Kingdom Communities: Shining the Light of Christ through faith, Hope and Love

by Andrew Menzies, Dean Phelan

An inspirational and compelling exploration of a spreading phenomenon that is breaking out in the most unlikely of places. As attendance in churches is in plateau or freefall, small and growing numbers of people are turning to creative and relationally connected communities that shine the light of Christ with great effect and generosity. Kingdom Shining the light of Christ through faith, hope and love examines the rise of this diverse and organic movement that is popping up in neighbourhoods, regional towns, urban slums, brothels, aged care villages, schools, churches … indeed anywhere! Using multiple case studies from across the region, Kingdom Communities explores this growing movement historically, biblically and theologically and uncovers the power of distributed networks for holistic Christian mission. In our age of disruption and rapid discontinuous change that has shaken religious institutions to their core, this book is both a challenge and major injection of hope for those who are passionate about the kingdom of God, Christian leadership, the future of ministry and the relational communities that the world desperately needs.

296 pages, Print on Demand

Published August 31, 2018

Reviews

[Lynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the eyes of many in the community, the church is a building where a few Christians spend a couple of hours each Sunday with the denomination of their choice, then go their separate ways during the week. While this is often the case, this model of church is in decline and some are closing. Expensive real estate and buildings are also only too often under-utilised. The authors of this book present a different way of looking at what they call "Kingdom Communities" - groups of Christians who not only meet together to have fellowship, but who are also aware of the needs of their local communities and what they could be doing to contribute. This book is not so much a "how to do this" as a "come and see what is already happening", particularly in the areas of aged care, child care, education, men's sheds and working with the urban poor. It's a powerful reminder that church doesn't exist just for itself, but also for those in the surrounding community. As the authors state in their conclusion, "When people break out of a religious framework and engage in 'people to people' care, their theology and worldview often changes." I found this a truly inspirational read.

[Elizabeth G · Rating 5 out of 5]

Andrew Menzies and Dean Phelan deliver a vital exploration of Christian community emerging at the edges of institutional decline. As traditional church attendance plateaus or falls, their case studies capture something genuinely hopeful: small, creative, relationally connected communities shining Christ's light in unlikely places. From urban slums to aged care villages, brothels to schools, these distributed networks represent what the authors call "holistic Christian mission" without heavy institutional overhead. The historical, biblical, and theological grounding prevents this from becoming mere trend documentation, while the Australian and regional focus offers necessary geographic specificity often missing in American-dominated church growth literature. At 296 pages, the multiple case studies occasionally blur together, and the print-on-demand format suggests limited initial distribution reach. Still, for leaders passionate about the kingdom of God, the future of ministry, and the relational communities our disrupted age desperately needs, this offers both challenge and genuine injection of hope. An essential snapshot of organic movement worth attending to.

[Alan Marr · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very helpful accessible book for those concerned about the mission of Jesus in our current society. I only hope church leaders are brave enough to read it.