Total Church: A Radical Reshaping around Gospel and Community

by Tim Chester, Steve Timmis

"Church is not a meeting you attend or a place you enter," write pastors Tim Chester and Steve Timmis. "It's an identity that is ours in Christ. An identity that shapes the whole of life so that life and mission become 'total church.'" With that as their premise, they emphasize two overarching principles to govern the practice of church and being gospel-centered and being community-centered. When these principles take precedence, say the authors, the truth of the Word is upheld, the mission of the gospel is carried out, and the priority of relationships is practiced in radical ways. The church becomes not just another commitment to juggle but a 24/7 lifestyle where programs, big events, and teaching from one person take a backseat to sharing lives, reaching out, and learning about God together. In Total Church , Chester and Timmis first outline the biblical case for making gospel and community central and then apply this dual focus to evangelism, social involvement, church planting, world missions, discipleship, pastoral care, spirituality, theology, apologetics, youth and children's work. As this insightful book calls the body of Christ to rethink its perspective and practice of church, it charts a middle path between the emerging church movement and conservative evangelicalism that all believers will find helpful.

Genres: Church, Christian, Theology, Ecclesiology, Christianity, Nonfiction, Discipleship

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Dr Tim Chester is involved in The Crowded House, a church planting initiative in Sheffield, UK. He was previously Research & Policy Director for Tearfund UK, and has been published widely on prayer, mission, social issues and theology. He is married to Helen and has two daughters.

Reviews

[David Campton · Rating 2 out of 5]

Having moved church recently, I thought I would re-read this, and other books on a similar subject (eg. Steve Chalke's "Intelligent Church") The last time I read it is got into a little bit of bother because I gave it a scathing review and, whilst Tim Chester was generous enough to put it on his own website some of his admirers took exception to my opinion. But it is my opinion for better or for worse. And on second reading my opinion hasn't changed substantially. I probably focussed more on the points that I found helpful or challenging this time, and there are a number (eg. the critique of much of what passes as "spirituality" these days, which was interesting given some of my other current reading material) However it does still read as if the authors think they have just invented fire, or rather recieved it express delivery from heaven. They completely disregard historic, and contemporary precedent for their "gospel & community" approach, falling into the trap of some of the "back to the New Testament Church" brigade, who forget that those NT models sat within a specific time and culture. I still think that their approach to the poor is patronising, their attitude to other forms of ecclesiology is arrogant and their dismissal of academic theology is disengenuous, given the high level of theological and indeed philosophical content within the book... and the helpful nature of some of it. I also believe that their comments on worship within a less literate society is shallow, again especially so given the high view of written scripture espoused. Their introduction to the section on pastoral care did not leave me so angry this time around, but then I was ready for it this time... I still believe that this is a conservative-evangelical theology dressed up in post-modern/emergent ecclesiology. There is something to be said for their critique of a lack of community within many established churches, the lack of scriptural orthodoxy/rigour within many emergent communities, and the subjective individuality of much modern "spirituality"... But again the whole book left me with a sense of frustration at the "we know best" mentality... They had little or nothing good to say about anyone else or any other Christian tradition, and did not acknowledge the huge role that traditional churches have made and continue to make to the social capital of local communities through ventures like youth organisations, and various other church groups, which would be badly missed if they ceased to exist, which they would do if every church operated on the model outlined in this book. As such this book may not be a fair representation of the full Crowded House church network, but personally it doesn't appeal to me in the form expressed here.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Second time reading. First time in Spring 2010. I think a lot of it went over my head the first time but this time around I was refreshed by how biblical the model they argue for is.

A few things stuck out -- I forgot how much Scripture they used and how well sources it was. Biblical and historical theology galore!

Also, after trying to implement this DNA in small groups for two years, I feel my fire has been rekindled. What a treasure this book is!

[Jackie Eason · Rating 3 out of 5]

When authors present a totally different way of church life, I’m cautious because they are essentially saying that the majority of churches are incorrect. This is the struggle I have with Total Church.

I found their view on the gospel community to be very encouraging and biblical. Church members are family, therefore churches should act like a family. Every day life would be interacting with your family and inviting others into that family through the gospel. (For a more thorough book on this, I’d recommend The Gospel Comes with a House Key by Rosaria Butterfield)

The problem areas for me: minimizing counseling to spiritual counsel instead of a holistic approach, appealing for house churches because of the early church but not elder(pastoral) leadership, community hermeneutics, their disregard for sermons (especially 45 minute ones, apparently), their views on seminary and education, and their solution to losing younger people in churches (without their theories having the test of time).

I understand that Great Britain’s class struggle is similar to the United States’ racial divide. But throwing out education, seminary degrees, and sermons to bridge their connections with the lower class is not the answer. That would be like Americans declaring that they are “color blind” instead of showing that the gospel creates a beautiful unification of the nations. Education doesn’t separate people; sin separates people. The church is God’s beautiful way of uniting all peoples because they are united through Jesus.

[Ben · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book took over 200 pages to say what could have been boiled down to about four paragraphs. I suppose it would be somewhat worthwhile for someone that is new to the church to read, but there is definitely nothing new under the sun with this book! It contains such "insights" as, "It is our responsibility and privilege as Christians to be engaged in world mission" (Page 99). Shocker! That is from the chapter titled "World Mission." The rest of the chapter tries to convince you that this statement is true. As I said to the group with which I discussed it, "I read this book the first time when it was called the Bible." This book is all theory and idealism with no mention of practice.

I'm not sure how else to convey how bad I thought this book was. I only trudged through it because I was discussing it with a group. It's truly the most disappointing book that I've read in years.

[Daniel]

Helpful principles in the first couple of chapters about the biblical commitment to both Gospel-centredness and community-centredness, rather than focusing only on either extreme, which conservatives and liberals/emerging churches respectively often fall into the danger of doing. If we are committed to both, then church will be seen more as an identity rather than a responsibility which we juggle alongside other commitments [p18]. The rest of the book from p40 applies these principles to different aspects of church life. Most helpful bit was on evangelism [seeing it as primarily to do with relationships rather than events]. Didn't find the rest super enlightening, perhaps because every church context will be different, so applying the principles will look different.

[Erin Boyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, a medium book. Some parts seemed a little too radical and not particularly based in the scripture. Other parts felt obvious. A lot of solid insights though, and some new ideas I hadn't considered before. But Chapter 3, on Evangelism, was probably the best thing I have read on Evangelism in a really long time. It was super helpful and insightful!

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Total Church is one of the best books I've read on church. As the subtitle suggests, the authors argue that church is to be radically reshaped around gospel and community. They argue for three things: "Christian practice must be (1) gospel-centered in the sense of being word-centered, (2) gospel-centered in the sense of being mission-centered, and (3) community-centered." (p. 16)

The authors immediately nail their colors to the mast, distinguishing their perspective from both conservative evangelicals and the emerging church. With emerging church, they agree that conservatives are often bad at community. But with conservatives, they agree that the emerging church is sometimes soft on truth. This book proposes an alternative to both, churches that are both gospel-centered (with both a word-centered focus and a missional focus) and community-centered.

"Rigorously applying these principles has the potential to lead to some fundamental and thoroughgoing changes in the way we do church," warn the authors (p. 18). This is no entrenched defense of traditional church structures or practices. I found the book stimulating, eye-opening, paradigm-shifting, and sometimes personally-threatening.

Total Church is divided into two parts.

I. Part one is on "Gospel and Community in Principle" and argues for each in turn. Chapter one, "Why Gospel?" discusses both word and mission. "Christianity must be word-centered," the authors argue, because "God rules through his gospel word" (p. 24) and "mission-centered because God extends his rule through his gospel word" (p. 28). These assertions are fleshed out with close, but non-technical, attention to the text of Scripture, and real-life stories that show how the principles work out in practice. In fact, two of the strengths of this book are the pervasive use of Scripture and the multiple stories and examples of application. Chapter 2, "Why Community?" argues that "The Christian community is central to Christian Identity" (p. 39) and "Christian mission" (p. 47).

II. Part Two of the book focuses on "Gospel and Community in Practice," by applying the principles of part one (being word-centered, mission-centered, and community-centered) to the following areas:
*Evangelism (chapter 3)
*Social Involvement (4)
*Church Planting (5)
*World Mission (6)
*Discipleship and Training (7)
*Pastoral Care (8)
*Spirituality (9)
*Theology (10)
*Apologetics (11)
*Children and Young People (12)
*Success (13)

There are too many helpful insights from these chapters to share in a brief review. But here are some examples from the chapter on evangelism. The authors argue that there are "three strands of evangelism" (1) building relationships, (2) introducing people to community, and (3) sharing the gospel (p. 60-61). Their approach is holistic, relational, and driven by genuine concern for both the gospel and people. You won't find gimmicks or techniques here. In their words, "most gospel ministry involves ordinary people doing ordinary things with gospel intentionality" (p. 63).

Evangelism is to be a community project, which means that "our different gifts and personalities can complement one another. Some people are good at building relationships with new people. Some are socialites - the ones who will organize a trip or an activity. Some people are great at hospitality. Some are good at initiating gospel conversations. Some are good at confronting heart issues" (p. 62). A team approach combines the various gifts, which helps counter the guilt and despondency so many people feel when thinking about evangelism. "By making evangelism a community project, [we] take seriously the sovereign work of the Holy Spirit . . . Everyone has a part to play - the new Christian, the introvert, the extrovert, the eloquent, the stuttering, the intelligent, the awkward. I may be the one who has begun to build a relationship with my neighbor, but in introducing him to community, it is someone else who shares the gospel with him. That is not only legitimate - it is positively thrilling!" (p. 62).

As you can see, this approach focuses on all three priorities: the word, mission, and community. This is how the authors approach each of the eleven topics listed above.

If you want a fresh approach to church and mission that doesn't lose sight of the gospel and isn't just a plug-n-play program, get this book.

[Christian Delgado · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book casts a wonderful vision of the local Churches essence, dismantling a “professional” approach to local church ministry and going back to the roots of biblical, gospel-centered, community. If you have only seen community through a programmatic/strategic lens, this is a great book to dissect and reflect on.

[Mike · Rating 2 out of 5]

Chester and Timmis are "ministers" in home churches in Great Britain and though they say early in the book that that will not cause them to have any biases, that is clearly not the case (p. 124 for their view of Clergy). Much of what they say is good and pretty standard fare for churches who want to serve the Lord. However, they have several serious problems: First, Total Church is man centered and focused rather than God centered. This is seen in that everything in the book, called "doing church" is geared to how it affects men and what men are doing to affect men. There is only one short sentence that even mentions worship and even then it does not seek to find out what God thinks about what they are thinking and recommending (p. 86). Second, rather than being worship focused (God centered) they write that there are several other things that should be central to good church (Word, Ministry, community, Gospel, Mission, etc. p. 16, 17). On the surface, placing the Word at the center should be a good thing, but when it is used to keep us focused on what men are doing and how they are doing it, it loses its attractiveness. Third, by emphasizing community the way they effectively negate the Biblical emphasis on the family and on individuals. Finally, the philosophy of the book is very similar to the commune model taught and attempted in the 70's here in the US. Which, by the way looked a lot like a cleaned up version of leftist liberation theology.

This doesn't mean that there aren't things in Total Church that shouldn't provoke thought in the average Christian. There is much good here in terms of thinking about ministry in areas where it may not have been thought about before. There is also much good in practical ways that a church, having acknowledged that God is the center, can then move out to minister to the community. Once you get rid of that political thinking of course.

[Knowlton Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very helpful. Lots of good points. Chester and Timmis look at life in the church in light of gospel word (Scripture) and community (Church). It's divided into two parts: part one defines "gospel" and "community" and defends their understanding of it (and is described as "Gospel and Community in Principle"); part two looks at the intersection of the gospel and facets of church life, covering evangelism, social involvement, church planting, world mission, discipleship and training, pastoral care, spirituality, theology, apologetics, children and young people, and a chapter on how we should define success (this section is described as "Gospel and Community in Practice"). Clearly written, consistently pointing to Scripture as a basis for practice, and motivated by a love for God and a desire to see Him glorified, this book helped me to think more clearly about the power of the gospel in the local church. I also love that the authors so pointedly define success as faithfulness, as opposed to what has become common among churches--defining success according to numerical growth without any sort of way to evaluate the quality of that growth.
Negatively, the authors, in reacting against certain commonplace practices of Western churches, occasionally pendulum-swing to the opposite extremes. Also, sometimes the authors' context is so vastly different from my own (urban-English vs. rural-American) that some of their applications make little sense.
All in all, though, a very helpful and stimulating read.

[Dwight · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. Sets out a vision and a roadmap for a more Gospel and Community based church (as opposed to Law and Institutional I suppose although that is oversimplifying).

The one chapter that didn't ring true to me was the one on spirituality. The authors set up dichotomies between the Bible and contemplation; petition and silence; and community and solitude, Saying that the former in each case was, in principle, better than the latter. The final one in particular, but each one rang false as a categorical statement. The authors ignored all of the times Jesus sought solitude and only focused on times he was in community as examples to prove their point.

It seemed to me that they saw weaknesses in certain expressions of spirituality (which they listed) and instead of posting those as warnings and talking about the strengths, they decided they are all too dangerous and so we need to stick to the approved methods.

The chapter on apologetics was especially good. They discussed Pascal's wager in a way I had never heard before, and they focused on the fact that reasonable arguments are not the way, truth, and life.

[Valerie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. Turns everything upside down and articulates so many things that have always seemed 'off' but are hard to put your finger on. Its all about love and the gospel and community. Heartbreaking and heart-filling, its a glimpse of the future via post-Christian western Europe. Very provocative, full of great ideas even if you don't buy totally into their exact vision.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an excellent book that is worth picking up and considering.

I need more time to think through the points brought up in this book, but the practical, gospel-centered approach to church has given me a lot to chew on.

[Ben Adkison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tim Chester and Steve Timmis’ book, Total Church is one of my favorite reads in the last couple of years. I’ve been in the process of reading and digesting this work for much longer than I would have expected with a 200 page book. But every time I would start to read again, the content was so good, so challenging, and so helpful, that I would find myself re-reading chapters, and encouraging others to get a copy and re-read chapters with me. To date, this has been the most helpful book I’ve read in helping to plant Basileia Church. This is the book that I most want all the people of Basileia Church to read, and it’s the book I want all my friends considering church planting to read.

So what is it about? The subtitle of the book tells the whole story: “A Radical Reshaping around Gospel and Community.” In the authors’ own words:

“This book argues that two key principles should shape the way we “do church”: gospel and community. Christians are called to a dual fidelity: fidelity to the core content of the gospel and fidelity to the primary context of a believing community. Whether we are thinking about evangelism, social involvement, pastoral care, apologetics, discipleship, or teaching, the content is consistently the Christian gospel, and the context is consistently the Christian community” (15-16).

Further, Timmis and Chester explain:

“Being gospel-centered actually involves two things. First, it means being word-centered because the gospel is a word––the gospel is news, a message. Second, it means being mission-centered because the gospel is a word to be proclaimed––the gospel is good news” (16).

The rest of the book is basically an explanation and exegesis of these two statements. Following the introduction,there is a chapter on the gospel and a chapter on community, and then the rest of book covers all of the topics that flow out of these two foundations: evangelism, social involvement, church planting, world mission, etc.

The thing that makes this book great is that it is deeply theological and deeply communal. Many would lead us to believe that a church can either be deeply theological or deeply communal, but not both. The argument is usually described like this: “If a church chooses to be good at community, it will come at a cost to theological obedience. Or if a church chooses to be theologically astute, then it will come at a cost to true community.” This is a classic liberalism versus conservatism argument. Liberals apparently do community well, but at a cost to good theology. Whereas conservatives apparently do theology well, but at a cost to true community. Chester and Timmis paint a different picture altogether. (And as a side note, I would argue that it’s not good theology to be bad at community, and it’s not good community to be opposed to hard truth).

To put it another way, the type of church that Chester and Timmis are describing feels very post-modern in a communal sense but not very post-modern in a theological sense (I realize I may not be using post-modern in the most correct sense of the word, but just ignore that for a second and follow my train of thought). It’s very obvious that Chester and Timmis deeply believe the Bible. They don’t don’t deny propositional truth, and yet they’re describing church in a way that feels very at home in a post-Christiandom. What they’re describing sounds not only plausible in my city, but exciting. This description of church will work among people with little or no Christian background (which is increasingly the situation we find ourselves in within the urban centers of America). And Chester and Timmis don’t seem to simply be reacting to the changing culture around them, and thus scrambling to try and figure out how to “do church” these days. Rather, they seem to be reflecting deeply on the Scriptures and trying to figure out how to “do church” period. The authors are actual practitioners, not just theorists. They came to believe what they believe by reflecting on the Bible, putting it into practice, and seeing what happened. The result is both theologically pleasing and pragmatically feasible. A rare combination in the midst of pendulum-swing-prone-Christianity.

Here’s the other reason I really love this book. It’s teaching me how to share my faith in a way that feels both authentic and obedient to the Bible. I’ve struggled all my life to share my faith the way that the Bible commands. It always felt contrived and sales-pitchy. I knew I was supposed to do it, in fact I wanted to do it, it just never felt right. Lots of times I shared, I was trying to be obedient to God, but it didn’t feel like it was doing any good. But now, finally, I’m seeing what living a life of mission looks like. The result has been that I look forward to sharing my faith with new friends. I don’t feel embarrassed to share the gospel. I can see that the gospel really does change lives. Is it still difficult at times? Yes, certainly. But it now feels more like a new way of living, a way of life where all of my life is mission, instead of a segmented time where I try to be obedient to the Great Commission for a couple of hours. This is life-changing. This is authentic. This is New Testament.

I love this book. You should read it.

5 out of 5 cups of black coffee.

[Heidi Goehmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I solidly support the concepts abs vision of church in this book. I also agree that it is time, as the local church to begin looking at how we define missiology, community, and success. The dual fidelity model is Biblical and radical in a way that it should not be, but is in our current church culture. It took me a long time to read. I’m not sure if this was pure digestion or because of the style of writing (half conversational, half academic). I do wholeheartedly recommend this read frequently, even just the first two chapters to challenge what many of us complacently accept as “church” and have for some time. Yes it will always look imperfect, until Jesus comes, but that doesn’t mean it can’t look more Biblical. Thank you to the authors for a well written treatise to begin the conversation.

[Ltorrealba · Rating 3 out of 5]

For me, this book is 3 stars not because it was so-so but because it was hot and cold. Some of it was helpful, inspiring, and great! Other parts had me raising my eyebrows into my hairline out of suspicion...

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Church is not a building, a service, or a program. The Church is a people; a people who have been saved by grace through faith and who are being radically and redemptively shaped through the gospel word and community. Yet our view of church often falls far short of this truth. Why is there such a disconnect?

My second time reading this book and one comparison I'd, loosely, make to it is Timothy Keller's Center Church. The authors do a good job of crossing many categories without falling into negativity, making generalized assumptions, or suggesting that you import their "mode" of church. Worthwhile read that one should pray often through and consider in light of their view and experiences in the local church.

[Iosua Faur · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Total Church” is part of the Re:Lit book’s collection and until now this was a great recomandation for me. From the first pages I found out that the authors are pastors who struggle with, search for and explore the nature and the mission of the church today. I’m all in. As a pastor I found myself having the same questions but I’m confident that even a simple dedicated member of a church will be interested in what this book has to offer.
This book “argues that two key principles should shape the way we ‘do church’: gospel and community”. That’s why the first two chapters will answer to 2 related questions: why gospel and why community? The answer that best sum up those two pillars of the book’s argument is: “If the gospel is to be at the heart of church life and mission, it is equally true that church is to be at the heart of gospel and mission.”
And from this starting point they present how these 2 pillars reshape every domain of church: In evangelism the proclamation of the Gospel is mingled with the new community that is being formed by it. Talking about social implication means that we will not only help the poor physically but help them spiritually by sharing the Good News and so all the differences are canceled in this new community.
In the same way you will have a new vision about the future of the church. Not a big one, but many small churches and that dismiss the myth that will broke the mother church, on the contrary will be the growth of it. And so you will be concentrated on training others and investing in relations. In apologetics, you don’t always need to have the answer but to combine ration with relation.
I was glad to have this book in my hands. There are very powerful ideas. The only problem is that it seems to promote a church house model, and not that I have a problem with it, but the arguments being brought out for this (like history and paganism being the root for many of our activities today) seems a little bit distorted.
But overall, it is a helpful book. I will gladly recommend it to any of my friends and church members. And I think that this book will be a good resource for small groups’ discussions about church life and how to be gospel-centered.

[Matthew Hodge · Rating 4 out of 5]

If there is one book that has changed my thinking about the way to do church, it is this one. The concept is really simple - we are called to do church in community, not as individuals. But the practical implications for me were quite stunning? How often do we just go to church, have a quick cup of tea, and then disappear for the rest of the week? Is this really what the body of Christ looks like?

While I don't necessarily agree with all the theological points raised, it's the practical side of things where this book really shines. The authors encourage their readers to consider how to really share their lives, encouraging hospitality and doing life corporately, not just a church service on Sundays. It's quite confronting, in some respects, but I think that's a good thing.

[CJ Bowen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Passionate call to reshape Church around community. I found it to be inspiring and infuriating. The emphasis on life together and not just Sunday morning fellowship is great, as is the relentless practicality evident throughout the book. Unfortunately, it is also relentlessly low Church, and reshapes some of the defining marks of the Church in harmful ways. Chester is prone to overstatement, and he rides the pendulum all the way to the end on a number of issues. Strangely, (or maybe not so strangely) there is no chapter addressing worship, which in a book on Church is like explaining the gospel without mentioning that fellow from Nazareth.

[Josh Trombley · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were some amazing chapters in this book. They were mainly in the middle and at the end. Then there were those that I would have given two stars. They were redundant and lacked the substance. Still, It is a worth while read just for the simple fact that there were four or five great chapters.

[Dennis]

Awesome book that explains the Gospel word and the Gospel community in the clearest way I have ever read/seen! Thank you guys and may God bless your ministries tremendously!

[Todd Wilhelm · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some good, some bad...

Good:

"The vast majority of Christians have not been helped to see that who they are and what they do every day in schools, workplaces or clubs is significant to God, nor that the people they spend time with in those everyday contexts are the people God is calling them to pray for, bless and witness to. So we pray for our Sunday school teachers but not, for example, for schoolteachers working 40 hours a week in schools among children and adults who on the whole don’t know Jesus. We pray for overseas missionaries but not for Christian electricians, builders, shop assistants and managers in our towns. . . . We have simply not been envisioned, resourced and supported to share the Good News of Jesus in our everyday contexts."
Kindle Locations 448-452

"If you warm to this vision of Christian community, then start where you are. Sell the vision by modeling the vision. Don’t become a pain to your existing congregation, telling them everything they are doing is wrong. Become a blessing by offering hospitality , showing practical care, dropping in on people. Create around you a group of Christians who will share their lives and encourage one another in the faith. You might start with your home group. Often home groups are little more than meetings . Make yours a community by acting like a community. You don’t have to mount a campaign for change— just get on with it and make community infectious. Create something that other people want to be part of. And think about whether you could establish a context in which people in your church can hang out together and invite unbelieving friends— something like a regular cafe night, an open home, or sports practice."
(Kindle Locations 642-649).

"Most gospel ministry involves ordinary people doing ordinary things with gospel intentionality. Whether it is helping a friend, working at the office, or going to the movies, there is a commitment to building relationships, modeling the Christian faith, and talking about the gospel as a natural part of conversation."
(Kindle Locations 807-809)


Bad:

The authors state they are not into heavy shepherding, but some of their statements sure sound like they are:

"For all their rhetoric , they still expect to make decisions by themselves for themselves. We assume we are masters of our own lives. “It’s my money, it’s my life, it’s my future,” we say, “so it’s my decision.” In contrast, in The Crowded House we “expect one another to make decisions with regard to the implications for the church and to make significant decisions in consultation with the church.”
(Kindle Locations 567-570).

"This is not a process of “heavy shepherding” where the leader tells people what to do. Our statement does not say decisions are made for people. It says they are made with regard to the community to which they belong. Nor is it top-down. It is a community process in which everyone is accountable to everyone. As leaders, we submit our schedules, priorities, and key decisions to the community."
(Kindle Locations 574-577).

I also do not like the fact that they encourage believers with deep rooted mental problems to get their counseling from the Bible and pastors. I think some issues are best handled by professionally trained mental health providers.

"The Christ who saves is the Christ we meet in the Bible. Salvation is ours as the Holy Spirit takes the good news of Christ crucified and applies it to our minds and hearts in this transforming encounter with Christ in the gospel word by which we come to know God truly. And so Peter can say we have been “given . . . everything we need for life and godliness.” The resources to live life well, which means living as the lovers of God and of others we were made to be, are ours in the living word of God. “Simply by being Christians, we have access to everything we need to live a life that pleases God.” 6 This is the doctrine of the sufficiency of Scripture, and this is what gives us confidence in our pastoral care as we expose each other to the gospel word. Yet there are those who would critique this perspective as reductionistic. Pastoral care in the “real” world, it is claimed, has to be far more sophisticated, nuanced, and insightful. One academic psychologist, in personal correspondence, phrased it like this: “Within the mental health world, most respected and experienced practitioners take the view that problems are always complex in their aetiology [root cause], usually as a result of an exquisite interaction between biological, psychological, social and yes, spiritual factors; but it is never the case that the aetiology is confined to only one of these domains.” The theologian and psychiatrist Richard Winter cites a complex interaction of various causes in his study of depression. One of these contributory factors is loss and separation. He points to the hymn-writer William Cowper as a case study. Cowper’s mother died when he was just six. His whole sense of security rested in her presence, and when she was gone, it was as if his whole world was shattered . “He never really got over his loss, for she was like ‘an omnipotent goddess’ of that golden age when he was absolutely
happy. . . . Cowper’s grief was compounded by the lack of a close relationship with his father and by being sent off to boarding school shortly after his mother’s death.” What are we to make of this analysis? For a child of six years old to lose his mother is desperately sad, and to be sent away to school soon after is terribly harsh. These are clearly contributory factors. In addition, we have no way of knowing, for example, the chemistry of Cowper’s brain and how helpful medicine might have been. But are these events sufficient to explain Cowper’s desperate lifelong battle with depression? Was Cowper a depressive because of his circumstances or his chemistry? We do not know what was primary or secondary in his life and experience. But is it illegitimate to ask whether he, along with all of God’s people, had what he needed for life and godliness through his knowledge of him who called him by his own glory and goodness? Are we to say that the gospel word had little or nothing to say to Cowper or that it has little or nothing to say to people like Sarah? However complicated the causes of Cowper’s struggles , in Christ he had the resources to respond in a godly way. If we subscribe to a view that makes our “complex aetiologies” responsible for our behavior and attitudes, then we put our lives at the mercy of our genes or our parents or our chemistry or our past. Ultimately we make those multiple factors sovereign over our lives. Of course, they can be significant factors, but we have in the precious promises of the gospel all we need to respond to those factors in a way that results in godly behavior and godly attitudes. Such a response may not be easy. It may involve a daily struggle. But it is possible."
(Kindle Locations 1813-1840).

Another issue that somewhat concerned me was the fact that several people mentioned in connection with their church were praised for the time they volunteered to their church community. Fine if you can afford to do it, but at some point people need to make a living and provide for their family. I once attended a church that relied heavily on the college aged people to provide many necessary services to maintain the church. I was working a full time job, attending the Bible College connected to the church and still expected to pitch in with janitorial work before and after church services. (3 times per week.) This may work for a while, but eventually people get burned out, or get married, etc. Here is one example from the book:

"Name: Alasdair Occupation: Part-time supermarket worker Church: The Crowded House, Abbey For Alasdair, life is the difference between then and now. Then was six or seven nights out drinking and doing drugs; now is organizing events to promote evangelism opportunities. Then was being disconnected and looking for something more out of life; now is being part of a Christian community and looking to help others. When Alasdair became a Christian a couple of years ago, his life turned 180 degrees. In a deliberate move he now works part-time in a supermarket. He uses his free hours to meet with and encourage congregation members as well as to plan social events that bring them into contact with people who don’t know Jesus. “I call, text, or e-mail, organizing events such as karaoke nights, quiz nights at the pub , or just going to the movies,” he says. “I have enough time for work and enough time for those at The Crowded House if they need me.”
(Kindle Locations 2498-2506)

Maybe this type of church will work, but I am skeptical that it will survive, much less thrive long term. Let's check back in 10 or 20 years and see how they are doing.

[Jess McDonald · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, a quick read, loved the refocus of the church on word and community. But then I had some sharp disagreements with a couple chapters, especially the one on pastoral care. Blog by JW Wartick says it better than I could: “…the view put forward of counseling and psychology was, frankly, disturbing. There’s a lot going on in this chapter, but it really seems to come down to the authors saying that “secular” psychological treatment doesn’t help, only the gospel can. We just need to embrace the truths of the gospel and all will be well. One representative quote: “The Bible addresses the entire range of problems we experience in living in this world… It addresses all the basic and essential issues of what it means to be human, both in our sin and in our salvation”. Later, this is made into an application that if we just focus on Christ, our sufferings won’t seem significant. At the end of all of this, there is a vague reference to how some kind of counseling outside of church might also be needed, but it is too little, too late, too vaguely stated.”

[Preston Jr. · Rating 3 out of 5]

The local church should be radically shaped by two words: Gospel and Community. Gospel in a two-fold sense - "the word" and "mission," which in a sense provides the local church with a shaping through three sustaining words.

The introduction and first two chapters were significantly helpful in filtering a healthy perspective for church planting (my lens of learning), but chapters 3-12 were supposed to provide substance for how these words radically shape different approaches within the Christian Church (i.e., discipleship, apologetics, pastoral care, social involvement...). This is where Total church misses the mark, there are significantly more helpful material on these topics that are already in print, making impacts on everyday church members. This is probably why Everyday church was written as a follow up book. The authors knew they messed up. Fortunately, these first few chapters salvaged what otherwise, became a rather drawn-out and repetitive read.

[ShatteredGlass · Rating 1 out of 5]

Have only had a basic run through the book so far and came across a lot of twisting of scripture. I wanted to have an understanding of the bad hermeneutics my previous church had especially the phrase "What does that verse mean to you". I'd challenged my church leadership on that and the phrase just got changed to "How did God speak to you through that verse", frustratingly the same meaning. This is right there in this book, now I know why my old church is so locked into this bad hermeneutic. After doing a great study from John MacArthur on hermeneutics and knowing the background and problems of Steve Timmis (That the church i was going to would not illuminate). I think I am going to methodically go through this book again and write a full blog on it. I believe this to be a dangerous book that should be marked and avoided.

[Jonathan Berry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not at all an unpleasant read, but longer than necessary to make its point. At the core of it, this is a book by 2 British pastors on how, in their past print experience, they have seen their church thrive through a model of gospel and community focus, primarily within small local congregations. It is an argument against the assumption that church must be a large or even moderate sized group of people, with defined programs and staff.

Interesting, and a cool vantage point. I resonate with the idea that heart change occurs within community, and cultivating Christian community should be a high priority for any church and for all believers. I appreciated the book, but felt like it just kept cycling the same concepts over and over.

[Alex Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I very much enjoyed this book. Although some chapters were more helpful than others, I think the 2 chapters on "Apologetics" and "Success" were worth the price of admission.

I read this with the church staff I serve on, and this book was encouraging as well as challenging. The Western church has inherited many systems and ways of "doing church", some of which are unhealthy and yet have calcified into traditions that need to be re-examined in light of the Bible and the Gospel of Jesus.

This book is a somewhat dry read, but there are valuable insights to be had here. Don't expect thrilling prose, but keep your mind open and you will be challenged.

[Bruce Harbour · Rating 5 out of 5]

This authors very effectively stimulate an interest from a reader in the beginning of the book, and then take the time to effectively explain and justify what they mean, distinguishing their ideas from some common current ideas in the church, and then in a very practical way, apply their ideas to key aspects of church life. Throughout the book, the reader is consistently challenged to think differently about church life. No key aspect is left untouched without the authors practically applying their ideas.

[Shawn Brace · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is definitely one of the top two or three books I've read on discipleship and mission. Chester does an amazing job discussing how the gospel, community, and mission have implications for all sorts of topics - including theology, apologetics, youth ministry, etc. I highly, highly recommend this book (it's a little more "meaty" and theoretical than some of the other books on mission I've recommended - but definitely worth the investment).