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Church on the Other Side, The
Making the leap from yesterday to today
If you're a church leader or committed member and you're tired of easy steps and facile formulas for church health, growth, and renewal, then this book points the way to thoughtful action and profound, liberating change. Discover the importance of redefining your mission, finding fresh ways to communicate the gospel, and engaging today's culture with understanding. Brian McLaren shows you thirteen practices for navigating towards a vibrant church that can reach out and serve the conviction and confidence in today's changing new world.
If you're a church leader or committed member and you're tired of easy steps and facile formulas for church health, growth, and renewal, then this book points the way to thoughtful action and profound, liberating change. Discover the importance of redefining your mission, finding fresh ways to communicate the gospel, and engaging today's culture with understanding. Brian McLaren shows you thirteen practices for navigating towards a vibrant church that can reach out and serve the conviction and confidence in today's changing new world.
224 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1998
6 people are currently reading
166 people want to read
About the author
Brian D. McLaren
127 books553 followersBrian D. McLaren is an internationally known speaker and the author of over ten highly acclaimed books on contemporary Christianity, including A New Kind of Christian, A Generous Orthodoxy, and The Secret Message of Jesus.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
February 2, 2014
What would it take to re-imagine the institutional christian church into something modern and relevant for the vast majority of secular, un-churched westerners? Brian McLaren takes a stab at what he thinks it will take. And it might surprise a lot of dyed-in-the-wool church-goers.
Most of what McLaren talks about is sensible and parts of it are even obvious. But he puts it all together in a way that isn't done often enough. The church has to understand how to change in a way that is changing faster and faster and in ways that is leaving 18th century christendom in the dust. And the changes McLaren says are needed aren't mere tinkering around the edges, like a lot of churches are doing nowadays, but deep, severe changes in the way a church handles itself, its identity and its message.
This is not going to be a comfortable read for a conservative christian church-goer who likes the three-hymn sandwich and dozes during the sermon. It won't even be a comfortable read for a one who not only sings long and loud at a mega-church but also helps run half-a-dozen "outreach" programs. On the other hand, it will be an interesting read for the unsettled pew-sitter who is not just bored of the sermons cycling around yet again year after year and never really going anywhere, but also seriously wondering why their church is hiding in a building on Sunday morning.
Most of what McLaren talks about is sensible and parts of it are even obvious. But he puts it all together in a way that isn't done often enough. The church has to understand how to change in a way that is changing faster and faster and in ways that is leaving 18th century christendom in the dust. And the changes McLaren says are needed aren't mere tinkering around the edges, like a lot of churches are doing nowadays, but deep, severe changes in the way a church handles itself, its identity and its message.
This is not going to be a comfortable read for a conservative christian church-goer who likes the three-hymn sandwich and dozes during the sermon. It won't even be a comfortable read for a one who not only sings long and loud at a mega-church but also helps run half-a-dozen "outreach" programs. On the other hand, it will be an interesting read for the unsettled pew-sitter who is not just bored of the sermons cycling around yet again year after year and never really going anywhere, but also seriously wondering why their church is hiding in a building on Sunday morning.
January 23, 2022
A really thought provoking book with the best chapters saved till last and it is these I need to use to prompt me again and again as I seek to live out the Jesus life day by day.
March 4, 2022
It opened my eyes to a new way to do church in this very different time.
March 1, 2024
This excellent book is geared primarily to pastors and other church leaders. Brian McLaren observes - as he has said often - that the modernist era, from approximately 1500-2000 AD, has drawn to a close. We have much to be thankful for in the industrial and technological revolution, including new means of spreading the Gospel in places where it used to be considered impossible. Modernism was necessary - and the church (at least the Protestant part of it) adjusted to meet the needs of those who were modernist in outlook.
Nowadays, more and more people are aware that there is ‘something’ beyond what they can see and touch. Story-telling and art communicate far more effectively than logic and absolutism. And the church needs to adjust. Not to change the core beliefs but to look at ways of communicating with today’s teenagers, and young people and also the middle-aged such as myself who have become somewhat disillusioned and jaded.
McLaren suggests we need to ‘debug’ the church of modernist 'viruses'. These are unhelpful things people hang onto: consumerism, individualism, reductionism, and more. He offers alternatives - gentleness, positivity, and so on - which we do well to develop as the church inevitably changes over the next few decades.
There are some excellent points made in this book, and I wish it could be made compulsory reading for pastors and church leaders everywhere! There is much that’s worth considering and discussing, even if the conclusion is that nothing needs to change.
At the end of each chapter there are some excellent questions for group discussion - so this could be a good book to use as a study guide for a small group over twelve or thirteen weeks.
Latest longer review here: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/...
Nowadays, more and more people are aware that there is ‘something’ beyond what they can see and touch. Story-telling and art communicate far more effectively than logic and absolutism. And the church needs to adjust. Not to change the core beliefs but to look at ways of communicating with today’s teenagers, and young people and also the middle-aged such as myself who have become somewhat disillusioned and jaded.
McLaren suggests we need to ‘debug’ the church of modernist 'viruses'. These are unhelpful things people hang onto: consumerism, individualism, reductionism, and more. He offers alternatives - gentleness, positivity, and so on - which we do well to develop as the church inevitably changes over the next few decades.
There are some excellent points made in this book, and I wish it could be made compulsory reading for pastors and church leaders everywhere! There is much that’s worth considering and discussing, even if the conclusion is that nothing needs to change.
At the end of each chapter there are some excellent questions for group discussion - so this could be a good book to use as a study guide for a small group over twelve or thirteen weeks.
Latest longer review here: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/...
December 7, 2011
I do not consider myself supportive of the emergent church movement, although I appreciate the sincere desires of those who are leading it who want to see God's kingdom come in our current postmodern world. Since McLaren helps to lead the emergent church movement, I. Fully expected this book to frustrate me. On the contrary, I found McLaren's chapters to be thought provoking and challenging, He writes very well and causes you to think about the challenges that the church is facing, He had a very winsome approach and says multiple times that the solution is not to throw out the baby with the bath water, i.e. neither getting rid of all thing modern nor utterly disregarding the effects of postmodernism.
He does a very good job demonstrating the positive effects of postmodernism and how the church can engage people because of those effects. He upholds the importance of the history of the church while emphasizing the need to look toward the future.
So I do not consider this book an emergent church book. Rather, it is a book that asks good questions and helps the body of Christ think through potential new practices which might help in the current age of the world in which we live. I would highly recommend it to pastors and ministry leaders as a fairly quick read that wi ll leave them wrestling with questions about how ministry might look differently in the 21st century.
He does a very good job demonstrating the positive effects of postmodernism and how the church can engage people because of those effects. He upholds the importance of the history of the church while emphasizing the need to look toward the future.
So I do not consider this book an emergent church book. Rather, it is a book that asks good questions and helps the body of Christ think through potential new practices which might help in the current age of the world in which we live. I would highly recommend it to pastors and ministry leaders as a fairly quick read that wi ll leave them wrestling with questions about how ministry might look differently in the 21st century.
February 24, 2014
Brian McLaren seems to draw the ire of the conservative sectors of Evangelical Christianity. I find this highly disappointing. Church on the other side is light on in the 'how to' of what the church should look like, but I think that is the point. McLaren has painted a general idea of what the church should look like & has given great questions for Christian leaders to ponder, as to what the churches in their contexts should become. I really loved this book from start to finish. Loved the idea of the turtles at the moment as an analogy of how we as leaders put all our eggs in one basket, without proper balance for the other areas that is required of leadership.
July 25, 2007
this is an introduction to the idea of the emerging church, which is church designed to engage the emerging generations in a post-modern, post-christian society. its a good book, but there are better ones out there on this topic. Dan Kimball's The Emerging Church is where I would start reading up on this topic.
April 14, 2017
He tries to explain how culture is shifting - as significantly as the renaissance. He says the shift from modernism to postmodernism is really huge, and it is, but perhaps it's more complex than that, and not so black and white :) (spoken like a true postmodern).
February 17, 2014
Thought provoking, challenging. A must read for all interested in redefining your mission for today's world. Filled with practical advise that can aid towards building a vibrant church filled with enthused members revitalized for the task at hand.
January 14, 2008
Another book that was hard to read - but only because there were so many great thoughts. It was like McClaren was reading my mind.
March 19, 2008
I would loved to attend this church!
August 3, 2015
Even though this was written some years ago, it is still extremely relevant.
May 27, 2009
Not quite.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews