Joining God, Remaking Church, Changing the World: The New Shape of the Church in Our Time Paperback – July 10, 2015

excellent quick read. Provides a uniqe interpretation of the decline facing mainstream protestant denominations, along with a thought provoking summary of the history that brought us to this point. The second half, where he deals with what our response should be is just as thought proviking. With that he gives some concrete ideas for ways to impliment his alternative approach. I found his determination to be Spirit and God focused, rather than ecclesiocentric, to be very refreshing. On the whole I found this little book to be well worth the time. The more I've thought about it, the more I've enjoyed it and been challenged by it.

Very timely and insightful perspective on the nature and role of the church. Whilst "hard-hitting" in terms of a realistic review of modern Church history and Christian movements, it also provides very helpful ways forward for churches with practical and common-sense advice. This is a must-read for all church leaders in these days of challenge and opportunity. We must stop trying to always "fix" the church. Changing mind-sets is very hard, but Alan provides some wise counsel to assist us to approach what it means to be a transformative church in our modern society.

Review In this slim volume, Alan J. Roxburgh seeks to reorient churches away from the default to "consistently make the church the subject and object of practically all our attention and energy." He first shares what he calls the Great Unraveling as the socio-cultural-religious changes of the 1960s unfolded and churches developed for another time were fraying, stretched, and torn. He writes, "People are yearning to believe in something, but the churches have little power to capture their attention. In broad brush strokes he shows how the church reacted with calls for renewal from the Charismatic Movement to Missional Church efforts, but all were misguided in placing the church as an institution in need of tweaking to get back to its "normative location at the center of society." He says that none of this is what the Spirit seems to be up to.Instead, he charts five practices to join God in the neighborhood through listening, discerning, experimenting, reflecting, and deciding. The course he charts is designed to end up with highly contextual results rather than a one size fits all solution. The book is a quick read and offers a helpful outline for how to do the work. I found it most helpful for de-centering clergy and the church to center being the Body of Christ on what God is already doing.

As a pastor of 37 years, I think Alan has hit the nail on the head. The second section is filled with excellent exercises and strategies. Board and Sunday school classes would benefit greatly, if they are serious about changing the direction of their ministry.

Great insights and a practical approach for approaching change and trusting God in adapting. This does not assume answers, but leads toward a process of discovery and transformation. Vital tool and treasure for the church.

Inspiring and certainly challenging. We did this with a group and it inspired good conversation and desire to move outside into the neighborhood.

Great book

Coming from a fundamentalist evangelical background, I had some issues with language (Eucharist for example). The book is clearly written for church leaders and comes from a top-down corporate ecclesiastical perspective.That said, the recognition of where the Church in North America stands today and where God may be leading is worth considering. My mind and heart were continually drawn back to “Experiencing God”, an older similar program directed to individual members of the body.

Thus book has shown me why I have been so frustrated with all the 'fixing' my church has done. It has given me the direction to move forward. Slowly, lightly, and with courage

This book is a classic, full of wisdom and insight to the changing role of the church.

This book is a textbook for a university course.

Great read.