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Everywhere You Look: Discovering the Church Right Where You Are
What's the point of the church anyway?
The emerging generation is opting out of the church in large numbers. They're embarrassed at how the church is portrayed in the media and dismayed at what appears to be their options for participation. Is church really necessary anymore in our day? Is it even possible?
Tim Soerens sees this unsettled state of affairs as an extraordinary the church, he says, is on the edge of a new possibility at the very moment so much of it feels like it's falling apart. In his extensive travels in all kinds of neighborhoods, Soerens has seen the beginnings of this movement firsthand. In Everywhere You Look, he lays out practical, actionable steps for building collaborative communities in any neighborhood. Here is a vision of the church grounded in a grassroots movement of ordinary people living out what it means to be the church in their everyday lives. Read this book—and join the movement.
The emerging generation is opting out of the church in large numbers. They're embarrassed at how the church is portrayed in the media and dismayed at what appears to be their options for participation. Is church really necessary anymore in our day? Is it even possible?
Tim Soerens sees this unsettled state of affairs as an extraordinary the church, he says, is on the edge of a new possibility at the very moment so much of it feels like it's falling apart. In his extensive travels in all kinds of neighborhoods, Soerens has seen the beginnings of this movement firsthand. In Everywhere You Look, he lays out practical, actionable steps for building collaborative communities in any neighborhood. Here is a vision of the church grounded in a grassroots movement of ordinary people living out what it means to be the church in their everyday lives. Read this book—and join the movement.
180 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 7, 2020
75 people are currently reading
315 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews
October 29, 2020
This book is a relatively brief and readable expression of the vision earlier developed in the book The New Parish: How Neighborhood Churches Are Transforming Mission, Discipleship and Community of which the author was co-author. It is rooted in the vision of the organization with which he is connected -- the Parish Collective.
Tim Soerens is a pastor who has embraced the idea of the parish or neighborhood as the locus of ministry. it's not so much a small-church vision as a re-envisioning of an ancient concept that the church is rooted in its neighborhood. Size is not the issue, it is a question of engaging the neighborhood and making a difference there. It is a compelling vision of what it means to be missional.
Tim Soerens is a pastor who has embraced the idea of the parish or neighborhood as the locus of ministry. it's not so much a small-church vision as a re-envisioning of an ancient concept that the church is rooted in its neighborhood. Size is not the issue, it is a question of engaging the neighborhood and making a difference there. It is a compelling vision of what it means to be missional.
June 30, 2020
Everywhere You Look is the book for this moment. Global pandemic and social distancing have forced most churches out of conventional patterns of gathering and worship, leaving us with big questions about our priorities and the role church plays in our lives. While many of us have found ourselves considering how to be the church in new ways, Soerens proposes a different question; Why? Does the Church exist only for itself - for its own growth and survival - or is there a greater reason, a bigger vision, we've forgotten we're a part of? How might our work and mission shift if we remembered to listen for the story God is already writing in the streets of our parish?
As a pastor of a small, struggling congregation in an challenged neighborhood, these are exactly the questions we need to be asking as we seek to rediscover God's hope for our community and the role we, as the church, are invited to play in its future. Everywhere You Look is simple in its focus, written in clear language you don't need an MDiv to understand. It's an excellent and accessible choice for a congregational book study - a great tool to jump start your team as you conspire together about joining what God is already up to all around you.
For years, Tim Soerens has been my neighborhood ministry guru and go-to recommendation for folks who are looking to do meaningful, ethical, and truly loving work in the communities where they live. This book is more evidence of his deep understanding of the importance of parish life and his clear call and passion for seeing communities thrive.
As a pastor of a small, struggling congregation in an challenged neighborhood, these are exactly the questions we need to be asking as we seek to rediscover God's hope for our community and the role we, as the church, are invited to play in its future. Everywhere You Look is simple in its focus, written in clear language you don't need an MDiv to understand. It's an excellent and accessible choice for a congregational book study - a great tool to jump start your team as you conspire together about joining what God is already up to all around you.
For years, Tim Soerens has been my neighborhood ministry guru and go-to recommendation for folks who are looking to do meaningful, ethical, and truly loving work in the communities where they live. This book is more evidence of his deep understanding of the importance of parish life and his clear call and passion for seeing communities thrive.
October 23, 2020
I would compare reading this book for theological insight to listening to a random Johnny Cash album for the same.
I’ll profile Chapter three to try and explore my own thoughts and communicate my experience to you.
Chapter three carefully guides you on a journey starting with how nice it feels to have your post liked on social media, and finishes with a paraphrase of Matthew 6:33, which is the only biblical reference in the chapter.
The problem is the journey doesn’t really make sense. The journey feels mildly contrived, like when that one family friend has been talking for ten minutes and you kind of agree with some of the things they are saying, but you aren’t sure where they are going, or if what they are saying really makes sense.
One of Tim’s final focusing statements of the chapter is, “What is most important is living together in such a way that nothing we say, nothing we do, nothing we scheme is a fearful escape.” Escaping from, I gather, already belonging to God and to one another. Tim’s definitive statement feels like it is in the wrong place, and feels like a weak statement of a Christian’s most important anything. Perhaps this would have made more sense in the context of the book of Jonah.
Tim also tells us we are “working out our salvation,” but that being a “hopeful force for change” is “already true...we can’t force it,” and that this gift “needs to be freely received, freely offered, freely trusted.” Wait...isn’t the salvation freely received? Tim is using familiar christian language, but in a confusing and potentially manipulative way.
While you could genuinely produce some fruitful thoughts from reading through this book, and it does teach and state some true things, it is filled with contrived word games, and includes quotes that are hard to make sense of like:
“All sin is rooted in the fear of being fully human”
“To live without sin is to be full human”
“We can rest in being human”
“This magic is for everyone”
“The quest to become fully human”
The chapter closes on the paraphrase of Matthew 6:33. Our guided journey through this chapter frames this verse as teaching that we are to listen to what the Holy Spirit is doing in our neighbourhood, and join in with disregard for the actual results. Infact, here are Tim’s paraphrases:
“Seek first the kingdom of God and everything else will be added to you.”
And:
“Listen, and join what I am doing in your neighborhood, and don’t worry about the results.”
Here is the actual verse:
“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.” -CSB
While this verse certainly prompts us to find and do the will of God as a first priority, it is contrasting that to the pursuit of personal comfort when read in the context of the Sermon on the Mount.
Tim, if you read this, I also trust that you are an amazing human being. Also, your writing lacks clarity. I would also love to see what you are saying more clearly connected to the Bible.
I’ll profile Chapter three to try and explore my own thoughts and communicate my experience to you.
Chapter three carefully guides you on a journey starting with how nice it feels to have your post liked on social media, and finishes with a paraphrase of Matthew 6:33, which is the only biblical reference in the chapter.
The problem is the journey doesn’t really make sense. The journey feels mildly contrived, like when that one family friend has been talking for ten minutes and you kind of agree with some of the things they are saying, but you aren’t sure where they are going, or if what they are saying really makes sense.
One of Tim’s final focusing statements of the chapter is, “What is most important is living together in such a way that nothing we say, nothing we do, nothing we scheme is a fearful escape.” Escaping from, I gather, already belonging to God and to one another. Tim’s definitive statement feels like it is in the wrong place, and feels like a weak statement of a Christian’s most important anything. Perhaps this would have made more sense in the context of the book of Jonah.
Tim also tells us we are “working out our salvation,” but that being a “hopeful force for change” is “already true...we can’t force it,” and that this gift “needs to be freely received, freely offered, freely trusted.” Wait...isn’t the salvation freely received? Tim is using familiar christian language, but in a confusing and potentially manipulative way.
While you could genuinely produce some fruitful thoughts from reading through this book, and it does teach and state some true things, it is filled with contrived word games, and includes quotes that are hard to make sense of like:
“All sin is rooted in the fear of being fully human”
“To live without sin is to be full human”
“We can rest in being human”
“This magic is for everyone”
“The quest to become fully human”
The chapter closes on the paraphrase of Matthew 6:33. Our guided journey through this chapter frames this verse as teaching that we are to listen to what the Holy Spirit is doing in our neighbourhood, and join in with disregard for the actual results. Infact, here are Tim’s paraphrases:
“Seek first the kingdom of God and everything else will be added to you.”
And:
“Listen, and join what I am doing in your neighborhood, and don’t worry about the results.”
Here is the actual verse:
“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.” -CSB
While this verse certainly prompts us to find and do the will of God as a first priority, it is contrasting that to the pursuit of personal comfort when read in the context of the Sermon on the Mount.
Tim, if you read this, I also trust that you are an amazing human being. Also, your writing lacks clarity. I would also love to see what you are saying more clearly connected to the Bible.
July 7, 2020
Everywhere You Look is the perfect combination of comforting, inspiring, and challenging. Tim speaks truth to a reality that you have probably already noticed, maybe are already living, and perhaps have even wondered if 'this' was the church. You're not seeing things--well, you are seeing things and this book will help you make sense of it and move forward with hope!
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December 30, 2022I was turned off of this book right at the beginning when he said that younger generations are leaving the church because “they don’t see the point” or something similar. I listened to it anyway. Some of it could be valuable to the right person but I didn’t love it.
August 16, 2020
Yes, to the overall message and to his obvious use of inclusive language - God as God and not as a “he” for the win!
October 8, 2021
I see this book as most useful for its insistence that we remove “doing church” from being our central priority as Christian leaders, and for its encouragement to develop coalitions of Christians in neighborhoods that strategize for the good of the community. If these ideas are of interest, you will likely find this book to be a good first step in the right direction. If you are looking for a theological treatise on the subject or an in-depth how-to manual it may fall short, as I don’t believe it was intended to be either. Tim is a thoughtful leader and offers plenty of paths to further engagement with these ideas for those who want to dig deeper.
July 6, 2020
After 10+ years of visiting neighborhoods throughout the world, training/inspiring countless people to live faithfully present in their neighborhoods, and living the life of a neighborhood practitioner, pastor and entrepreneur comes Tim's new book, "Everywhere You Look". While many are saying that the church is dead and irrelevant, Tim will show you that it is thriving all around us in our neighborhoods. Right where it should be. It will give you hope for your soul, language for things that you have been thinking about in your mind, and practical tools to use. All the while redefining what "church" could be. This is well worth the investment and will surely be a resource you go back to.
July 6, 2020
Tim Soerens book “Everywhere You Look” provides it’s readers with an opportunity to reevaluate what it means to be a follower of Christ. Tim is Seattle based. He has been very involved with the work of the Parish Collective (Paul Sparks). The major premise of the book is the need for a different or changed perspective. Christians have, for too long, been running on the proverbial hamster wheel. It is time to re-evaluate why, how and what it means to be church.
I really liked the way Tim took the reader through the process of seeing things with fresh eyes. The need for a curiosity concerning how we serve rather than a bull dozer approach to ministry. There was also an emphasis on the importance of making a culture rather than allowing the culture to make us.The only negative I would have for the book is that it focuses heavily on ministry in a neighbourhood context. However, as this is the point of the book it makes sense.
I would highly recommend this book.
I received a copy of this book via Tim Soerens and I’m reviewing it voluntarily.
I really liked the way Tim took the reader through the process of seeing things with fresh eyes. The need for a curiosity concerning how we serve rather than a bull dozer approach to ministry. There was also an emphasis on the importance of making a culture rather than allowing the culture to make us.The only negative I would have for the book is that it focuses heavily on ministry in a neighbourhood context. However, as this is the point of the book it makes sense.
I would highly recommend this book.
I received a copy of this book via Tim Soerens and I’m reviewing it voluntarily.
July 13, 2020
I have anticipated the release of Tim Soerens’s “Everywhere You Look” since the day I heard it was coming, which was also the day I pre-ordered my copy. It was a little like waiting for Christmas, and in this case, Christmas did not disappoint. Of all the books I’ve devoured on Parish Ministry, this one goes right to the top of the list with my favorites, “The New Parish” (also co-authored by Soerens), “Slow Church,” and “The Art of Neighboring,” all of which I’ve not only enjoyed, but enjoyed more than once. More than any book I’ve read, “Everywhere You Look” answers what for me has always been the elusive question: “What do I do next?”
August 5, 2020
Love that Soerens challenges the reader to see their frustration with a weekly glamour gathering as holy discontent between what is and a longer for what should be: A faith that guides our every day life and is visible to those around us. Soerens doesn’t provide the “the how” but encourages each person to listen for what God is doing in your community and then getting on board.
March 2, 2024
This book was a breath of fresh air when all the other noise was literally suffocating me! Never has an author addressed the issues with the many denominations quite like Tim has. Every Believer should read this book!.
January 26, 2024
Refreshing short read (128 pages) and a lot of thought-invoking content about being the church (not a building or destination) in the neighborhoods we find ourselves in. This would be a good discussion book for church staffs and leadership/vision teams.
July 2, 2020
The current church question “what is the church for?” Is at the center of the identity of the church in the neighborhood. The answer according to Soerens is that God has a dream for the healing and restoration of the world through Christ in the power of the Spirit. When a church becomes gripped by what God is already doing in the world and joins in then Gods dream becomes even more of a reality. Intently listen to the spirit of God in your neighborhood and read this book for courage and inspiration
July 7, 2020
Tim has offered the Church a way forward, daring Christians to see their parish with new eyes and join the movement of God that is happening all around them. Having visited hundreds of neighborhoods and learned from hundreds of innovators, Tim threads together deep wisdom that will help pastors, leaders and everyday saints to reimagine what is possible when we move from doing church to being the Church rooted in a place. This book is a gift and an inspiration for the journey!
July 8, 2020
If you're fed up watching church from a pew in a building on Sunday and hoping there's more, you need to read this book.
Tim Soerens' previous book, 'The New Parish' (co-written with Paul Sparks and Dwight L. Friesen) described the closest I've seen to a corporate or church expression of 'Mission With' (subject of my research and book). Now Tim has followed up with 'Everywhere You Look', developing those ideas of getting church local again. i.e. Church not as something you 'go to' a few hours a week, maybe from way across your city, but a real community of people as a faithful presence in a real place every hour of every day. This is a challenge to individual commitment ("Rather than occasionally attend a service, how do we become the visible body of Christ in our everyday lives?") and also to eclectic-consumer-mega-church and a call to return to first principles. Namely, what is God's Kingdom Dream for this place where we live among and are known by our neighbours? Not another gimmick or marketing strategy because "presence trumps performance every single time." It's a short read, but packed with inspiring and visionary ideas (look out for the "What if..." sentences.). It's from a North American setting – I'm in the UK – but I think these principles, with a bit of contextualising, will work anywhere. All rooted in dependance on God in prayer, and in a brief Postscript that contains perhaps the best piece of writing I've seen on prayer in a long time, Soerens says: "May the posture and practice of prayer be in our listening, our speaking, our lamenting, our praising and our groaning without words for the dreams of God to emerge into the fabric of our actual lives." Oh yes.
Tim Soerens' previous book, 'The New Parish' (co-written with Paul Sparks and Dwight L. Friesen) described the closest I've seen to a corporate or church expression of 'Mission With' (subject of my research and book). Now Tim has followed up with 'Everywhere You Look', developing those ideas of getting church local again. i.e. Church not as something you 'go to' a few hours a week, maybe from way across your city, but a real community of people as a faithful presence in a real place every hour of every day. This is a challenge to individual commitment ("Rather than occasionally attend a service, how do we become the visible body of Christ in our everyday lives?") and also to eclectic-consumer-mega-church and a call to return to first principles. Namely, what is God's Kingdom Dream for this place where we live among and are known by our neighbours? Not another gimmick or marketing strategy because "presence trumps performance every single time." It's a short read, but packed with inspiring and visionary ideas (look out for the "What if..." sentences.). It's from a North American setting – I'm in the UK – but I think these principles, with a bit of contextualising, will work anywhere. All rooted in dependance on God in prayer, and in a brief Postscript that contains perhaps the best piece of writing I've seen on prayer in a long time, Soerens says: "May the posture and practice of prayer be in our listening, our speaking, our lamenting, our praising and our groaning without words for the dreams of God to emerge into the fabric of our actual lives." Oh yes.
July 8, 2020
I have for a long time been asking questions about the definition of church, the purpose of the church, and the value of the church. This book gives me hope that I am not alone! There are others out there asking the same questions! God is at work in communities around the world! We can learn about God’s dream and participate in it!
One of my favorite quotes from this book is the author’s son’s definition of the church: “Christians in the neighborhood who are joining in God’s dreams for that place”
This book is not just for pastors and leaders in the church (although I think they would benefit from reading it) but for those of us who live and work and do life in the community and are trying to figure out how what we are feeling called to do is partnering with the work of God in the world.
One of my favorite quotes from this book is the author’s son’s definition of the church: “Christians in the neighborhood who are joining in God’s dreams for that place”
This book is not just for pastors and leaders in the church (although I think they would benefit from reading it) but for those of us who live and work and do life in the community and are trying to figure out how what we are feeling called to do is partnering with the work of God in the world.
September 9, 2020
Soerens' discussion of parish, how to collaborate with other church communities in our neighborhoods to seek the shalom (the well-being and flourishing) of these neighborhoods, and the encouragement to settle in for the long game, is gold. I love a book that offers practical steps and there are a few at the end of this book that are relatively simple to implement. Pastor Jonathan Brooks in Chicago stated that this book "pushes us to see the current polarized climate of the church as an opportunity rather than an obstacle" and "gives us a glimpse into what is possible if we open our eyes to what God is already doing, beginning right where we are." I agree with that statement, and plan to recommend this book to my friends in church leadership.
July 7, 2020
"If we look at the headlines, all we see is meltdown;
when we get on the street it feels more like a movement." (p.10)
Soerens writes in a way that captures readers from all settings utilizing story-telling, TED talks, psychology, history, and a depth of knowledge. I appreciated the wisdom that flowed from this book and that it wasn't just another book telling us how to do church better. It gets to the root of the church - the WHY. It made me reach into my own depths and question the ways I've been doing things and if it benefits the why's of God's dream for the world. Many thanks to Tim for this timely publication.
when we get on the street it feels more like a movement." (p.10)
Soerens writes in a way that captures readers from all settings utilizing story-telling, TED talks, psychology, history, and a depth of knowledge. I appreciated the wisdom that flowed from this book and that it wasn't just another book telling us how to do church better. It gets to the root of the church - the WHY. It made me reach into my own depths and question the ways I've been doing things and if it benefits the why's of God's dream for the world. Many thanks to Tim for this timely publication.
August 31, 2020
An interesting read on the modern church. Some of Soerens major takeaways are the important in paying attention, considering the church not as a physical building but as a collection of people, considering the importance of geography in definition of a church (parish is Soerens's term, which can encompass the neighborhood, the town, even the area), and seeing opportunities and strengths instead of weaknesses and needs. It's a good book, but it was thin, and I found myself wishing for a few more solutions-- although, in fairness to Soerens, the solutions to the issues of the church are ultimately individual. He can't exactly pay attention or find individual strengths for me.
August 26, 2020
This is a short book, and it started off strong (ch 1-5) but ended week and vague (6-8). I love the premise, simple and well stated:
question: what are we doing all this for, this thing we call “church”?
Answer: Gods dream is to “heal everything through Christ” and the Holy Spirit helps the church discern how that looks on a local, neighborhood level. Our “why” is not ourselves, but being agents of Gods dream for our city, our town, our neighborhood. It’s bigger than any one local church, but specific to your local context.
Why: Gods dream
How: Holy Spirit
What: the Church
question: what are we doing all this for, this thing we call “church”?
Answer: Gods dream is to “heal everything through Christ” and the Holy Spirit helps the church discern how that looks on a local, neighborhood level. Our “why” is not ourselves, but being agents of Gods dream for our city, our town, our neighborhood. It’s bigger than any one local church, but specific to your local context.
Why: Gods dream
How: Holy Spirit
What: the Church
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 7, 2020
Love this book! Love Tim Soeren's love for the church...as messed up and frustrating as the church can be, it's got a better story emerging...it's presence in neighborhoods and showing up in the way, the practice of neighborliness, gives Tim (and us as the readers), more than hope, but "faith" in the future of the church and our collective work for the common good of our neighbors and the world.
September 7, 2020
A quick read on how the church can increase its influence by being better neighbors. A primer on getting to know the neighborhood with the intent not to change people but to know them. "Believe the sun because of the shadow it casts not the other way around." A reminder of what should happen it we take the time to be kind and neighborly and how that works for all of humanity; pointing out how the church can work better alongside other churches to accomplish the those principles.
November 16, 2020
As I have wrestled for some time with the idea of church and what it should be or look like I truly appreciated this book. The premise is asking the question what is the church “for” rather than just what “is” church. It confronts the idea of church being a building, place or event. It revolves around asking/looking for what God is doing and then joining with Him. Finding others who are looking and listening is key as well. A very helpful read for me.
May 4, 2021
I appreciated the big picture that Soerens gives here. Too often we get the "How" of how to 'church' mixed up with the "Why" of why we 'do church.' However, as a church planter still in the process of forming a core team, jumping to the big picture was overwhelming for me to think about, and some of the statements seemed a little extra definitive without being clear on why they were definitive or even what alternatives might be that he is throwing out.
July 26, 2022
This book seemed to be an extension of several of my thoughts on church. It wasn't. It was a collection of personal statements without any of them leading towards a conclusion of his ideas. Although, his "Postscript" seemed to be a good conclusion. Around the 1/3 marker of the book, the author mentioned "God's Dream", complete with a diagram. He kept using that phrase! That effort gained him the label 'heterodox".
July 7, 2020
During these times of racial unrest and the pandemic-induced shutdown, it appears that all our institutions have been given some time to take stock of what is really important and the church is no exception. Tim Soerens book encourages us to look inward at our communities to see how we can love it and everyone in it, the way God loves each and every one of us.
July 13, 2020
As someone who has lived in the same neighborhood for 17 years, I need books like these to remind me why that kind of stability still matters, especially in a time when the world seems more hurried and fragmented than ever. I was so encouraged by Everywhere You Look that I bought copies for several others I know who are trying to be faithfully present in the places they live.
August 6, 2020
I highlighted so many good things in this book—must mean that I really needed to read it! In this discouraging time for the American church, with so many practicing hate and distrust instead of loving those that Jesus called us to love, it was so encouraging to read that the church can survive by actually loving each other well.
January 31, 2021
It’s a book that takes a long time to say not that much, but the few things it does say are worth noting and integrating or living out, particularly into a church vision that is already on a similar path. Some good ideas to reorient the church - I just felt the actual points could have been made clearer and worked out better, with less clutter around it.
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