The Outward Bound: Caravaning as the Style of the Church

by Vernard Eller

Here is what may well be the most readable - and yet the most radically thought-provoking - critique of the contemporary church available today. To put the matter simply (as Vernard Eller invariably succeeds in doing), the problem with today's congregations is that they are usually far more concerned to 'be' somewhere than to 'get' somewhere; to establish and consolidate a secure position, rather than to push on toward a goal. But according to the New Testament, observes Eller, stability and security are precisely 'not' what God intended for the church. Instead, Eller believes, the church should be a do-it-yourself, de-institutionalized, de-professionalized people in a caravan - a community of the outward bound. Eller devotes most of his time in this volume to providing concrete guidelines for achieving that goal. Addressing individual members and congregations rather than church hierarchies, 'The Outward Bound' is a lively and challenging summons to a richer and more biblical community life.

Genres: Theology

Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Vernard Marion Eller was an American author, Christian pacifist and minister in the Church of the Brethren.

Reviews

[Michael Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read this book 7 years ago; it had such a profound influence on my thinking that I had to read it again. I hope to reread it many times. Using (admittedly odd-sounding) metaphors, Eller urges readers to consider the type of church they attend and how churches now seem so very different from the model of the NT. His most important contribution is his critique of the way "church" has become a spectator sport ("the Royal Vienna String Quartet vs a barbershop quartet"). To recast a phrase of Guy Debord, we now have "the church of the spectacle." We even design them like theaters, with a stage which the "audience" faces to watch the performers. His trenchant analysis of the "successful" church in chapter 3 is particularly powerful as well.

[Derek Kreider · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had never heard of Eller before, so I wasn't really sure what to expect. Needless to say, I enjoyed this work very much. First, I enjoyed it because Eller brings up Kierkegaard and Ellul quite a lot throughout his book, and those are two Christians with prophetic voices who I look up to quite a bit. Eller's work is very much in the same prophetic vein, as he holds nothing back in his critique of the modern church.

At the same time, I absolutely love that Eller was not at all a legalist or self-righteous or arrogant about any of it - and I was even looking out for that to happen. There was one point where I was like, "Aha!" as Eller talked about how the music of rock needed to be questioned in its propriety to worship. But then he went on to say that there were likely ways in which it could be incorporated, but he was simply trying to point out that 1) we have motives for choosing the methods we use, often times looking towards effectiveness rather than oughtness, and 2) we are naive to say that means don't have an impact on anything.

There were definitely moments in this book when my eyes glazed a little and I skimmed through a few paragraphs, but it's a really short read, and the bright moments in it are solar flares that make up for the more mundane.

[Brad Tooker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book so much that I felt led to write my first book review based on it. I am astonished by how meaningful Eller’s critiques of the American church remain here in 2025. His work has pushed me to prayerfully consider what an ideal, New Testament–shaped church should look like—and how prolific the contrary has become