CHRISTIANITY FOR THE REST OF US is a guide no church leader can ignore.

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	• Christianity for the Rest of Us: How the Neighborhood Church Is Transforming the Faith Diana Butler Bass HarperOne, 2007 - 336 pages average customer review:based on 23 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Read This Book!

I'll cut straight to the chase: If you are associated with, interested in, a member of, a leader of, responsible for, or curious about the grouping of denominations and church bodies known as "the mainline" you simply must read this book.

It is not an apology for mainline decline and it is not an attack on other faith traditions (such as fundamentalists and evangelical expressions of church); rather, it describes a relatively new development (one little noticed because it is occurring in a context--the neighborhood denominational church--that is not thought worthy of exploration) that moves the church beyond its often dull status quo toward an exciting, transformative future.

How does this happen? Certainly not by attacking or mimicking others. Instead, the churches included in Bass's lively account of her on-the-ground research find their best selves by exploring both their local history and the grand sweep of Christian tradition. She has found a pattern in these explorations that she describes as 10 "signposts of vitality"--such as hospitality, theological reflection, discernment, and justice.

The mainline may not have the numbers it once had, but it is not because of the churches profiled in this book or the others like them. Join them and "the rest of us" in the effort to create churches where head and heart, past and present, and self and community can find life together.

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Good News for the "Mainline" Churches

In her first book, Diana Butler Bass told us how her personal spiritual pilgrimage coincided with the spiritual journeys of the Episcopal Churches she attended. Apparently, both of those journeys convinced her that the "mainline" churches still have vitality when many (including members of the mainline churches themselves) believed they were dying. Her next books hypothesized about what was contributing to the vitality in those churches and her recommendations for introducing "intentional practices" into those congregations who were struggling. This book is both a broad and an indepth study of what is working in these historic, traditional churches that makes it possible for them to spiritually compete with the megachurches and fundamentalist evangelical churches that are getting all of the attention from the secular press. Her research identifies nine different "intentional practices" of these churches that make it possible for them to be instrumental in the transformation of individuals toward deeper trust in God, faith founded values, and faith driven behavior. (Many of the nine "intentional practices" can be equated with the Natural Church Development categories). As she always has, Bass tells wonderful stories about the things she observed or reports the details of interviews she and others conducted to give anecdotal credance to the big conclusions she draws. Here is a book that will give confidence to the "mainline" pastors and parishioners who are wringing their hands about the future of their congregations. It will help them identify what is going on in their own places of worship that is fulfilling the missions of the Christian Church and point to practices they are not doing that would bring new life to their parishes. The only regret I have is that we needed Ms. Bass' book thirty years ago, but, as she herself points out, it is not too late for a resurgence of Christian Churches whose strength is their roots in the long history of the Church in the West.

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Mainline Churches can be renewed

This is a must-read for layleaders or clergy interested in the renewal and revitalization of mainline churches. Bass gives example after example of churches that have remained true to themselves and have found ways to adapt their ministries to the people and circumstances in which they find themselves in a changing world. Her research is thorough, well-documented, and presented in a compelling manner. This book would be good for discussion groups of laity and clergy.

CHRISTIANITY FOR THE REST OF US is a guide no church leader can ignore.

For decades the idea has been that America's mainline Protestant churches are increasingly irrelevant, replaced by suburban evangelical mega-churches: now CHRISTIANITY FOR THE REST OF US: HOW THE NEIGHBORHOOD CHURCH IS TRANSFORMING THE FAITH comes from a church expert and former NY Times columnist to maintain there's a revolution taking place within the mainline churches across the country. Modern mainline churchgoers who don't use the evangelical approach are growing - and their views represent a wider community interested in religion and politics alike. Her three-year study, funded by the Lilly Endowment, surveys some fifty such churches across six denominations to chart not a decline, but a revolutionary change in the making. CHRISTIANITY FOR THE REST OF US is a guide no church leader can ignore.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

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One of the Best of 2006

A vitally important study of the vibrant faith that yet remains in the Protestant church in America. I adore the way Diana Butler-Bass writes. As an academically trained sociologist, I also was keenly interested in her methodology as the framework for her participant observation. Frankly, I hope what she chronicles in this book is contagious and infects the Protestatnt church everywhere. The book is written such that it can be enjoyed by all audiences. This is a "journey story," not an antiseptic, academic journal type book. A book written for everyone. Enjoy it! It is definitely the Best Book About American Protestantism I have read in 2006...This is truly a work of art. It will resonate with folks outside the U.S. as well. You go Diana!!!

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