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Thin Places: Six Postures for Creating and Practicing Missional Community [Paperback]

Jon Huckins , Rob Yackley
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)

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Book Description

June 1, 2012
There is currently an abundance of conversation and resources advocating for the Church to move from her congregational and attractional models towards more holistic, missional embodiments of the Church that submerge deep into the neighborhood. While conversations and resources are often valuable, it is essential that we move from conversation to tangible practices and practical application that enlivens our kingdom imagination for shared mission that is rooted in community and place.
NieuCommunities is a collective of missional-monastic communities scattered around the globe that have been living this out for the past 10 years. In this book, we share our field notes -- through theology, story and experience as a way to offer a tangible framework of rooted practices that develop apprentices of Jesus to live on mission in the unique soil of their local context.
While standing on a hill overlooking his community on the Island of Iona, the Celtic monk St. Columba began to pray. He described his experience as a thin place, a place where heaven and earth were only thinly separated. We hope this book sparks the imagination and practice of individuals and communities across the globe to cocreate their own unique thin places that aren t simply a dream, but a daily and transforming reality.
Foreword by Mark Scandrette

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Editorial Reviews

Review

I thoroughly loved this book and found myself saying Amen at every page. A primer in incarnational mission by those who have lived it and taught it for well over a decade. --Michael Frost, Author of The Shaping of Things to Come and The Road to Missional

As God continues to call the church to it's most powerful essence of missional communities, Thin Places offers an inspirational look into practices and postures that forge God's people together and propel them outward. --Hugh Halter, Author of The Tangible Kingdom, AND: The Gathered and Scattered Church, and Sacrilege

Over the past decade interest in community life and neighborhood engagement have emerged as significant themes for a new generation of Christ followers who yearn for embodied and holistic spirituality. To thrive, this world-wild movement needs practical resources, born from historical awareness, thoughtful reflection and most importantly lived experience. Thin Places by Jon Huckins, is precisely this kind of storied resource, a tool that can equip groups to practice the way of Jesus and make a life together in their local contexts for the good of the world. --Mark Scandrette, Author of Practicing the Way of Jesus and Executive Director at ReIMAGINE

The terms 'missional' and 'monastic' are all too often tossed around by Christians as buzz words, an unfortunate reality given the importance of both terms. That is why Thin Places is such a gift to the church! Not only do the authors understand and protect the integrity of both concepts, but bring them together in a way that points us towards an exciting future as God's people actively living into His kingdom. --Jamie Arpin-Ricci, Pastor and Author of The Cost of Community:Jesus, St. Francis & Life in the Kingdom

The call of faith has always included living in community. The thing is, it is really hard. And there are not enough places where gritty community meets possibility. In short, these are people who know what they are doing in creating Christian community and Thin Places not only chronicles their experiences, but invites other communities to imagine how to do the same. --Doug Pagitt, Pastor of Solomon's Porch and Author of Preaching Re-Imagined and Church Re-Imagined

In the modern world of exponential speed and individual mobility, there is a growing hunger for a faith that can be lived out together... where we can be present, where there is an embodied practice, where the gospel becomes tangible in a particular place. NieuCommunities extends the rare gift of a transformative discipleship process that is full-bodied and place-based. --Paul Sparks, Founding Co-Director Parish Collective

It has become painfully obvious to many that the religious atmosphere of the West has drastically changed. Are we Christians still to be a people animated by the Gospel? If so, than more than ever, we need small bands of people like NieuCommunities that move into neighborhoods with the Gospel in their hearts and shaping how the live to change our communities for the sake of the Kingdom. --Jason Evans, Founder of the Ecclesia Collective

No one does community better than the NieuCommunities tribe who value both authentic life change as well as missional impact. For over ten years NieuCommunities has formed people who look, love, act, and live like Jesus. This new book chronicles their journey and gives those passionate to live different, for Christ, hope. I highly recommend this read. --Terry Walling, President of Leader Breakthru and Author of Stuck!

----

At a time when many are talking about missional communities, NieuCommunities quietly and expertly goes about doing it--forming young men and women and transforming neighborhoods. The vitality of NieuCommunities is less about what is being said than what is being lived. You'll want to read this book and listen to their story. --John Hayes, Founder of innerCHANGE and Author of Submerge, and Living Deep in a Shallow World

As the Church is rediscovering its missional ethos within a post-Christian culture that has been saturated with religious consumerism and nominal commitment, we have needed communities that could model a new path forward for us. NieuCommunities has done just that and I excitedly anticipate a book that captures their journey. --Kyle Osland, Pastor of Icon Church, San Diego

In an age when we are so often (de)formed by default by the forces of consumerism and individualism, NieuCommunities offers an alternative formation: intentional mentoring relationships shaped by kingdom practices of community, service, cultural engagement, scripture and prayer. Surely this way of mentoring is a vital pathway for re-forming the church to participate in the mission of God. --Tim Dickau, Pastor of Grandview Church, Vancouver, B.C. and Author of Plunging Into the Kingdom Way: Practicing the Shared Strokes of Community, Hospitality, Justice, and Confession

The Christian Scriptures tells us that in the present life we will receive hundredfold in houses and for many of us that's hard to believe but at NieuCommunities you get to experience this reality come true. Where there is a NieuCommunities there you will find people with houses ready to share with all who come to find rest and it is by this commitment to hospitality that we experience the Scriptures coming alive. --Darin Petersen, of Relational Tithe and The Simple Way --Darin Petersen, of Relational Tithe and The Simple Way ----

Over the past decade interest in community life and neighborhood engagement have emerged as significant themes for a new generation of Christ followers who yearn for embodied and holistic spirituality. To thrive, this world-wild movement needs practical resources, born from historical awareness, thoughtful reflection and most importantly lived experience. Thin Places by Jon Huckins, is precisely this kind of storied resource, a tool that can equip groups to practice the way of Jesus and make a life together in their local contexts for the good of the world. --Mark Scandrette, Author of Practicing the Way of Jesus and Executive Director at ReIMAGINE

About the Author

Jon Huckins lives in San Diego and is on staff with NieuCommunities, a collective of missional church communities who foster leadership and community development. After much international travel and study in the Middle East, Jon focuses much of his writing and speaking on ethics and social advocacy. He has a Master s degree from Fuller Theological Seminary and writes for numerous publications including Red Letter Christians, Burnside Writer s Collective and his book Teaching Through the Art of Storytelling.

Rob Yackley lives in San Diego and is the lead architect and director of NieuCommunities. Rob has helped birth and lead missional communities in over a dozen countries and mentors young missional leaders in diverse cultural settings across the globe. He holds a Masters of Leadership and Theology from Talbot Seminary, but has learned the most important things by trying to follow Jesus with people he loves.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 160 pages
  • Publisher: The House Studio (June 1, 2012)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 083412887X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0834128873
  • Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.2 x 0.5 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #762,047 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
(18)
4.5 out of 5 stars
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book tells the story of NieuCommunities, a collective of missional communities scattered across the globe. These communities brilliantly blend the monastic (internal formation) with the missional (external), as St. Patrick and others have for centuries. As new apprentices join their communities, they are taught to combine intellectual information with practices and rhythms lived deeply in a neighborhood. The myriad of real life stories makes this a practical and helpful book that will benefit many readers and (hopefully) communities of Jesus followers. This book is not merely about theological ideas or theories. It is about real life. It was built on practice and experiences of participants in NieuCommunities over the past 10+ years.

The book is split up into 6 sections, which reflect 6 missional postures. These postures are listening, submerging, inviting, contending, imagining and entrusting. With the postures as a backdrop, the authors explore the Biblical narrative, the history of Christian communities and how all of this can play out in a faith community set in particular neighborhoods.

When I read this book I began to imagine the countless young adults I have encountered who long for a version of Christianity that is lived deeply in community with others and in a particular neighborhood. I am also reminded of how many of us get stuck in our heads, sometimes filled with angst about our perceptions of the American churches. May we read stories like these and begin to take steps towards the beautiful, albeit sometimes painful life, described in these pages, a life of following Jesus in community.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I saw the marketing table set up at the Sentralized Conference in Kansas City. I'd never heard of Jon Huckins (which is fine, I'm sure he'd never heard of me either), and I hadn't heard of this book. But with a title like Thin Places: 6 Postures for Creating and Practicing Missional Community, how could I not be intrigued?

I began digging for my wallet as soon as I read the back cover..."Joining the concepts of monasticism and mission, authors Jon Huckins and Rob Rackley will walk you through the six postures of missional formation: listening, submerging, inviting, contending, imagining, and entrusting."

Missional Monks unite! (my website is missionalmonks.com...probably makes more sense if you know that...)

Yes, I confess that I was hooked by keyword marketing...but I'm not sorry. I encourage you to check out the NieuCommunities website [...] to learn more about these folks and their ongoing task of cultivating missional disciples in monastic community. This book does an excellent job of combining clear reasoning and instruction with well told narratives of a life lived in community with others. It doesn't cut corners to paint a utopian picture; it doesn't hold back from the messiness and struggle involved.

The six postures the book describes are more than "keys to missional effectiveness." They describe an intentionality in rhythm and structure that facilitates community, missional engagement, spiritual formation and growth. An excellent treatise against any who would claim that structure stifles the movement of the Spirit, this book describes how the members of NieuCommunities are more attuned to the moment precisely because of the rhythms and postures they've adopted.

The Six Postures

LISTENING

"Living as a community of Jesus's apprentices who are being formed and seeking to form others, it is imperative for us to enter the path of formation by listening to God through our communities (both intentional and local contexts) and ourselves. As a missional community seeking to engage our local contexts with the good news of Jesus, we choose to view our neighborhoods and our cities as our classrooms." (p 32)

SUBMERGING

"When we give ourselves fully to God, we begin to see and experience the dynamic mystery and identity of one who is inviting us into his story. When we give ourselves to each other, we begin to realize that relationships are designed to be much more than talks about the weather or to be used for personal gain. When we submerge into our context, we see that the story we have been told to believe about our neighbors, politics, and economy is far from reality." (p 48)

INVITING

"Practicing the postures of listening and then submerging into our context prepares us to engage the third posture - inviting - with softer hearts and more intimate understanding. In the inviting posture, we learn to tell our stories, tell the story of God, and invite those with whom we have come into relationship into both. People are invited into our lives and faith journey by being welcomed into our homes, small groups, community meals, and worship gatherings." (p 66)

CONTENDING

"The problem [with issues of injustice in the world] is that they can be so overwhelming that we choose to simply go about our routines and ignore the areas of brokenness and injustice that surround us. However, while simply ignoring those who are in need is tempting and far too culturally acceptable, our role as God's people is to step into these stories and contend for those who are broken, hurting, and alone. We are to be the manifestation of the good news brought about with the arrival of God's kingdom." (p 86)

IMAGINING

"The imagining posture is not one of fairy tales and science fiction. There are no glass slippers or alternate realities. The divine imagination allows us to see things as they really are - to engage reality in the way Jesus desired when he announced a new kingdom and a new way of life...In this posture we desire to discern God's call on our lives, to live into our role as co-creators, and to see in our mind's eye the kind of transformational faith community God wants us to pursue." (p 115-116)

ENTRUSTING

"When we catch a vision of what God has for his people, we can't help but entrust ourselves to it by stepping forward as sent ones. In this posture, we desire to entrust people to God, celebrate their new or renewed understanding of God's call on their lives, and lean confidently into the future. Without sending, our transformation is incomplete: it is where everything falls into place, and it moves us from speaking about it to living it out." (p 132-133)

Some things stand out as one progresses through the list of postures. Firstly, "posture" is a very appropriate term. A book written from other contexts might refer to values, practices, characteristics, keys, etc.

The reason posture is so powerful is that it simultaneously conveys both reflection and action. An intentional posture allows for both giving and receiving while simultaneously conveying a sense of readiness and anticipation. And it also reminds us that our structures and practices serve our calling and mission - not the other way around.

The stories of how these postures find expression in the real, actual lives of real, actual people in a real, actual community are really what set this book apart from many others. Stories of risk, adventure, transformation are set in an astoundingly normal - and yet profoundly abnormal - landscape. Look long enough and you'll see that the extraordinary actually resides just below the surface of the mundane...the same mundane that too often slips by unnoticed outside each of our doors.

NieuCommunities is described as a community of discipleship and disciple training. Far from the inwardly-focused approach often found in churches, people are equipped for ministry in the neighborhood, in order to serve wherever they may go - not to simply for the self-preservation of the local system. Apprentices are given a chance to experience community, cultivate spiritual disicplines and missional engagement, and receive coaching/spiritual direction along the way. Rather than trying to hoard all these gifted people in one place, NieuCommunities celebrates occasions when these apprentices are sent out by the Holy Spirit to listen and submerge into new contexts, contend with new issues, imagine and invite new possibilities and entrust themselves to God's outcomes.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars If you have neighbors, this book is for you. August 15, 2012
By J. Kile
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is a great book full of tangible examples and experienced wisdom. It is a short dive into living out Christianity in the place you live. Though it is a small book, it will take some time to finish if you allow yourself to wander into the examples and concepts and imagine how to implement them in your context, with your neighbors and your community.

One of my favorite sections of the book is the concept of practiced submersion (the act of being intentionally present, spiritually and physically in the neighborhoods where we live). Jon's book reminds us that this is something Jesus did in his day and God did before him with His Tabernacle, and gives us great personal examples of how good it is to actually live out the examples God gave us.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent for Neighborhood Immersion
As one who values dense walkable urban neighborhoods I was in for a real treat to read this book. In fact, it was hard to put down and it has stimulated so many conversations (and... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Sean A. Benesh
5.0 out of 5 stars great exposure
Our culture (christian or not) has had a growing desire for community in the last decade and there are now many who are craving what's in this book, but aren't sure what it could... Read more
Published 5 months ago by amy
5.0 out of 5 stars Really meaningful true stories about a community we can all step into
If you ever feel like you wish someone had your back or desire a space where your friends and neighbors are walking in day to day life together, you have to read this book. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Nicholas Foran
5.0 out of 5 stars A community of "Thin Places" changed my life
After living in "intentional community" for 3 years now, I can confidently say that "Thin Places" exists in my life on a daily basis, and at times, I don't even realize it until... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Max
5.0 out of 5 stars Not just another book full of missional theory
Thankful for this book and it's insight into living on mission in the midst of your community. This book is a gem so many books are all about theory and how one might go about... Read more
Published 5 months ago by jeff
1.0 out of 5 stars Gospel-less
I got the distinct message that joining the community was equivalent to being born again. Littered with imprecise language and cool-speak this is a dangerous book for anyone... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Dr. Robert L. Burris
4.0 out of 5 stars Integration Heroes!
Four things I appreciated about this book:

1) Jon and the Neiucommunities tribe pay careful attention to their context. They listen and respond, rather than impose. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Steve Boutry
4.0 out of 5 stars Practical and Real
Thin Places: 6 Postures for Creating & Practicing Missional Community

I purchased this book because I'm interested in intentional Christian communities. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Jeffrey Borden
5.0 out of 5 stars Hard to put down!
Thin Places is hard to put down! It speaks so well of the piece that's missing in living out our faith in our communities. Compelling and challenging. Read more
Published 9 months ago by maureen berkan
4.0 out of 5 stars What God Intended
Instead of focusing on bringing people into our churches this book focuses on being an active, loving presence in the community in which we live. Read more
Published 9 months ago by T. O. Ryan
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