What do you think?
Rate this book
Underground Church: A Living Example of the Church in Its Most Potent Form
What If the Church Truly Empowered People to Engage in God's Mission? Something extraordinary has been happening in Tampa, Florida. A new expression of the church has been quietly growing. It's something of an experiment, but over the last ten years the church has been validating its ideas with sustained and growing results. At The Underground , being the church is not focused around a weekly gathering or church programs. It's about empowering individuals to respond to God's call to ministry and mission, especially to the poor and disadvantaged in our midst. While many churches talk about discerning calling and engaging in mission, very few are structured to make this their ministry focus. Underground Church is a new vision for the church rooted in its biblical mission to share the love of God and serve the poor. Sanders explores how to make structural changes, how to think about leadership, how to fund ministries, and how to truly engage people in God's mission. Filled with creative insights, he explains what it means to center the mission of the church around the callings of individuals to outward ministry - whether that involves leading Bible studies in the workplace, feeding the homeless, or working to free women and children from sex trafficking. This book will both tell the inspiring story of a church that is rethinking what church looks like while also outlining and uncovering the principles that transfer for every church and Christian community that hopes for more. It's the true story of a 10-year experiment that unpacks the possibilities of a church structured and streamlined for mission.
272 pages, Paperback
Published March 6, 2018
82 people are currently reading
132 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
October 25, 2025
Super easy to read, but it felt like they missed the point of what a micro church could be when they began building. Mmm, I don’t know. It was definitely interesting and eye-opening read about how to plant churches, but there were moments when it seemed entirely backwards. But, humanity is flawed and so shall what we create be, and it was rather young.
August 20, 2020
"We had seen plenty of emphasis on church planting in the North American Church, but we felt that what was being planted was not potent enough, not radical enough to actually do what the Church is called to do and to be. The Church in America was planting gatherings, but they were not accomplishing the mission of Jesus. For the most part, they were not doing what he came to do or being who he calls us to be."
Brian Sanders and his leadership team have had ten years of sustained micro-church model in Tampa Bay, FL. This book gives insight into how they have been able to do it. This book is packed with information, packed with unique ideas. He's edgy, and he might get under your skin sometimes. But man, this book seems like an excellent book for Church leaders to read solely for the conversations it would bring about.
Just know when you get into this, he is going to challenge your view of the Church in many fronts. If you like that kind of thing, go get yourself a copy.
Brian Sanders and his leadership team have had ten years of sustained micro-church model in Tampa Bay, FL. This book gives insight into how they have been able to do it. This book is packed with information, packed with unique ideas. He's edgy, and he might get under your skin sometimes. But man, this book seems like an excellent book for Church leaders to read solely for the conversations it would bring about.
Just know when you get into this, he is going to challenge your view of the Church in many fronts. If you like that kind of thing, go get yourself a copy.
August 24, 2019
Very worth the read! Sanders’ model may not fit for all, but challenges what churches have been doing in all the right ways and for all the right reasons. He should be listened to and we all (church leaders) should ask the questions he’s asked and answer them for ourselves.
May 12, 2019
If for no other reason (but there are a lot of reasons), this is a must-read to get a detailed glimpse of how one group in Florida reflected on the shape of the early Church, inspected where we've come since then, and then course-corrected in a unique way.
One of my favorite quotes from the book: "Our lack of imagination creates a culture and a spirit of competition between churches. We not only fail to find our way into the places of greatest need, but we fight each other over the minority demographic that is already predisposed to come to a church service" (p. 106).
One of my favorite quotes from the book: "Our lack of imagination creates a culture and a spirit of competition between churches. We not only fail to find our way into the places of greatest need, but we fight each other over the minority demographic that is already predisposed to come to a church service" (p. 106).
June 29, 2021
Magnificent. Underground Church is the offspring of an ancient library and gritty reality. It’s cerebral and passionate, an illumination and a summons. Its insight is matched by its uncommon beauty (especially for its genre). Most of all, it’s a story of a people I yearn to meet and a kind of community I long to belong in. As I finish it I hear the echo of an ancient question: “Did not our hearts burn within us?”
May 1, 2022
Inspiring, Humbling, Motivating
This is ONE example of how to break free from the form, ritual and ceremony of the institutional church and live life as the Ekklesia. While I did not agree with everything, the author didn’t expect me to. This is the way they are “doing church” and it works. I highly recommend that as you read this book you look into the author’s heart, which is clearly evident. This same heart should be in every one of God’s people.
This is ONE example of how to break free from the form, ritual and ceremony of the institutional church and live life as the Ekklesia. While I did not agree with everything, the author didn’t expect me to. This is the way they are “doing church” and it works. I highly recommend that as you read this book you look into the author’s heart, which is clearly evident. This same heart should be in every one of God’s people.
March 26, 2018
“The refrain of the church is and always will be, ‘Jesus is Lord’...”
Underground Church is more than just a book it is a true story that is unfolding about “Brave ideas, brave people, and brave structures” and the ways that they are, and are becoming, a beautiful expression of the beloved community of Jesus Christ in their context and time in history. It is a story that has profoundly impacted my life and my view of God, and that has profoundly widened my imagination and dreams for what the church as the people of God can be.
Within these pages is a vision of a church that doesn’t simply run programs and fill seats on Sundays, but one which mobilizes, equips, and empowers every Christian who enters it to join our missionary God in his missionary work in the world. As the book says, “we are trying to empower every kind of person in every kind of context to reach every kind of person in every kind of context” and later “we are asking everyone to see their whole lives, their relationships, dreams, gifts, possessions, and yes, their money as the possession of God and as part of the commonwealth of his people.”
I’m grateful for this book and to all the people who made it possible. I’m grateful for the wisdom and humility within it, not offering strict rules and rigid structures, not franchising or self-aggrandizing, but offering up new hope and vision for the church. The book tells the story of the Underground’s origins, and foundational values, and it offers an honest look at what that has led to practically in the daily life of their community. This book is important - because it does not say “do what we do” - it says “learn from what we do, then go do it even better.”
Underground Church is more than just a book it is a true story that is unfolding about “Brave ideas, brave people, and brave structures” and the ways that they are, and are becoming, a beautiful expression of the beloved community of Jesus Christ in their context and time in history. It is a story that has profoundly impacted my life and my view of God, and that has profoundly widened my imagination and dreams for what the church as the people of God can be.
Within these pages is a vision of a church that doesn’t simply run programs and fill seats on Sundays, but one which mobilizes, equips, and empowers every Christian who enters it to join our missionary God in his missionary work in the world. As the book says, “we are trying to empower every kind of person in every kind of context to reach every kind of person in every kind of context” and later “we are asking everyone to see their whole lives, their relationships, dreams, gifts, possessions, and yes, their money as the possession of God and as part of the commonwealth of his people.”
I’m grateful for this book and to all the people who made it possible. I’m grateful for the wisdom and humility within it, not offering strict rules and rigid structures, not franchising or self-aggrandizing, but offering up new hope and vision for the church. The book tells the story of the Underground’s origins, and foundational values, and it offers an honest look at what that has led to practically in the daily life of their community. This book is important - because it does not say “do what we do” - it says “learn from what we do, then go do it even better.”
September 22, 2020
A bit of an overlap here with Simplicity by Richard Rohr which I happened to be reading at the same time, in the way they invisage base church/institutional church (Rohr) and microchurches/network (Sanders). Lots of food for thought for the possibilities of our little gathering in Surrey Hills. The large network exists to serve the needs of the small microchurches that are formed by committed Christians passionate about mission in a particular localized sphere. Special emphasis is placed on the marginal and vulnerable but I noticed that they also have groups reaching out to particular groups eg sporting people etc. Good balance of theology and the practical outworking in their context. For example he goes into specifics of finance, governance which was helpful.
February 10, 2024
A Challenge For A New Wine Skin
I find this testimony intriguing. It is insightful. The process that the Underground took to re-imagine church and mission is encouraging and challenging. It is easier to continue to do what we have always done rather that innovate. Read this book not as a blueprint, but as a catalyst for reflection on how God is using you to share his love with others in your life. Seek God. Listen to his voice. Follow him. How will that look today, next week, next year? How will it look different than it did a decade ago?
I find this testimony intriguing. It is insightful. The process that the Underground took to re-imagine church and mission is encouraging and challenging. It is easier to continue to do what we have always done rather that innovate. Read this book not as a blueprint, but as a catalyst for reflection on how God is using you to share his love with others in your life. Seek God. Listen to his voice. Follow him. How will that look today, next week, next year? How will it look different than it did a decade ago?
June 12, 2024
Quite brilliant. Brian Sander's focus is clearly missional. His argument is compelling. God's mission has a church, not the other way around. Go into all the world and make disciples.
"The place where we most need each other is not in the house of worship, but in the crucible of mission".
"Discipleship does not primarily take place in a lecture but through doing."
"Behold, he is making all things new: new wine, new wineskins, a new heaven, a new earth, a new covenant, a new Jerusalem, and you, a new creation. The work of God is always renewal."
"The place where we most need each other is not in the house of worship, but in the crucible of mission".
"Discipleship does not primarily take place in a lecture but through doing."
"Behold, he is making all things new: new wine, new wineskins, a new heaven, a new earth, a new covenant, a new Jerusalem, and you, a new creation. The work of God is always renewal."
January 7, 2020
I struggle with the original starting point. I struggle with the financial model. But I appreciate the empowerment of leadership. I’m concerned that many will flock to replicate a model without doing the work of cultivating a posture of prayer and partnership with the Lord as the guide for ministry. That is the challenge in every season someone presents their models.
July 1, 2024
Brian Sanders offers a visionary blueprint for rethinking traditional (and often ineffective) church structures to better engage modern communities. He challenges conventional ecclesiastical frameworks and advocates for a church defined less by attendance and buildings and more by its mission and community impact. Through the innovative concept of microchurches, each of which are contextualized and adapted to serve local needs, Sanders presents a flexible and responsive model of church that emphasizes active faith, communal living, and mission-focused use of resources.
Structured around redefining what a church should embody—from its core values to its financial strategies—this book provides a compelling call to action for a more authentic, effective form of church that better embodies the model Jesus practiced.
Structured around redefining what a church should embody—from its core values to its financial strategies—this book provides a compelling call to action for a more authentic, effective form of church that better embodies the model Jesus practiced.
February 17, 2019
Really enjoyed this book. Insightful to hear about the convictions and values that have shaped this church from the very beginning. Also interesting model and paradigms to consider as we move into a new era in parachurch ministry and wrestle with our own philosophy.
December 26, 2018
Creating a new tomorrow
After reading this book and experiencing the Underground, it is as Brian says. This revolutionary kind of is changing lives.
After reading this book and experiencing the Underground, it is as Brian says. This revolutionary kind of is changing lives.
July 26, 2019
Lots to chew on in this book!
November 19, 2019
Really good book about a church that is doing things different. Made me think.
August 20, 2021
Loved it!
This book is awesome, a must read for those who are tired of the status quo and have a disregard for the traditional.
This book is awesome, a must read for those who are tired of the status quo and have a disregard for the traditional.
December 17, 2022
Refreshing vision for how church in the US could look, beyond outdated structures founded upon a drastically different context than what we have today.
August 22, 2023
May we see more of the "underground church" breaking through. Praying unity for multiplying this model be manifested all over this continent.
May 8, 2021
A practical case on how a self-organised/decentralised church organisation operates. A clear, useful and inspiring read.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews