Customer Reviews

Dying Church, Living God: A Call to Begin Again

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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.

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.

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.