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The Virtue of Dialogue: Conversation as a Hopeful Practice of Church Communities
Englewood Christian Church was once a thriving mega-church, but like the neighborhood surrounding it on Indianapolis' east side, the church spiraled downward for decades in the face of widespread economic decline.
Today, Englewood--both church and community--are thriving again. Not that ECC has restored its mega-church status, but this church of 200 is having an impact that far outweighs its numbers and that upends the received wisdom about how churches work best. This story of recovery is about moving away from status symbols of success and finding a new path to strengthening and deepening community ties and creating contexts for human flourishing.
Can a modest church sustain a city? Can it foment social change simply by encouraging people to talk and listen to one another? C. Christopher Smith says that it can, and in this brief but extraordinary ebook, he shares his church's story of discovering the surprising and powerful virtue of conversation.
Today, Englewood--both church and community--are thriving again. Not that ECC has restored its mega-church status, but this church of 200 is having an impact that far outweighs its numbers and that upends the received wisdom about how churches work best. This story of recovery is about moving away from status symbols of success and finding a new path to strengthening and deepening community ties and creating contexts for human flourishing.
Can a modest church sustain a city? Can it foment social change simply by encouraging people to talk and listen to one another? C. Christopher Smith says that it can, and in this brief but extraordinary ebook, he shares his church's story of discovering the surprising and powerful virtue of conversation.
- GenresSpiritualityChristianity
38 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 24, 2012
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44 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
November 3, 2025
Title: The Virtue of Dialogue
Author: C. Christopher Smith
Date: 2025
Publisher: Englewood Press
"In an age dominated by deep social divides – between the political right and left; between rich and poor; between various racial and ethnic identities, between generations; and between educational backgrounds, to name just a few – how is it even possible that a church might have any shape at all beyond the nearly amorphous form taken by the loose network of her individual members?"
This is a key sentence early on in C. Christopher Smith's 2025 book, "The Virtue of Dialogue". Smith writes, not just about "spiritual formation", but about "congregational formation". This congregational formation is "messy because it requires the alignment of the desires of multiple people, not just one person."
Smith reminds us that "congregational formation occurs as we learn to be attentive to God’s presence in us and among us in the Holy Spirit."
The Virtue of Dialogue is the second book in a series, building on the conviction that conversation is the central practice of congregational formation. These books recount the earliest years of Englewood Christian Church’s journey of learning to grow together in conversation. Future books will address key facets of congregational formation, including how to read scripture together, how to think and talk about money in our congregations, and more.
Just like our physical bodies, our church body is healthiest when its members are paying careful attention to one another and learning to work together in spite of our differences.
This is so foreign to how our world, and sadly, how the church often functions. We prefer authoritative and autocratic leaders.
The evangelical world, since at least the days of Donald McGavran's "homogeneous unit principle" has become increasingly homogeneous, which means it has become increasingly segregated and isolated. This is reflected in the social-economic-political world we live in. But this is not the picture of the kingdom of God, where people from every tribe and tongue gather together before the throne of God.
Smith records the story of Englewood Christian Church
that includes how we were and continue to be changed by the process of talking together, and how these conversations have led to the tiniest ripples of transformative change in our neighborhood. We are broken people in the midst of a profoundly broken neighborhood, and conversation has not been a quick fix for any of our problems; yet, God continues to meet us in the middle of our conversations and slowly and patiently transforms us.
When people of our church community gather for conversation, they bring with them a wide, divergent array of theological, social, and political convictions, and deep emotional attachment to these convictions. In my experience, the longer a denominational entity has existed, the deeper these emotional attachments. And unless this is acknowledged, dialogue will be difficult.
In an important section, Smith writes:
The work we have chosen to do is real work we believe God has called us into as God transforms our neighborhood and causes it to flourish. Our businesses therefore allow us to initiate and sustain conversations with neighbors and others throughout the city about the efforts in which we all are collaborators.
The final chapter is a response to the many who would say that this story is an aberration or who would say, “My church could never do that!” Smith sketches a brief outline of why conversation is an essential practice for all churches.
Smith highlights two key characteristics of healthy congregational conversation.
First, our conversations must be Eucharistic, by which I mean not that they should be directly connected to our practice of this sacrament, but that we enter into conversation with the sort of radical self-denial that defined the life and death of Jesus and that we remember in the celebration of the Eucharist. It must be the Holy Spirit who speaks in our midst and guides our conversations. If we speak (or listen) out of our sinful nature, passions will be ignited and division will ensue. If we allow our selfish agendas to dominate our conversations (and particularly the “what’s in it for me?” mentality), we are setting ourselves up for power struggles and many other kinds of trouble.
Second, conversation should be open; anyone and everyone should be allowed to contribute. Open conversation in the church is rooted in the convictions that God has assembled us together in this place and that everyone God has assembled is a gift given for the maturing of Christ’s body.
In an appendix, Smith gives a set of conversational norms that help guide the conversations at Englewood Christian Church.
We listen and speak with an attitude which reflects the fruit of the Spirit.
We reflect the promise of Christ's presence among us and in each one of us.
We practice empathy.
We seek to understand above being understood.
We encourage openness and truthfulness by resisting judgement.
We respect the participation of others by keeping our comments brief.
We look for opportunities to find common ground.
We resist being defensive.
We are not afraid of silence.
We always pursue reconciliation with one another.
We expect messiness.
We make every effort to come prepared and on time.
This is a short, easy read. To put this into practice will be neither short or easy. The process or journey of learning to dialogue is long and difficult. This is an especially difficult journey for churches that are program based. The type of conversation and dialogue that Smith describes is counter cultural, both within our world, and within most faith communities. Our western, North American, CEO model of leadership, doesn't make room for this. This is kingdom work.
I highly recommend this for anyone in church leadership who wants to strengthen authentic community and see the kingdom of God impact the neighbourhood.
DISCLOSURE
I received a copy to review from C. Christopher Smith and Englewood Books.
I was not required to write a positive review.
The opinions I have expressed are my own.
Author: C. Christopher Smith
Date: 2025
Publisher: Englewood Press
"In an age dominated by deep social divides – between the political right and left; between rich and poor; between various racial and ethnic identities, between generations; and between educational backgrounds, to name just a few – how is it even possible that a church might have any shape at all beyond the nearly amorphous form taken by the loose network of her individual members?"
This is a key sentence early on in C. Christopher Smith's 2025 book, "The Virtue of Dialogue". Smith writes, not just about "spiritual formation", but about "congregational formation". This congregational formation is "messy because it requires the alignment of the desires of multiple people, not just one person."
Smith reminds us that "congregational formation occurs as we learn to be attentive to God’s presence in us and among us in the Holy Spirit."
The Virtue of Dialogue is the second book in a series, building on the conviction that conversation is the central practice of congregational formation. These books recount the earliest years of Englewood Christian Church’s journey of learning to grow together in conversation. Future books will address key facets of congregational formation, including how to read scripture together, how to think and talk about money in our congregations, and more.
Just like our physical bodies, our church body is healthiest when its members are paying careful attention to one another and learning to work together in spite of our differences.
This is so foreign to how our world, and sadly, how the church often functions. We prefer authoritative and autocratic leaders.
The evangelical world, since at least the days of Donald McGavran's "homogeneous unit principle" has become increasingly homogeneous, which means it has become increasingly segregated and isolated. This is reflected in the social-economic-political world we live in. But this is not the picture of the kingdom of God, where people from every tribe and tongue gather together before the throne of God.
Smith records the story of Englewood Christian Church
that includes how we were and continue to be changed by the process of talking together, and how these conversations have led to the tiniest ripples of transformative change in our neighborhood. We are broken people in the midst of a profoundly broken neighborhood, and conversation has not been a quick fix for any of our problems; yet, God continues to meet us in the middle of our conversations and slowly and patiently transforms us.
When people of our church community gather for conversation, they bring with them a wide, divergent array of theological, social, and political convictions, and deep emotional attachment to these convictions. In my experience, the longer a denominational entity has existed, the deeper these emotional attachments. And unless this is acknowledged, dialogue will be difficult.
In an important section, Smith writes:
The work we have chosen to do is real work we believe God has called us into as God transforms our neighborhood and causes it to flourish. Our businesses therefore allow us to initiate and sustain conversations with neighbors and others throughout the city about the efforts in which we all are collaborators.
The final chapter is a response to the many who would say that this story is an aberration or who would say, “My church could never do that!” Smith sketches a brief outline of why conversation is an essential practice for all churches.
Smith highlights two key characteristics of healthy congregational conversation.
First, our conversations must be Eucharistic, by which I mean not that they should be directly connected to our practice of this sacrament, but that we enter into conversation with the sort of radical self-denial that defined the life and death of Jesus and that we remember in the celebration of the Eucharist. It must be the Holy Spirit who speaks in our midst and guides our conversations. If we speak (or listen) out of our sinful nature, passions will be ignited and division will ensue. If we allow our selfish agendas to dominate our conversations (and particularly the “what’s in it for me?” mentality), we are setting ourselves up for power struggles and many other kinds of trouble.
Second, conversation should be open; anyone and everyone should be allowed to contribute. Open conversation in the church is rooted in the convictions that God has assembled us together in this place and that everyone God has assembled is a gift given for the maturing of Christ’s body.
In an appendix, Smith gives a set of conversational norms that help guide the conversations at Englewood Christian Church.
We listen and speak with an attitude which reflects the fruit of the Spirit.
We reflect the promise of Christ's presence among us and in each one of us.
We practice empathy.
We seek to understand above being understood.
We encourage openness and truthfulness by resisting judgement.
We respect the participation of others by keeping our comments brief.
We look for opportunities to find common ground.
We resist being defensive.
We are not afraid of silence.
We always pursue reconciliation with one another.
We expect messiness.
We make every effort to come prepared and on time.
This is a short, easy read. To put this into practice will be neither short or easy. The process or journey of learning to dialogue is long and difficult. This is an especially difficult journey for churches that are program based. The type of conversation and dialogue that Smith describes is counter cultural, both within our world, and within most faith communities. Our western, North American, CEO model of leadership, doesn't make room for this. This is kingdom work.
I highly recommend this for anyone in church leadership who wants to strengthen authentic community and see the kingdom of God impact the neighbourhood.
DISCLOSURE
I received a copy to review from C. Christopher Smith and Englewood Books.
I was not required to write a positive review.
The opinions I have expressed are my own.
March 13, 2017
A live case study making the case for the importance of dialogue
This short book offers a great case study of how one church used constructive dialogue and listening to each other to revive itself.
This short book offers a great case study of how one church used constructive dialogue and listening to each other to revive itself.
May 7, 2012
Full disclosure -- I know the author. Also, I listened to this book using the text to audio feature on my Kindle. I was on a road trip and didn't bring ear buds, so I listened to the book while holding the Kindle up to my ear and driving. This might have influenced my "reading" experience.
This is an inspirational book for those wondering what the church is really all about, especially when the church itself undergoes hard times. Englewood Christian Church went from an urban mega-church with over 1,000 members to a congregation with less than 200 over the course of a decade. Chris Smith details the church's history and then focuses on the Sunday night conversations the church members began to have about what the church is about. From issues of salvation -- is it just personal or can it be collective -- to issues of evangelism and beyond. Smith then details how Englewood began transforming itself to meet the needs of its community based on these conversations.
Just prior to listening to this book, I received an e-mail from one of my ministers soliciting my help in doing an aesthetic walk-through of our church. Hearing of Englewood's deep discussions of real issues, couldn't be more different from the e-mail I received. At first I was discouraged, but Smith's book encourages us to start conversations where we are. I better get started!
This is an inspirational book for those wondering what the church is really all about, especially when the church itself undergoes hard times. Englewood Christian Church went from an urban mega-church with over 1,000 members to a congregation with less than 200 over the course of a decade. Chris Smith details the church's history and then focuses on the Sunday night conversations the church members began to have about what the church is about. From issues of salvation -- is it just personal or can it be collective -- to issues of evangelism and beyond. Smith then details how Englewood began transforming itself to meet the needs of its community based on these conversations.
Just prior to listening to this book, I received an e-mail from one of my ministers soliciting my help in doing an aesthetic walk-through of our church. Hearing of Englewood's deep discussions of real issues, couldn't be more different from the e-mail I received. At first I was discouraged, but Smith's book encourages us to start conversations where we are. I better get started!
July 4, 2012
I liked the topic and appreciated the simple, narrative description of what the author’s congregation had done, why they had done it, and how they believe it has been profitable to them. The book wasn’t preachy or prescriptive in any way, but the author sought to encourage other congregations to follow suit for the sake of the benefits that seem inherent to the approaches to community life they have embraced.
The book was written clearly and in a manner that was quite readable; I didn’t want for a better editor (or an editor at all!) as I do often in such “practical theology” books.
While I liked the book and found it readable, for whatever reason it didn’t stand out to me as a “must-read” for me or for my leaders. I certainly don’t recommend against it(!), but neither do I feel like this must take priority over the many other books that I wish to put before my congregation’s leadership.
The book was written clearly and in a manner that was quite readable; I didn’t want for a better editor (or an editor at all!) as I do often in such “practical theology” books.
While I liked the book and found it readable, for whatever reason it didn’t stand out to me as a “must-read” for me or for my leaders. I certainly don’t recommend against it(!), but neither do I feel like this must take priority over the many other books that I wish to put before my congregation’s leadership.
January 27, 2014
This book was disappointing in that it featured so little content. It seems to be slightly longer than an article from "The Atlantic", yet gives even fewer details about its topic.
What I was hoping to see were more details about how the conversations were sparked (what were some of the decisions that led to getting them started), how they were structured and facilitated, how many people participated, etc. It would have been great to get some insight into the topics explored and the variety of opinions and viewpoints expressed.
The book is more of a "tell-not-show" overview of a theme rather than a full description or "how to".
I'm thankful for the list of resources in the back, which seems to be the most practical and useful aspect of this book.
Not to diminish the importance or beauty of what Englewood has done, but this book does a poor job documenting it.
What I was hoping to see were more details about how the conversations were sparked (what were some of the decisions that led to getting them started), how they were structured and facilitated, how many people participated, etc. It would have been great to get some insight into the topics explored and the variety of opinions and viewpoints expressed.
The book is more of a "tell-not-show" overview of a theme rather than a full description or "how to".
I'm thankful for the list of resources in the back, which seems to be the most practical and useful aspect of this book.
Not to diminish the importance or beauty of what Englewood has done, but this book does a poor job documenting it.
January 18, 2016
Smith analyzes with remarkable precision the decline of a singular, Midwestern church and, by doing so, throws into stark relief the plague that has been festering and afflicting the new generation of Christians who have increasingly voiced discontent with the U.S. church. Smith provides with ironic conciseness a prognosis for the church to find its way to meaningful existence and success within local communities.
Smith's command of the English language and his exhaustive understanding of contemporary Christian issues crystallizes into a sound argument bound to provide overwhelming relief to a sub-population among U.S. Christians who have long suspected that Christianity meant something more than what they currently see.
Smith's command of the English language and his exhaustive understanding of contemporary Christian issues crystallizes into a sound argument bound to provide overwhelming relief to a sub-population among U.S. Christians who have long suspected that Christianity meant something more than what they currently see.
February 14, 2012
Chris Smith tells the story of how conversation helped transform an aging former megachurch into a congregation committed to being a missional presence in the midst of its community. This conversation wasn't easy, nor was quick, but it was impressively transforming. It's a small book -- an e-book -- that can be read quickly, but which will, if taken seriously, challenge our churches to listen, even when it's not easy to do so!
For a longer review, check out this link to my blog: http://www.bobcornwall.com/2012/02/vi...
For a longer review, check out this link to my blog: http://www.bobcornwall.com/2012/02/vi...
February 18, 2012
This e-book is very succinct and its central idea, that conversation is a necessary and fruitful practice of congregations, is important. Nevertheless, it would have been beneficial for Smith to pull back the veil of Englewood Christian Church a little more, offering more insight into their development as a faith community with attention to the mistakes and missteps along the way, as well. In addition, Smith's brief book would have benefited from a little more exposition of the theological importance of conversation.
April 1, 2012
A fine introduction to Englewood Christian Church and their practice of conversation. It offers real encouragement that church could be the place for peaceful dialogue in our contentious society and that that dialogue can bear fruits in the congregation and its community. Both heartening and challenging and I would have loved to hear more specific conversations the church engaged in to fill out the story told (and offer more encouragement for us wannabes).
February 15, 2014
Good book. Would have really liked to see him take the concepts of the last chapter and go much deeper than he did. I feel the author just scratched the surface of this very important topic in the church and society.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews