Divergent Church: The Bright Promise of Alternative Faith Communities

by Tim Shapiro, Kara Faris

New faith communities are appearing across the U.S.. Many of them
bear little resemblance—on the surface—to ‘church’ in its conventional
form. But when we look a little deeper we see striking continuity with
the most deeply rooted practices of the Christian faith in community.


What are those practices? What do these unconventional, alternative
faith communities look like? How are they, perhaps, indicators of a
hopeful new future for the church? And what can we learn from them?


Authors Kara Brinkerhoff and Tim Shapiro spent more than a year
researching and exploring these questions, closely examining the life of
a dozen alternative faith communities across the country. They include
new monastic communities, food-oriented communities, affinity group
communities, house churches, hybrid churches and others. They are
creative, ingenious, innovative, clever, dynamic and transformative. But
they represent human expressions of activities that have always been
part of human religious hospitality, learning,
storytelling, care, leadership, worship and honoring place.

This fascinating book goes beyond simply analyzing current trends. It
reveals how innovative Christians are engaging in time-honored
practices, creating new types of communities, which will shape the
church to come. Further, it shows us how we too might innovate while
holding true to the essential practices of our gathered faith. This is
an instructive picture of Christian community, past, present and future.

156 pages, Paperback

Published October 17, 2017

Reviews

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a winsome and at points fun read. The authors examine congregations which are non-normative - that is, that "do" church in ways that are far out of the box. Each examined has something of an organic response to the needs of the community in which they serve and are willing to risk being virtually unrecognizable as a "church" to some. It is an excellent book to get one pondering or feeing called to a unique style of congregational ministry.

That said, while a bit entertaining, this is not a great help to a traditional pastoral leader. It might get one thinking of creative ideas but a "divergent" congregation will be difficult to maintain in any traditional setting. Someone with a passion and charismatic personality with flair will need to feel called to such a setting. It's wonderful and, I feel, a breath of fresh air to the Christian community at large.

[Cynthia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great potential and insight into new ways of organically and authentically creating faith communities. I'm eager to discuss (in the congregation I currently serve) the approaches of the communities profiled here, using the helpful insights of the authors and the leaders of each group. There's an honesty in the approach taken - no quick fixes, just examples and thoughts on finding new ways of being church in a particular context.

[Julia · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF. Frustrating. Not well written.

[Joanna Dietz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book encouraged the reader to consider risk-taking, innovative communities and how we need to re-imagine what church may look like in order to be authentic, holy spaces.