Churchnext: The Reflective Christian & the Risk of Commitment

by Eddie Gibbs

Book Overview

A 2001 Christianity Today Book of the Year

What will the church be next? CHANGE IS NOW. Competition from nontraditional and Eastern religions join with the pressures of both modernism and postmodernism to squeeze Christianity. While new church models have sprung up to meet these challenges, they each have strengths and limitations. Eddie Gibbs, a well-known church strategist and practitioner, candidly analyzes these models while proposing...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0830822615
• ISBN13: 9780830822614
• Release Date: March 2000
• Publisher: IVP
• Length: 252 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Church for the next generation

Eddie Gibbs and Ian Coffey, church next: quantum changes in Christian ministry (Leicester: IVP, 2001) Reviewed by Darren Cronshaw Gibbs and Coffey argue it is urgent to change ministry to reach a new generation who are turning away from the church. Their constructive analysis urges churches to transform their approach to ministry: from market-driven and bureaucratic hierarchies to mission-oriented networks, from schooling professionals to mentoring leaders, from attracting a crowd to seeking people, from generic congregations to incarnational communities. Moving right away from strategic planning and slavish models, Church next champions big and bold thinking, flattened and permission-giving structures, using the resources of diverse Christian spirituality, celebrating transcendence, adventurously infiltrating culture, and communicating with ancient forms, dialogue and story. Review originally appeared in Darren Cronshaw, `The Emerging Church: Introductory Reading Guide', Zadok Papers, S143 (Summer 2005).

Relevant as next week's newspaper

Examining the thunderous changes that have beset our world as it moved from the traditional to the modern and now to the post modern, the author identifies nine areas in which the church must transform to meet those cultural and paradigm changes. He goes on to examine the implications of these changes for church leadership. Along the way, we are constantly reminded of the outlook of the up and coming Generation X, for if we fail to reach that generation, we will have come one step closer to the extinction of the church. Barna is quoted as noting that, even in the case of the baby boomers, 24% of those who consider themselves Christians do not attend a church on even a once a month basis. Though a number of factors are suggested for this decline, one particular notable observation was that people are not looking so much for worship that is relevant as they are for worship that is real (Page 155). Wonderfully relevant as next week's newspaper, Gibbs brings out principles that are applicable for both the large and the small church and even for personal living as he points out the many ways we have been influenced by modernity and post modernity. We live in an increasingly post literary age; one that is oriented toward the visual. This means that we must learn to speak the language of our culture, not only in words, but in ways that communicates through that visual medium. A particularly telling point is made regarding the course of future seminary education: The issue is not whether theology per se is important, but what kind of theology. It must be theological training that provides the skills to apply the biblical texts to contemporary situations (Page 99). Gibbs calls us to develop an apostolic mindset in the way we do ministry and in our making of disciples as a lifelong process. This involves having a vision of people-centered ministry that decentralizes control and utilizes networking to get people involved in ministry that changes from an inviting to an infiltrating mindset. In describing a return to Celtic Christianity, the author describes the emphasis of life as a journey and how such Christians see themselves as hospites mundi, guests of the world. Emphasis is placed on the going rather than on arriving at one's destination at some holy place, believing that "Is shall not find Christ at the end of the journey unless he accompanies me along the way." (Page 137).

Very academic... but worth the read.

Eddie Gibbs distinguishes himself and his writing in a genre that is already burgeoning with repetitive and less-than-helpful texts as he takes a hard look at the dominant expressions of Christianity in the postmodern transitional period of the past forty years and then proceeds to evaluate them from a missiological perspective. The academic credibility of Gibbs findings are complimented by his wide-angle approach to the issues, which leave the reader with a solid and well-rounded analysis of the issues concerning the emergence of the next generation church. Gibbs divides his work into nine major sections, with each exploring a polarizing concept critical to the shaping of the postmodern church. Although I cannot fully agree with all of Gibbs conclusions, he does an excellent job of presenting the issues and suggesting the dominant themes of transition for the North American church. These themes deserve a greater investigation in a theological sense, but to do so (for the most part) would be out of place in this book, which finds its primary purpose in defining the catalyzing issues of 21st century christian-spirituality. I personally have found myself enriched by Gibbs' in-depth and thoughtful analysis on the implications of pursuing authenticity in the context of leadership, structure, and spiritual experience; these themes, finding their apex in chapters 3-5 are quite possibly the crown of Gibbs work in this book. They reflect an honest personal search on behalf of the author, and offer truly relevant points for consideration.

ChurchNext: Quantum Changes in How We Do Ministry

Perceiving that a generation of under-thirty-five-year-olds is turning away from institutional expressions of Christianity to opting to define their own spiritual journey, Dr. Eddie Gibbs, a seasoned scholar of church growth, suggests a nine key area in which churches need to undergo transforming transitions in our days of cultural shifts. This book is highly recommend for pastor and church leaders who are ministering to people groups or individuals with a variety of traditional, modern, or postmodern worldviews in our pluralist society. The nine key areas for which the author provides both insightful theory and practical application include, "From Market Driven to Mission Oriented," "From Attracting the Crowd to Seeking the Lost," and "From Belonging to Believing."