Being Church

John F. Alexander, Cascade Books

The “core of this book” is all about the people of the church “becoming one body and pouring themselves out for one another”.

John F. Alexander traces his lifetime search and relates it back to the early Christian communities and their house churches.

AfterConstantine, “Christianity became fashionable” and living rooms were not big enough, then you didn’t know everybody. Our churches were designed to be performances to be observed and “today people will drive miles to find a church made up of people like them”.

For every one person standing in front, 99 commute to watch. The author tells how he tried all forms and functions from large evangelical congregations to separate live-in communities.

He found, “If we move to a different tree, we’ll still be the same monkeys. What counts is changed hearts among the people of God.”

He eventually settled into The Church of the Sojourners, where he found a commitment to “introducing people to God’s extended family”.

This is a rather long book published after Alexander’s death. I found it provocative in places.

John Atkinson