Brave Cities: The Archaeology, Artistry, and Architecture of Kingdom Ecosystems

by Taylor Mccall, Hugh Halter

It’s time to break free from our Sunday-centric, formulaic versions of church and instead architect fresh kingdom ecosystems as an ancient yet new frontier for sustainable mission.


The temptation for many church leaders is to take what’s worked elsewhere and use it as a paint-by-number. Yet Jesus showed us a different way. Every word he spoke and everything he did utterly broke the molds, rules, and laws that people had created to confine God and his kingdom.

Taylor McCall and Hugh Halter challenge us to trade in our formulas for the artistry of living as brave cities—kingdom ecosystems that embody the authentic good news of Jesus, where homes, reconciliation, discipleship, relationships, worship, enterprise, activism, and justice coalesce to form biblical community.

This book won’t tell you what to do. Instead, it will invite you to uncover the places where God is already at work, attune to God’s vision for transformation, and craft beautiful kingdom environments that bravely demonstrate the love of God.

Genres: Nonfiction, Faith, Church

222 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 1, 2024

Reviews

[Keith Messer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A third way forward. Men of strong opinions, but I see why they have their strong opinions and they have certainly backed it up.

One statement that sticks out because it’s funny and painfully true: “most of us still think that getting a large group of relative strangers together to sing and listen to a lecture is the pinnacle of the experience of the Jesus people.”
1. I do think that the Sunday gathering is more than this
2. I do think that the majority of outsiders think this way about church.

Church should be a place to abide, not just visit. The church should be central in our lives, not an add on.

There are things that I disagree with like their stance on funding but 🤷🏽‍♂️.

[Vito LoCascio · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an important book for the Pioneer missionary, kingdom entrepreneur, and anyone who is interested in re-imagining what it means to live on mission in community. I really like the idea of a kingdom enterprise. And the authors paint a beautiful picture of what a community that is interrelated sharing a vision to bring the kingdom of God to their city looks like. Great innovation, creativity, heartfelt, passion, and stories; I would highly recommend this book.

There are a couple areas that I would have enjoyed to hear more about. I wanted to know more about their devotional life, how they approach biblical literacy and corporate prayer, in general, I would like to know more about how they pursue an upward relationship with God. They certainly nail the community aspect and missional focus of the church.


There's much much good to be gained from this book. It's definitely a book that questions and shakes some of the traditions that have been unhelpful throughout the centuries.
Seems like they're really pushing for change, which can come across like there's a little bit of a chip on their shoulder against the way things have always been done, which I guess is what makes the book an interesting read, at the same time. I would like to check out the community in Alton.

[Jennifer Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book includes some really great ideas for moving beyond the four walls of the church. It recognizes problems in the American, or perhaps North American, church context in particular. However, that very context at times seems to shape the proposed solutions rather than deep theological or biblical reflection. In some cases, though, it may be more an issue of semantics than substance. However, I do not believe that is the case when it gets to a discussion of the sacramental at the end of the book. I was honestly leaning towards 3 to 3 1/2 stars until I got to that discussion. But that part alone brought it down to 2 1/2 stars. I do not come from a high church or a strongly liturgical background, but I found the discussion of the sacraments to be more accommodating of cultural preferences, and perhaps driven by the proposed solutions in the book, than rooted in a Scriptural and theological foundation.

[William Bowes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book by authors who walk the walk and know how to be a force for positive change in communities. A must-read!