The Invisible Church: Learning from the Experiences of Churchless Christians

by Steve Aisthorpe

For anyone who is concerned about Church decline, the contents of this book offer an essential blueprint for building God’s whole community in the coming years. This unique set of resources offers practical help and insight for all who want to grow, enrich and develop their congregational life. The Church of Scotland has drawn on the findings of extensive new research that it has commissioned in order to put together this set of carefully crafted and informed resources aimed at helping every congregation to understand why people leave the Church, how to avoid unnecessary departures and, above all, to develop an enriching, vital Christian fellowship with the large numbers of Churchless Christians in every community across the country. This ground-breaking book, illustrated by Dave Walker, offers information, hope, insight, prayerful reflection and practical ideas for bringing together in fellowship all Christians, whether they are members of an institutional Church or not.

Genres: Theology

216 pages, Paperback

Published April 27, 2016

Reviews

[Aneurin Britton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book irked me throughout. It was incredibly challenging for many reasons.
My main challenge came from the discussion on the invisible and visible church! Can you really be part of the invisible without the visible?
Aisthorpe challenges the terms coined at church leavers, with strong argumentation.
Throughout the book my hope was that he may suggest strategies to reach the church-less. Instead he continued to challenge the church to see those outside in a different light. The most challenging chapters were 5 (Longing for Belonging) & 7 (Learning to Love). Both chapters were frustratingly helpful in our recognition of need for one another. Through statistics and somewhat emotional and simultaneously frustrating testimony, Aisthorpe presents his argument clearly.

I didn't agree with most of the book.

But I'm left undeniably challenged.

Give it a read and be irked...

[Justin Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think Steve Aisthorpe has some insightful comments and statistics. There is a lot of helpful thoughts and tools in the book. However, I think he has not pushed the envelope as far as he could have. Leaving place for interpretation is good but can seem vague and helpless. Not a bad read and I would encourage people in church management whether lay or clergy to read this book.

[Brian Kerr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why do people leave the church? We are inclined to assume it's because they have lost their faith. Or if they haven't lost their faith, we assume that they soon will. We assume that they will grow cold (like a coal removed from the fire) spiritually. Aisthorpe's research shows that in a majority of cases this is not so. Most of those who leave the church do not turn away from Christ. We may assume that people who leave the church stop growing spiritually. Aisthorpe's research suggests that in some cases the opposite is true. Churches sometimes stifle spiritual growth and people leave in order to grow spiritually. It is often Christians who have a heart for missions who will leave a church which is too introspective and introverted. What I like about Aisthorpe's book is that he is not encouraging Christians to become isolated but rather to meet regularly with a few other Christians. I suppose I already was converted to the idea of organic church so I was likely to be sympathetic to Aisthorpe's ideas! The chapters which resonated most with me were 5 which deals with the failure of the church to welcome and extend hospitality to those who come in and 6 which deals with resistance to change, both of which are major reasons for church leaving. Recommended.

[Voirrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very readable book based in research which is more thorough than previous research into the reasons people leave churches - and is strangely reassuring.

I think its most important message is that the whole meaning of Christianity is love - and for many people this is easier to find in small groups outside a formal church than inside it. Caring more for the church than the people or the community is neither the way to hang onto a specific building or a Christian way of living.

[Shona Howard · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book started off well but it got increasingly repetitive and dull after the second half of the book.

[Trish · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have previously left churches. After leaving the most recent, about ten years ago now, I became a Quaker attender. Between the two I spent a couple of years trying out other churches, and also just getting on with life on a Sunday without church. So I can relate to several of those church leavers quoted in this book, and was heartened by the positive viewpoint of the author. On the negative side, much of it came across as a report on several surveys of church leavers, and these sections were stodgy to read. After each chapter are questions to ask yourself, helpful for study I guess. I enjoyed the cartoons at the start of each chapter.