Intelligent Church: A Journey Towards Christ-Centred Community [Paperback]

Steve Chalke (Author), Anthony Watkis (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2, 2006

'As St. John of the Cross said: 'Mission is putting love where love is not.' This book is full of ideas. It should prompt us all to examine the effectiveness of the way local churches are organized.' ---The Most Reverend and Right Honourable Dr. John Sentamu, Archbishop of York 'Everything that Steve Chalke writes is insightful and cutting-edge. Here he argues in favor of a church that thinks and acts in ways that make the Kingdom of God visible and reasonable in a secular society.' --Tony Campolo, PhD Eastern University, Pennsylvania, USA The task of the Church is 'to be the irrefutable demonstration and proof of the fact that God is love,' claims Steve Chalke. An intelligent church intentionally connects the Bible and its twenty-first-century culture, is authentic and, most importantly, has thought through its practice. In other words, the way it does church is a reflection of its understanding of who God is. This foundational issue must be addressed by pastors, church and ministry leaders, small group leaders and others as we continue to grapple with the shape of effective church in the postmodern, post-Christian West. As Chalke unpacks central theological concepts, such as the incarnation, human sinfulness and the Trinity, he points us to the corresponding characteristics of an intelligent church, such as inclusiveness, messiness and diversity. Each thought-provoking chapter concludes with a 'Yes but How?' section, which gives practical suggestions for moving your church along this path.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

A Journey Towards Christ-Centred Community An exploration surrounding the issues of being church in the twenty-first century and a journey toward a community that is inclusive, messy, honest, purposeful, generous, vulnerable, sustainable, and diverse Many people today believe that churches are simply out of touch with reality at best or judgmental and exclusive at worst. And yet the Jesus we serve is seen to be forgiving, wise, generous, and gracious. Why is there such a disconnect? Steve Chalke seeks to reclaim the true heartbeat of the church—the passion to save not itself, but the world. In a work that is rooted in deep theology while being highly practical, he outlines a church whose mission and outlook is fully rooted in its understanding of a loving, welcoming God. A church that is inclusive, welcoming all people. A church that is purposeful, marked by a mission to equip its members in their frontline work. A church that is generous, vulnerable, and sustainable. What we need today is an intelligent church—not cerebral or intellectual, but rather joined up and authentic—a church that makes sense of both the Bible and of life.

About the Author

Steve Chalke is an ordained minister and the founder of Oasis, which over the last 25 years has developed into a group of charities working to deliver education, training, youth work, health care and housing around the world. He is the senior minister of Church.co.uk, Waterloo and a UN Special Advisor working to combat people trafficking. In 2004 he was awarded an MBE by the Queen for his work in social inclusion.

Anthony Watkis is a graduate of London School of Theology. He is a professional writer and works with Oasis UK.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Zondervan (May 2, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0310248841
• ISBN-13: 978-0310248842
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,150,702 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Theology and ideas for missional churches, April 1, 2010

By 

Darren Cronshaw (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Intelligent Church (Kindle Edition)

Steve Chalke, with Anthony Watkis, Intelligent Church: A Journey towards Christ-Centred Community (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006)

Chalke is founding director of Oasis and leads the church.co.uk network. He passionately communicates about immersing church and communication of the gospel in an understanding of God's love and grace, and understanding people as made in the image of God (not just or primarily as sinners). He points to marks of an intelligent church such as inclusiveness, honesty, messiness and diversity, and at the end of each chapter includes some practical suggestions and questions to prompt action. His mission experience and reading of the radical and political message of Jesus in the gospels informs the book throughout. He stresses the importance of letting our concept of God as Trinity and our Christology shape the way we do mission and church: `An intelligent church is a church where Christology drives its missiology, which in turn shapes its ecclesiology. All that we believe about God as revealed in Christ (his nature and style) must shape all that we believe about our mission (its nature and style), and the way that we do church should simply be the best way to encapsulate, express and achieve that goal. We must confront the tendency for the process to end up reversed. The shape of the way we do church - our traditions, our meetings, our buildings, our liturgies, our governance, our dress and countless more of our cultural preferences - can no longer be allowed to determine the shape and style of our mission and so limit what our communities and our society as a whole can see or know of Christ.' (p.173)

Originally reviewed for D Cronshaw "The Emerging Church: Pioneering Leadership and Innovation Reading Guide", Zadok Paper (Forthcoming 2010).

4.0 out of 5 stars practical and engaging, February 24, 2008

By 

Richard J. Stanislaw (Ocean City, NJ) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Intelligent Church: A Journey Towards Christ-Centred Community (Paperback)

Chalke writes from proven experience. The format of essays followed by questions provides for discussion-beginning. Asks basic questions about the purpose of the local church and suggests some unconventional approaches.