fresh+re:fresh: church planting and urban mission in Canada in post-Christendom [Paperback]

Leonard Hjalmarson (Editor), Brent Toderash (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Finally...thankfully Len and David force the focus on faithful practitioners instead of entertaining theorists. Fresh and Re:Fresh provides beautiful windows into God's activity among Canada's courageous missional leaders and is therefore the best place to start reading. --Hugh Halter, Author of The Tangible Kingdom

Fresh and Re:Fresh holds up a mirror on one slice of the Canadian church in the 21st century. Through a prism of personal and communal experiences this book explores what faithfulness looks like. Those looking for generic models for leadership or church planting will be disappointed. Instead of provding formulas for success, the power of this book lies in the stories reflecting the palette of experiences from faith communities firmly rooted in specific local contexts. --Norm Voth, Director of Evangelism and Service Ministries, Mennonite Church Manitoba

The cultural and societal change in Canada over the past three decades has been so dynamic and profound that the Church is being forced to reconsider the ways in which it engages Christ's mission. The authors of Fresh and Re:Fresh recognize this reality and are actively addressing it by creating new communities of faith that are true to the Gospel and make sense to the people they serve. Their experience and insight is a wealth of knowledge that will inspire and instruct those who share their passion. --George Werner, Director, Mission Canada, The Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Allelon Publishing (July 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0977718425
• ISBN-13: 978-0977718429
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.1 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,547,237 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Summary and Outline, May 4, 2010

By 

Leonard Hjalmarson (Aylmer, Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: fresh+re:fresh: church planting and urban mission in Canada in post-Christendom (Paperback)

Fresh and Re:Fresh listens to the stories of ten Canadian church planters from Vancouver to Montreal. In their own words they describe the challenges of cultivating new faith communities in Canadian soil. As church planters and urban and suburban missionaries, they reflect on the context of pluralism, the relation of church and kingdom, describe the spiritual traditions and practices they embrace, the networks that support them, and the challenges of missional engagement in their communities.

Fresh and Re:Fresh also engages the mentors of church planters. These ones reflect on the changing cultural landscape, and describe the new challenges faced by church planters as they seed kingdom outposts. They also consider the specific skills needed by mentors and spiritual friends of church planters in the unique soil of post-Christendom Canada.

Finally, Fresh and Re:Fresh tells the stories of some Canadian churches in transition. Established communities of faith face particular challenges as they attempt to move from attractional to incarnational, from service-providers to stakeholders, and from an isolated and inward stance to neighborhood and community engagement for the purpose of transformation.

**
From the Introduction

In this volume we explore the Canadian cultural landscape and the intersection of faith and culture through the lenses of three groups of practitioners. It's helpful to begin that exploration with a taxonomy. Stuart Murray in Church After Christendom distinguishes between "inherited" and "emerging" churches, a more helpful framework than emerging vs. institutional. Murray notes that all church is "inherited" to some degree, then suggests three types of emergence, some of which are closer than others to inheritance.

* churches emerging from inherited church through processes of renewal and transformation. The outcome is not another church, but a church more or less radically different from the past in structure, ethos, style, focus or activity
* churches emerging out of inherited church through processes of community engagement, liturgical exploration, church planting or missional reflection. The outcome is a new, or embryonic church, that becomes more or less autonomous.
* churches emerging within a particular context without the shaping influence of or significant connection to inherited church.
The outcome is a new church, which may be more or less radical, that will need to build links with other churches.

Contributors: Church Planters

Phil Harbridge - Breathe Christian Society. Vancouver.
Jamie Arpin-Ricci - Church planter in Winnipeg with Mennonite Church Manitoba
Jamie Howison - St. Benedict's Table - Anglican Church of Canada, Winnipeg
Scott Cripps - Awaken, Calgary. CWBC Baptist.
Rob Scott - King's Bridge Community, Calgary, The Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches
Kim Reid - Open Door Community Church, Free Methodist Church, Kingston, Ontario
Jim Loepp Thiessen - The Gathering. Kitchener, Ontario. MCEC
Daryl Dash. Park Lawn Baptist Church, Toronto.
Frank Emanuel. Freedom Vineyard. Ottawa, Ontario

Mentors of Church Planters

Paul Martinson, Western Canada Director for YWAM
George Werner - George Werner serves in Mission Canada, a team of leaders who
facilitate missional work across Canada though the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada
Jared Siebert - The Free Methodist Church as the National Director of Church Development. His main responsibility is to build for the future through the planting of new kinds of churches
Ray Levesque - Ray Levesque ("She-nex-kaw") is Tlingit and Cherokee and serves an
indigenous church network - New [...] - with over 200 gatherings located in the Canada, the US, Brazil and Guyana. He edits the Talking Circle Journal, and the Red Road Journal.

Special Contributors
David Fitch - Life on the Vine, Chicago
Alan Roxburgh - VP of ALLELON Canada

4.0 out of 5 stars First of its kind, October 26, 2009

By 

Frank Emanuel "pomorev" (Ottawa, ON) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: fresh+re:fresh: church planting and urban mission in Canada in post-Christendom (Paperback)

This is the first in what I hope will be a growing collection of emerging church stories from Canada. I know emerging is not a favoured designator for Canadians, but I mean it in the more generous and positive way. I have a bit of history (through Resonate.ca) with many of the authors, and they are a source of the hope I have in the evangelical church. This book is for those who long for a relevant urban expression of Christianity. It is not the book to tell you how to do it, but the book that will encourage you to try the very thing that is already in your heart. Get this book if you want to know what church can be in the future. (Just to be upfront, I have a chapter in this book.)