With a title like this how could I resist?
Like many other leaders within the church I have spent much time over the years pondering the decline and struggles the church has been facing for several decades (statistically the decline actually seems to have started, or at least been seeded, as far back as the 1950's, even if it took time to become more noticeable in many local settings). So when I saw this one I knew I had to give it a read,
Over half of this book is history. History as in back to the beginning of the Christian movement. Now given that I have been a bit of a history dweeb since I was a pre-teen I certainly enjoyed the historical summary. But I would have been just as happy or happier if more of the book ws looking at the present/recent past and exploring how we might respond to a God who may not live in the institutional church anymore.
When we did get to that analysis I found it very thought provoking. Now that might be because Daly follows along the same track that my thoughts tend to go. He does have the courage to name openly that the church as we know it is dying (some might say dead but has yet to fall down). He encourages us to seriously consider if God has gone elsewhere and we need to leave this thing we call church behind to catch up to where God has led.
This week I am preparing for Easter. We are a resurrection people. If this thing we call church is dying or dead, maybe we need to go for a walk in the garden. And since resurrection does not mean resuscitation we need to open our hearts to what a resurrected church might look like. AS the saying goes, you can't go home again. The future of the church is not going to be a return to what we once were. If God doesn't live here anymore, where is God? Can we join them there?
I am thinking that I should recommend this book to some of my colleagues and to members of our congregational council.
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