The Church and the Parachurch: An Uneasy Marriage (A Critical Concern Book)

by Jerry E. White

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0880700181
• ISBN13: 9780880700184
• Release Date: January 1983
• Publisher: Multnomah Pub
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 3.15 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Repulsing the Onlooking World

When I've loaned out my only two copies of an old book--and had to find another one online, it tells me it's an important book. Jerry White, now president emeritus of The Navigators, published The Church & the Parachurch, "A Critical Concern Book" for Multnomah Press in 1983. It's still very relevant--maybe more so in 2009. Today, many megachurches often look more like parachurches than "local churches." And in many "parachurches" today, I find that they are functioning more in tune with a biblical model of "church" than do many local churches. Yet there are excesses on both sides, some sad and some even hilarious. Many pastors still distrust parachurches--and block the doors. "All they want are my best volunteers and their money." Parachurch leaders, on the other hand, often compete with other parachurches for local church dollars, volunteers and loyalties. Yet pastors display their arrogance and their ignorance when they naively believe they can control the giving and the engagement of their church members. But no church can support and encourage hundreds of parachurch causes. What's the solution? Jerry White, with fear and trepidation, took on this volatile subject in the 1980s. No one has done it better since. He traces the history of parachurches, gives thoughtful insight on the theological issues (you may change your own thinking) and offers solutions to this "uneasy marriage." Has anything changed over the last 25 years? My opinion: yes and no. If anything, some pastors of larger churches have built higher walls. Parachurches, though, have increasingly found clever ways to go around the institutional church and go directly to the people. And--in most cases--they do it better. Example: you'll get a prompt donor receipt, thank you letter and ministry update (eNews, etc.) from your parachurch giving. What personal response do you get from your local church giving? Usually not much, except an annual record of giving from the church treasurer (usually with typos). White nets it out for us. "Struggles over structure, authority, and organizational rights can do nothing but repulse the onlooking world and diminish the effectiveness of the body of Christ. I believe this proposed solution [chapter 6] can be fulfilled without a wave of watered-down ecumenicity or the forsaking of doctrinal distinctives and beliefs. But to do so, both the local church and the para-local church structures must publicly make specific efforts to encourage and help one another." Get the book--and help bless both the church and the parachurch.