52 Churches: A Yearlong Journey Encountering God, His Church, and Our Common Faith

by Peter DeHaan

Visit fifty-two churches in a year? Am I crazy? Maybe.

I spent a year visiting a different Christian church every Sunday: Protestant mainline, evangelical, and charismatic, Roman Catholic, and more.

I visited a church just like yours. I’m positive.

You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll cringe.

But 52 Churches doesn’t rip at the modern church. It’s not a church-shopping romp or a mean-spirited journalistic exposé. Instead it’s a gift that offers encouragement, hope, and support to the Christian Church. And I share some suggestions, too.

Written as narrative, 52 Churches calls us to embrace all the branches of Jesus’s church and expand our practice of worshiping God. And I invite you to join me on this personal, spiritual sojourn of discovery.

Read 52 Churches for education, read it for entertainment, and read it for the insight gained only from visiting a boatload of churches.

52 Churches is ideal for church leaders, church members, and church outsiders. And if you’re still reading this, it’s perfect for you, too.

Genres: Nonfiction, Faith, Spirituality, Christian, Religion, Christianity

349 pages, Paperback

Published December 4, 2018

About the author

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity. He urges Christians to push past status quo faith and reexamine their spiritual practices.

Many people feel church let them down. Peter seeks to encourage them as they search for a place to belong.

He’s not afraid to ask tough questions. This sometimes makes religious people squirm, but he does this out of love to encourage them to become more of who God intends them to be.

Peter earned his doctorate from Trinity College of the Bible and Theological Seminary, awarded with high distinction.

Read more at https://www.peterdehaan.com/

Reviews

[Shannon Friedman · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this. I enjoy reading about how different people worship and I want to understand as many different faith traditions as possible. I have always felt like asking questions and understanding people who worship or believe differently than I do is critical to my own faith. As such, I have a solid understanding of what most of the bigger denominations believe and how they worship. I thought this book might expand on that. It did not. I thought the author, with a PhD in theology, might offer some thoughtful, objective insights. This was also not the case. The author has a clear disdain for liturgical churches, even though he claims he’s excited to visit, as these experiences will “stretch him” spiritually. He then talks about how disgusting it is to drink from the common cup at least 5 separate times. It saddens me to know that apparently even with a doctorate in theology, you only learn about your own belief system. I learned what transubstantiation was before I ever set foot in a Catholic Church just in one undergrad class in comparative religion. While I may not believe it, I would never call another person’s traditions “disgusting.” At least 3 times he calls the Celtic Episcopal Church’s holy kiss greeting “creepy.” While it may not be your belief or your cup of tea, you can talk about your experience without being disrespectful.

This book is great if you want to learn about white, conservative, midwestern churches with praise bands and slide shows and how they’re far superior to traditional churches or any kind of ritual or liturgy. He offers good suggestions for making churches more accessible and welcoming to visitors and I pray the author opens his mind up enough to realize that not everyone experiences God in the same way. Even if he didn’t find Jesus in a given church, it doesn’t mean He wasn’t there.

[Lois · Rating 2 out of 5]

My review disappeared! I hit the edit button to correct a typo, and boom, it vanished.

[ꕥ Ange_Lives_To_Read ꕥ · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF@35%

I was born and raised in the Catholic church, as was my husband. We grew unhappy with it a few years after we got married, and joined a nondenominational church, which we loved. Then we retired and moved from the northeast to the south. Culture shock in many ways. But since there are about a million of them, we didn’t think finding a church would be a problem. We were wrong.

I would be the ideal audience for this book, since we’re basically doing the same thing - visiting many different churches in the area, trying to find one that seems like a good fit. But I just can’t with this guy. He’s got such a smug, judgmental, know-it-all attitude that I don’t find his commentary interesting or enlightening. Plus, in his defense, it would be difficult to find 52 unique things to say about churches, and it got repetitive.

[Tosca Wijns-Van Eeden · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very condescending!

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

FINALLY finished, thank goodness. I almost left this one as a DNF. The whole premise of visiting 52 different churches in a year was really intriguing to me and I was hoping for some real depth. Instead, this book felt like a jumbled project for a statistics class, with a score card for each church. I wanted to learn more about different denominations beyond their musical style, their congregation demographics, and the physical descriptions of their meeting space. I wanted to hear about God, his universal church and the things we have in common. I really could not care less about the parking situations each week and, although I feel for a fellow introvert's discomfort, I got tired of the author's whining, usually about if and how he was greeted. The biggest take away was the importance of making visitors feel welcome at any church, which I agree with, knowing personally what a big difference that can make to someone, but overall I found this read very lacking.

[Tim Blackburn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointed

I'm thankful, after reading this book, that God is still on His throne and evaluating the various worship practices of Christian churches and not Dr. DeHaan. I expected, when purchasing this book, a celebration of 52 different Christian churches worshipping their Lord and Savior in diverse and varied forms. I didn't anticipate a critical (often hypercritical) evaluation of even small details. Dr. DeHaan had a preconceived concept of perfect worship and was extremely intolerant of any diversion from his ideal worship experience. I had to actually laugh at the Sunday when Dr. DeHaan returned to his home church. After spending the previous year severely criticizing the churches he visited for their failure to approach him and make him feel welcome, he actually had the nerve to write this passage:

"I rejoin my family, wanting to focus on them instead of searching for visitors and friends"

Umm, well, that strikes me as hypocritical after critizing approximately 40 of the 52 churches for not reaching out to visitors. I guess it's ok for Dr DeHaan not to reach out to visitors on a particular Sunday but not ok for the rest of us to "rejoin with our families" on a given Sunday when Dr. DeHaan deigns to grace our church with his presence. Overall I got the impression that Dr DeHaan visited these churches in order to write a book to sell. It worked, I bought it.

[Marla · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading about the adventures of worshipping in a wide variety of churches, but all in a small geographical area. I didn't know until the end that the author is from Michigan and I think that makes a difference in church choices. So, part of me was surprised that he attended 3 Baptist churches (I always felt they were found more in the south), and that he did not go to many traditional Protestant churches. Mr. DeHaan, the author, seems to clearly prefer a certain style of worship (worship bands, and teams, and stages, etc.), one that I don't agree with - but I do agree with him that the traditional ones with a set liturgy are struggling and dying out. But, sorry - I can't sing for 20 minutes or more and call that worship. Especially with people 'performing' on stage. The book was thought provoking. An easy read.

[J. David Knecht · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed this book tremendously. The observations about each church are really helpful to read. The end chapters on welcoming visitors would be a great training resource for a church's leadership team. I recommend it for both clergy and lay leaders to start thinking about how does their church encounter their neighbors who might just show up one day.

[Myrna Folkert · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book, 52 Churches, by Peter DeHaan, is a thought-provoking read. He and his wife visited a different Christian Church each week for a year. It wasn’t an investigation to find faults but to discover what was happening in our Christian churches. It especially brought to light how welcoming and friendly we are or are not. The book is engaging because it reminded me to reach out in my own church experiences. DeHaan brings up the question of what we do in our services and why we do them. Are they just habits or do they serve a purpose? He reminds readers to think not only friendliness, but of cleanliness of facilities, preaching, teachings, current online presence, parking, expectation of what to wear, ease of participation during services, traditional or more charismatic settings. Online presentations such as websites or Facebook should be clear, honest and up to date so visitors know what to expect. Overall it made me think, is your church goal to glorify the Lord and point people towards Him?

[Miriam Ezra · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did not finish. Wow, was this author condescending. He already had decided how churches should worship and judged pretty heavily when a visited church did it differently. Most chapters ended with a takeaway to make your church more visitor friendly. Some were okay, some bordered on enraging. Specifically, he mentioned that a church should "let go of some of their long cherished traditions" to make visitors such as himself more welcome. Lord forbid a church focus on traditional discipleship.

[Jean Donze · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this would be informative about so many different Christian practices. However if documenting where to park each week, how many people in attendance, or how many greeted him, it was not very helpful. One positive takeaway, I found it interesting enough to finish it, but found it often judgmental and repetitive.

[Cathryn Conroy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I stumbled upon this book, and the serendipity of it seemed perfect. Because I recently moved to a new home in a new state, I left my beloved church of 40 years…and now need to find a new one. I thought that a book about visiting churches and being the continual newcomer for a year (brave!) could offer valuable insight.

And this book by Peter DeHaan does offer much insight:
• For someone like me who will be church shopping, it offers fascinating lessons on what to look for—from church size to congregational theology.

• For established church members, it gives concrete tips on how to best greet, welcome, and include newcomers and visitors with the goal that they someday become contributing members instead of leaving after a two-hour visit feeling empty and ignored.

• The most important part of any thriving church is community. It's vital that established church members help and encourage newcomers to become part of that community.

And that's great, but the book could have been so much more.

The premise is that DeHaan and his wife visited a different church every Sunday for a year—hence, the title. They live in rural southwest Michigan, and all the churches they visited were within about 10 miles of their home so it is hardly a representative sample of churches nationwide. In addition, except for three Roman Catholic churches, five United Methodist churches (only four of which were identified as Methodist), and one Presbyterian, Lutheran, and Episcopal church, virtually all were Baptist, evangelical, fundamental, or charismatic churches. There were also several others, including one Seventh Day Adventist, one Mennonite church, and one Celtic Episcopal. A definite minority were mainline churches so the sample is skewed, especially because DeHann explicitly states that he is opposed to denominations.

It was also a bit disconcerting that DeHann, who has a doctorate from Trinity College of the Bible and Theological Seminary, was seemingly unaware of the terminology used to describe liturgical churches. The altar area is the sanctuary, not a platform or a stage. The people in the church are the congregation, not the audience. While his personal background is evangelical, he should have researched what he obviously didn't know about Roman Catholic, Episcopal, Methodist, and Presbyterian churches.

In addition, chapter after chapter of mostly the same information gets boring quickly. Even DeHaan writes in the book after visiting the 44th church, "The churches are starting to blur. Every week seems the same, offering only slight variations on the same theme." His writing reflects this attitude, making the last part of the book a bit of slog.

That said, even those of us who prefer traditional, liturgical churches can learn a lot from this evangelically-based book about how to welcome newcomers and create an online presence that is both informative and friendly. These lessons are extremely valuable and important to any church that wants to grow and thrive. Without newcomers, churches wither—and even close. This book may just offer the creative ideas your church needs.

[Tim Bishop · Rating 4 out of 5]

Someone should have written 52 Churches fifty years ago—before Christians discovered that denominationalism is a secondary issue to their faith. Regardless, this book adds value today.

Accompanied by his wife, the amicable DeHaan, who holds a seminary Ph.D., takes readers on a tour of a different Christian church each weekend in a year. DeHaan explains in detail their visits, from facility to staff, music, text, and order of service. He also shares his candid reactions with sufficient grace to celebrate unity in the body of Christ.

Given the experiment at hand, be prepared for some redundancy. Nevertheless, 52 Churches is an important work that will broaden the perspective of anyone who lacks an understanding of a variety of Christian denominations, and that’s most of us.

DeHaan’s well-written book has given me a better awareness of the need to make visitors feel welcome in my church of choice. To enhance everyone’s worship experience, the author provides takeaways for church leaders or laity at the end of each church visit. While having strong academic credentials, DeHaan shares from the heart and reminds readers, in simple terms, what matters most.

[Heather Miller · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really excited to read this. The author and his wife decide to embark on the journey of visiting 52 different Christian churches in the space of a year. I struggled getting through it though as it felt more like a to-do list, or a how-to manual, rather than imparting spiritual wisdom. It was dry and a little boring, kinda like sitting in actual church. 😆 I did have a couple of take aways though. The successful churches seemed to be the ones that modernized and worked to include the younger millennial and Gen z crowd, while the churches made up of the older generation seemed to have a hard time bucking tradition and including all ages (this is a major problem in the church I grew up in). Combining the wisdom of age with the new, fresh perspectives seems key. I also liked this thought. "Will people see Jesus at your church? Will they see Jesus in you?"

[Nancy DeValve · Rating 4 out of 5]

When we moved to our location, we visited about 10 churches before setting on the one we now attend. Of the churches in our town, we didn't visit any we were pretty sure we couldn't call home.... some for doctrinal reasons, some for practice reasons. Visiting a different church every week was really interesting but also tiring. It's like going on a date with a different person every weekend!

So I was fascinated with this book in which the author and his wife decided to visit a different church every Sunday (and sometimes Saturday) for a year. They visited all sorts of denominations, styles of worship, and sizes of churches. In short chapters he describes their experience at every church and then gives a one sentence lesson about what pastors could learn from that church.

I found the book interesting and the writing style engaging and often humorous. I read just a few chapters a day. I think I might have gotten bored of it if I had tried to read it through continuously.

[Scott Wise · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting experiment. The breakdowns are not deep (it is only 1 week at each church) and the descriptions are a little rote and mechanical, but well worth the read for the simple thought experiment of what else is going on in my community with all these churches? Who are these people? And what are they doing?
Even though I would have looked at different things walking into a church (I have visited over 52 over several states and countries) than the author, going on this journey helped me to revisit what I do see, hope for, question, and appreciate in a church. Reading this book took me back to remember a lot of those churches I have visited over the years and look at my own church through fresh eyes.

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gives an interest take on different churches that was visited. I enjoyed reading about the different styles and ways people worship.

[Faith Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very interesting and thought provoking book for any regular church attender

[Gareld Butler · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this book because the church I am currently attending is in the process of doing a church plant in a nearby neighborhood and I thought I might pick up some tips that could be useful. I must say that this book was useful for that purpose
The author chose to visit 52 churches of different denominations, sizes, and practices, all within roughly a ten mile radius of his home over the course of a year (beginning after Easter and ending on Easter). From this he hoped to discover new ways to experience God. He wrote a short review of each of those experiences along with a conclusion that represented the key takeaways he got from them. While I might not have always reached the same conclusions he did, I have to say he did a good job of describing each of those experiences.
To cover that many churches over that short a period of time, it was obvious he had to take some shortcuts to keep them all straight. Most of the takeaways were in the areas of logistics where he seemed to have a mental checklist that he was following during each of these encounters. The other area he covered well was the church service itself, again with what I believe were probably some checklists to help distinguish the different churches and denominations. If would have also been useful if he had described his home church experience at the very beginning to help the reader get something of a baseline for the author’s previous comments but, instead, he reviewed his home church last.
Logistic Points Covered:
• Were the author and his wife greeted at the door?
• Were they greeted by members of the congregation with some conversation and exchanging names before or during the service?
• Were they greeted with more than a “Thanks for coming” after the service by members of the congregation and/or the minister?
• Did the church have an online presence through Facebook or a website with accurate service times, phone numbers and email addresses if there were questions, directions to the church, suggested dress code or anything else to prevent surprises on arrival?
• Was there good signage to direct visitors as to where to park, how to get into the building, and where to go once you got into the building?
• Was the property a storefront, a building office space, a school auditorium, or a dedicated church building?
• Was the property clean and well-maintained, both inside and outside?
• Did they have coffee or snacks available before or after services? In some cases, the church had an all-church meal after the service or a pre-church breakfast with the pastors.
Bonus points were given if someone from the congregation asked them to sit with them during church (although those who asked were always friends of theirs and not strangers) or helped explain parts of the service that might be unusual or which hymnal to use if the church had more than one. It seemed like the author and his wife often spent 1 to 1-1/2 hours talking with people after the service or having lunch with them. That seems a bit unusual to me for a one-time attendance. I was also a bit surprised that they expected the Catholic churches they attended to be more welcoming that they were as I don’t normally expect Catholic churches to be working very hard to attract visitors as their path to membership is more defined and restricted than most Protestant denominations. In my experience the congregations tend to be welcoming but aren’t expecting you back.
Service Points Covered:
• Was the service liturgical or charismatic?
• Did they serve communion, and was it served via a common cup?
• What type of music did they have – traditional, contemporary, or a blend of the two?
• What instruments were used – choir, acapella, organ, piano, bell choir, drums, guitar, bass, etc.?
• Did the minister deliver the message or was it a member of the laity? (And was that because they were between ministers, the minister was on vacation, or that was just what they always did.)
• What was the arrangement of the sanctuary? Did they have pews, padded pews, or padded chairs? Was the floor sloped with a raised chancel, no slope but with a raised chancel, or no raised chancel?
• Was there a cross in the chancel area?
• Did the person delivering the message stand behind a pulpit and did they read the message or speak directly to the congregation?
• What was the size and age of the congregation?
These social points were seldom addressed in the summaries at the end of each review.
What I was surprised at was that there wasn’t more discussion of whether the message meshed well with the liturgy and lectionary or if it veered off into more secular pursuits. He mentioned one church where the message was openly critical of charismatic churches and others where they preceded the message with church financial discussions but never mentioned whether social issues were discussed. He mentioned going to a service that he knew would be in Mandarin and I honestly can’t imagine the value of that since they didn’t know Mandarin but he said he felt that God spoke to him, even during that service. I was also surprised that he didn’t mention any sermon series based around social issues but just talked about series based on a common lectionary or on specific books of the Bible. That does not reflect my typical experience. He mentioned confusion about which translation of the Bible was used in the liturgy and whether they used the same translation as was in the Bibles in the pews. I haven’t seen a Bible in a church pew in some time so I found that a bit surprising and I seldom see people bringing their own Bibles to church.
I have to say I wasn’t shocked when I found that his home church was a large satellite of an even larger church. As I went through many of his church reviews, he seemed to be somehow comparing these often very small churches with a large, well-staffed, tech-savvy, polished church that these little churches clearly were not. He stated his preference for contemporary, progressive music that is probably the norm in his home church while not necessarily being in even the future plans of some of these churches. I agree with him that many of these very small traditional churches with older congregations probably are at the end of their church lives but would like to hear some suggestions from him on whether there might be some way to turn them around, but I also understand that that is probably beyond the scope of this book.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

I truly enjoyed the premise - my husband and I have discussed how we think it would be fun to visit a different church every Sunday for a year. So reading about someone else who has done this was very interesting.

I felt that at times DeHaan's biases showed through fairly strongly - Contemporary is good, and traditional is bad. He sometimes drew conclusions about God being present in a service that could be subject to disagreement - i.e. in one chapter he decided that God was definitely there because of all the electricity, dancing, hand-raising, etc., in the service. That might be open to discussion.

[Linda Weaver · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting book.

I was very interested in this book as my own church background is a bit varied too. I didn't agree with the statement that if you come to church but don't interact with others, you might as well stay home and watch TV. There is a lot more to church than socializing. Putting restrictions on who and how we should worship is not Jesus's way. He knows our hearts. Some of us are shy or suffer low self-esteem and cannot brink ourselves to be social butterflies. We deserve an in-person experience as much as anyone else.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

An engaging, easy read that looks at how inviting churches are to visitors. Peter and his wife, Candy, spend 52 weeks visiting 52 churches and reflect on their experience at each church. The view is not condemning, but rather an honest look at how things come across to an outsider. A very compelling read!

[Mary Greyerbiehl · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although I greatly looked forward to reading this book, it turned out to be a huge disappointment. Finishing it became a chore for me, and I regret purchasing it. It was clearly obvious that the author has a disdain for traditional churches, and went to several with that mindset. “Tradition, custom, & ritual repel me, and I expect to witness all three today.” Although he stated he went with an open mind, he added that it was with dread & excitement. His goal is for interaction, socialization, & recognition (doesn’t want to feel “invisible”) - all as soon as he enters the door. But on the other hand, he makes statements such as bemoaning getting there late, but doesn’t want to go early because it could be awkward. He also stresses that he likes to dress casually - every day style vs what people consider Sunday Best. It’s surprising to learn DeHaan has a PhD, but knows so little about many denominations. He assumed The Apostles Creed is a Protestant practice, and made a fuss about the word “catholic” in it, when most people know that the word “catholic” means universal, and that Catholic (capital “C”) is a denomination. A few other irritations were his continual need for books to guide & lead the congregation; needing to read along. In biblical time, Jesus and the apostles spoke and people listened (they “heard”) because there were no books to follow along with. Yet few of the books were easy enough for the author to find what he “needed”. He claimed some churches don’t value community, which seems very unlikely, but that might be hard to determine from a one time visit. DeHaan made a statement about not going to church for a concert, but to praise God, but often complained about lack of good “music and (basically) entertainment.” He seemed to need a program so he could follow the service. His lack of knowledge on traditional churches; churches that follow the traditions handed down from biblical times, was very apparent. He made a sad comment about the need to let go of cherished traditions, which is what many denominations built their foundations on, and continue to have thriving congregations still yet today. DeHaan prefers stages instead of altars, and concert-like atmosphere with more music (and dance) than sacred word. He likes what he likes, and that is fine, but he does it with an underhanded way of dismissing what others love. Many church-goers have much reverence for the house of God, and go there to worship and have quiet time with the Lord, not as a social outing. DeHaan, although truly a Christian and man of God, has other views, and that’s okay.

[Paul Frederick · Rating 1 out of 5]

Let me say that I really, really wanted to like this book. The author's idea to visit a different church every Sunday for a year and write about it intrigued me to no end. I was confident that reading his insights would be both fun and challenging to me as the Pastor of a church. I was wrong.

There is no debate that this is a well-written book. There were some style decisions he made that I thought were difficult, but overall he did a fine job. Unfortunately my issues were not with style, but with substance.

As I read the book time and again my mind came to the same conclusion. Although the author seems like a very nice man, he has little to no spiritual discernment when it comes to evaluating churches. For instance, one of the 'sermons' that gets the highest amount of praise had two major issues that the author readily gives. First, the message was from a woman pastor (the Apostle Paul and his Pastoral Epistles would like a word) and, possibly even more egregiously, the message contained no Scripture whatsoever. Yes, the author praised a sermon, given in a Church service, that did not include any reading, quotation, or exegesis of God's Word. This Church was highlighted in one of the opening chapters of the book, and the following chapters do not get better.

I do think the author makes some good points. His emphasis on friendliness, cleanliness, and accessibility is something every Church should pay attention to. He encourages every Church member to be involved in greeting and reaching out to newcomers, which should be the standard in a church but often isn't. The scant number of good points he made was not worth the time it took to slog through the man-centered drivel of the rest of the book. Do yourself a favor and don't waste your own time, either.

[Marie · Rating 1 out of 5]

As many others have stated, I was really interested in the topic of this book. I have been a Roman Catholic my entire life. I thought it would be interesting to read about other Christian denominations and how they worship. What I didn’t expect to learn was how the authors condescending, holier than thou attitude would repeat itself throughout the book.
Example: Found on page 21 (of an ebook version) at the first church he visited.
“As we wait for church to begin, the pastors wife introduces herself, but a hard to understand man has already cornered us, recounting the diseases and deaths of his parents a few decades ago. We can’t escape his plodding monologue. The guy has mental issues. Of course this is an unqualified diagnosis on my part.”
His takeaway was this (page 26) “While providing a safe place for people with mental illness, and boundary issues, churches need to keep these folks from accosting or scaring away visitors.”
Later in the book without realizing he has contradicted himself, the author writes (page 174) “We must follow Jesus’s example to accept all people, especially those that are different: people who look different, talk differently, dress differently, and act differently.”

As you can probably guess, I had a lot of issues with his review of the Catholic mass. I won’t go into detail. If you are Catholic you understand. If not, please educate yourself on the faith before you criticize it.
All in all, I didn’t finish the book and am thankful I didn’t have to purchase it to read it. Thank you, Hoopla!

[Janelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an easy book to read. While I found many takeaways for how to make visitors feel welcome in my own church, I was disappointed in DeHaan's assessment of the churches he visited. Rather than looking at doctrinal practice and whether a church was preaching God's Word in its truth and purity, his main focus was on community, and he said this multiple times. While community in a congregation IS very important, it is not THE most important. Though the author has been a church member for quite some time, it doesn't seem that his faith has matured into a deep understanding of God and His Word, rather his focus is on worldly concerns such as what a sanctuary looks like and what type of music is used. He did not visit many churches that use a liturgy, those he calls "high church," perhaps because he doesn't favor this type of worship. Overall, I found this book interesting and definitely a valuable tool to use to welcome unchurched, those with little church background, or those with a new or immature faith. For this, I am glad I read it.

[Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Visit fifty-two churches in a year? Am I crazy? Maybe.

I spent a year visiting a different Christian church every Sunday: Protestant mainline, evangelical, and charismatic, Roman Catholic, and more.

I visited a church just like yours. I’m positive.

You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll cringe.

But 52 Churches doesn’t rip at the modern church. It’s not a church-shopping romp or a mean-spirited journalistic exposé. Instead it’s a gift that offers encouragement, hope, and support to the Christian Church. And I share some suggestions, too.

Written as narrative, 52 Churches calls us to embrace all the branches of Jesus’s church and expand our practice of worshiping God. And I invite you to join me on this personal, spiritual sojourn of discovery.

Read 52 Churches for education, read it for entertainment, and read it for the insight gained only from visiting a boatload of churches.

52 Churches is ideal for church leaders, church members, and church outsiders. And if you’re still reading this, it’s perfect for you, too."

I read this for my church's Book Club.

[Judy · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author and his wife set out to visit 52 churches in a year - within driving distance of their home. Given his geographic location, their challenge was choosing only 52 churches as they are in a notably "religious" region of the US. As another reviewer noted, they might have tried harder to find a greater diversity of worship styles and ethnically diverse congregations. The author confesses to becoming weary toward the end of their experience; readers may also tire of his repetitive critiques of each visit.

The biggest takeaway for me and others hoping to learn from the DeHaan's encounters is how important a welcoming, helpful atmosphere is. Having recently been church shopping, I can attest to this; churches that failed to greet us and make us feel welcome quickly fell out of contention.

[Julie Murray · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciated the author’s observations, but it would have been helpful to know up front what state he was in. I was most interested in his observations on ways to make guests feel welcome, as this is something I help with in my church and he gave a lot of help in this area. He was accompanied by his wife on this journey, but I would have liked to learn how each congregation included their single adults, if it is possible to learn that through observation. He sorted congregations by discussing ages the most. I would have loved to see his notes on the church I attend (Church of Christ) but he didn’t go there. It gave me a lot to think about. Using the numbers to talk about the churches in retrospect was hard to follow. Overall, definitely worth my time!

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really expected more from the subtitle. A friend had just started this book and invited me to read it too. I think we both expected something more. The book is a retelling of visiting 52 churches within 10 miles of their home. This was inspired by the author’s involvement at a food pantry run by nearby churches but not his. He wanted to explore church community as proximity and how Catholic and Protestant faith should be United. This book fell flat for me. Each part ends with a takeaway for churches on how to appeal to visitors. It’s like very detailed Facebook posts instead of providing analysis of the American church and what can be done better.