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Reimagining Church: Pursuing the Dream of Organic Christianity, by Frank Viola
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From Publishers Weekly
Viola (Pagan Christianity), a leader in the house church movement, believes the church as we know it today is nothing like what God intended it to be. According to Viola, the first-century church, which should be our pattern, met in homes without any official pastor. All members of the church were involved in worship, spontaneously breaking out with teaching or song as they were moved. Decisions were not made until everyone reached consensus. There were no official leaders or elders, but there were men who served and taught and helped others, thus leading by example. Viola believes that to bring the church back on track, both clergy and denominations must be completely abolished. Churches should not have buildings nor should they worry about doctrinal statements. Such radical ideas will best be received by Emergent and postmodern readers. Skeptics will cringe at Viola's strident tone and all-or-nothing approach. More concrete examples of what Viola has seen work well in his 20 years of house church work would have greatly strengthened the book. (Aug.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Review
10 years ago I began reimagining everything. Fresh out of high school, I encountered a New York-trained chef working as a short order cook in an out-of-the-way country buffet restaurant, all to be part of an experimental community of Christians who had no paid ministers, no top-down structure and who practiced their own priesthood with open, participatory gatherings. This guy gently coaxed me out of denominational Christianity into the wild and wooly world of house churching. I had tons of questions. Reading was as crucial in this period of questioning as the flesh-and-blood connections I was making between bodies and church; paper guides could carefully lay out where the nascent North American house church movement was going. Two newly-self-published tomes by a Florida house church planter named Frank Viola were crucial reads: Rethinking the Wineskin and Who Is Your Covering?. In them Frank carefully laid out why authentic church might have more to do with bodies than buildings, and mutuality than mortar. As the Quakers say I was "convinced," and began a journey into shared life with other friends and followers of Jesus in intentional community. A decade later I'm still involved in house churching but my questions persist. (I'd have it no other way.) My questions have changed, too - they probe deeper than the "what" of church and move into the "why." Thankfully, Frank's writing has matured along with my questions, and "Reimagining Church" is the result. Rewritten and, well, reimagined for the 21st century, Frank remains a champion of church in the 1st century. But at its best, his is not a wooden literalism verging on fundamentalism, but an evocative appreciation for the peculiar genius of Jesus and his earliest followers for the ways Way-farers can arrange ourselves to most beautifully reflect God's in-breaking kingdom. Let's face it: Viola's earlier 2008 release Pagan Christianity was a rampaging bull in an ecclesiastical china shop. Called simplistic and mean-spirited by detractors and a prophetic call for renewal by its champions, all readers had this in common - we wanted more. Okay, Mr. Deconstructor, we said. We see how you can tear down someone else's sand castle with gusto - now let's see how you'd build your own. And build he does. Has anyone read The Shack? If this 2 million-plus selling spiritual adventure novel shows us anything, it's that the Trinity is hot. No, I'm not talking about Carrie-Anne Moss (but her too...my wife agrees). I mean the divine interplay between Father, Son, and Spirit. In an era captivated by the possibility of discovering The Secret and fascinated by A New Earth, G-D can still hold G-D's own, especially when conveyed in the mystery of a loving God-as-community that's the heart of Trinitarian spirituality. So the super-cool thing about "Reimagining Church" is that it doesn't open up with a dry discourse on why the New Testament church is better than First Baptist on the corner - instead it opens with a depiction of the Godhead in fellowship. Taking a cue from Stanley Grenz, Miroslav Volf and others, Frank puts flesh on conceptual bones by showing how it's within the DNA of the church to reflect the mutually-indwelling nature of the Trinity. How can we harness this innate spiritual energy? How does this look in everyday, practical example? This is what the first part of "Reimagining Church" fleshes out. Part two is a comprehensive re-visioning of what leadership, authority and accountability in a Trinity-rooted, organic church. If you've always had an inkling that you don't need denominational "covering" or hierarchical authority fencing you in to be right with God (as an individual or church body), "Reimagining" will fund your biblical imagination with an alternative reading of Scripture that points to the dignity of each person in the church, encouraging relational and shared authority responsive to the leading of Christ alone. Sometimes I feel like an amphibian, breathing the air and water of two worlds - the house church movement and the emerging church conversation. Sometimes my friends in each misunderstand the Other - that is, when they're not amphibians like me. Being kind of a book guy, I keep an eye out for books that occupy liminal space - that are bilingual, that breathe air and water. "Reimagining Church" is one such book - it has something to offer both conversations, and maybe even move us all forward. You might not agree with all the author's conclusions, but your creative capacity to return afresh to Christian faith's sources will be enlarged as a result of reading. Here's what some others are saying about the book too. "In Reimagining Church, Frank Viola is at the top of his game, showing a serene, soaring mastery of the theology of church as organism rather than organization." - Leonard Sweet, author of Soul Tsunami, Soul Salsa, and 11 "Dissent is a gift to the Church. It is the imagination of the prophets that continually call us back to our identity as the peculiar people of God. May Viola's words challenge us to become the change that we want to see in the Church ... and not to settle for anything less than God's dream for Her." - Shane Claiborne, author of The Irresistable Revolution, activist, and recovering sinner "True to form, this book contains a thoroughly consistent critique of prevailing forms of church. However, in Reimagining Church, Frank Viola also presents a positive vision of what the church can become if we truly reembraced more organic, and less institutional, forms of church. This is a no holds barred prophetic vision for the church in the twenty-first Century." - Alan Hirsch, author of The Forgotten Ways and The Shaping of Things To Come "For those who are not threatened by the idea that church must change, Reimagining Church is an absolutely timely and much-needed perspective, delivering a solid biblical vision for the body of Christ. Using the entire scope of New Testament church life, Frank Viola lays out the core values and the essential principles that must form the foundation of life together as the body of Christ. The book delivers an exceptionally hopeful, visionary picture of all that church can and should be. - Grace, blogging at kingdomgrace "The body of Christ has been stifled by human traditions for far too long. Reimagining Church charts a fresh course for the church that recovers the simplicity of Christ and listens seriously to what the voice of the Great Shepherd is saying to His people." - Jon Zens, editor, Searching Together and author of A Church Building Every ½ Mile: What Makes American Christianity Tick? "If Pagan Christianity? exposes the reality that much of our current church practice has little basis in the Bible, Reimagining Church takes the next step to establish what truly biblical church life looks like. With the inner life of the Trinity as the starting point, Viola paints an amazing picture of organic church life." - John White, community facilitator, LK10: A Community of Practice for Church Planters - Mike Morrell -- The OozeIn Acts 2, Luke described a church where everyone shared their possessions, had everything in common and was devoted to practices like fellowship and prayer. If you've looked around the modern Church and wondered where that kind of gathering is hiding, we suggest you read "Reimagining Church," which will help form your convictions into revolutionizing thoughts. Frank Viola, a leader in the home-church movement for 20 years, lays out the complicated issue of "redoing church" in a tangible and practical way, never skimming over the hard issues like unity, authority, and spiritual status quo. Spilling over with relevant scriptures and illustrations, Viola's convictions are sure to challenge and excite you. -- Relevant Magazine (September/October, 2008)Viola, co-author of Pagan Christianity, continues his discussion on the non-institutional church in Reimagining Church: Pursuing the Dream of Organic Christianity. Having left an organized church in 1988 for a home -- or "organic"-- church model, the author draws comparisons from the early church to the way modern churches operate. Through chapters that focus on "reimagining" the Lord's Supper, the family of God, church unity and authority and submission, Viola, who doesn't believe in clergy, denominations or doctrinal statements, argues that most churches are set up like corporations, while those in the early church were overseen but not controlled by apostles. In the foreword, Viola warns that offense could rise from readers with sacred loyalty to their churches. However, even though he presents what some might consider an extreme position, there are points anyone could glean when it comes to being members of the church -- institutional or not -- truly caring for and serving one another. -DeWayne Hamby -- Christian Retailers
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Product details
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: David C Cook; New edition (August 1, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 9781434768759
ISBN-13: 978-1434768759
ASIN: 1434768759
Product Dimensions:
5.5 x 0.8 x 8.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review:
4.5 out of 5 stars
277 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
#83,807 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
This is a short provocative book about the way in which we do church and how it differs from the practices of the Early Church as described in the Bible.PROS: Author Frank Viola has done his homework and each page shows a deep understanding not only of the biblical text, but also of the different practices of the contemporary Christian church. Viola explains his position from the very beginning and he develops a multitude of arguments to support it throughout the book. This is partly due to a nicely crafted structured that approaches the issue in question from different angles. His writing is well articulated and appealing for casual readers and scholars alike.CONS: Viola is unashamedly convinced that most Christians are "doing church" in the wrong way. Out of this conviction the reader does not only get interesting arguments, but also a certain feeling of "radicalism for freedom," if there can be such a thing. For the reader, Viola may feel "pushy" and repetitive on occasions, though, again, these can be signs of his obvious passion for the topic at hand.CONCLUSION: This was a nice and challenging reading. I think Viola rises questions that any committed Christian may have asked him/herself at some point. Though not every reader has to agree 100% with his thesis (I actually don't), the presentation is compelling and most of it is just the plain truth. Precisely because of this, I encourage people to read and respond to Viola's arguments, I would expect positive outcomes of engaging in doing so.
In the Third Century, some people dissatisfied with the increasingly institutionalized church left and went into the Cappodocian desert. They lived in the caves there. An interesting phenomenon then occurred. They still felt a strong need to have a "church building" so they carved cathedral-like structures in the rocks! It is a very strange sight to view churchy accouterments in the desert stone!Well, in Reimagining Church, Frank compellingly shows that Ekklesia is not about buildings, hieratchy, and rituals. The Ekklesia is the continuation of Christ's life on earth in relational, face-to-face communities -- like Bethany, where Jesus was always welcome.Frank shows that the DNA of the Son is in His people -- in a Third Race, a New Humanity -- and that this DNA is designed to come to expression as revealed in the contours of the New Testament narrative. He draws a beautiful picture of how the Lord's life flows through His Bride as they function together.This book deeply touched my life, as it has the lives of many others over the years. If you are hungry for something beyond church-as-usual, read this book!
I decided to throw my two cents in after seeing some of the reviews people are leaving. One person above said the author writes in a "my way or no way at all" approach to how church is to be done. I found that hilariously preposterous since I didn't get that vibe at all.To those who know me well, who know that I'm a missionary in Peru, I've kept very little secret that I feel "organic" church is more biblical model than "institutional" church. I saw this book was either free or $2.99 (I can't remember which) so I got it, not thinking I'd learn much from it but get a few nuggets and tidbits here and there. I was pleasantly surprised and would easily say this is one of the most thorough books on the subject, and not too deep and profound so as to overwhelm the average reader.I’ve always been under the impression if we were to take members of the first century church and put them in a time machine and bring them to one of our ‘event’ oriented services, they’d be pretty confused.Viola does an amazing job of Scripturally going through the many trappings of modern ‘church’ that are taken for granted and assumed to be Biblical and re-imagines what New Testament church would truly look like, if we cared to find out.If you read this book and feel like it gives a lot of upheaval to how your ministry or church life, remember, as the author states early in the book:"A truth’s initial commotion is directly proportional to how deeply the lie was believed. It wasn’t the world being round that agitated people, but that the world wasn’t flat. When a well-packaged web of lies has been sold gradually to the masses over generations, the truth will seem utterly preposterous and its speaker a raving lunatic."Definitely recommend!
If you want to ask the tough questions of what the Church is then read this book. If you don't want to question our organizational structures then do not buy this book. It was challenging to me to read this as a pastor, ministry leader for the majority of my adult life. There are some hard pills to swallow in Frank's ideas, but well worth it. Can the church be more organic? probably. Can we reimagine it? probably. Can we do it? Can we reflect the desire that Jesus has for us to be a living, growing, powerful organism? After reading Frank's word I think we might be able! A good and challenging read for all pastors and ministry leaders. Divergent Theology: An Inquiry Into the Theological Characteristics of the Word of Faith Third Wave Movement and The New Apostolic Reformation
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