed the world nearly 2000 years ago. Sad to say, Meyer's scope of the church is severely limited--in my opinion, reactionary to a small portion of the great church landscape which is the United States. He does not delve into churches who do indeed connect the time tested faith to the the everyday lives of believers. He does not acknoweldge that such things are happening (and were happening) as he wrote this book. He would have much more credibility if he had studied or attended such churches; however I do not believe he did. Sadly, his recommendations for the church are bascially, "don't just throw out the baby with the bath water, throw out the entire bathtub, sink, and burn down the house. Get rid of this thing we call Christianity, and reinvent something completely different." No thank you.