Becoming Church: A Trail Guide for Starting Fresh Expressions
September 1, 2021
By: by Rev. Luke S. Edwards, WNCC Associate Director of Church Development
As the religious landscape of North America changes, churches find themselves in a rugged wilderness on the outskirts of culture. At the same time, a movement is emerging from the missional edges of our oldest denominations and is working its way through the church as a whole. Thousands of fresh expressions of church are gathering with their post-Christian neighbors, embarking on a journey to follow Jesus together. In these pages you will discover a way through the wilderness, a lightly worn path walked by everyday people who are building communities and becoming church.
"You know those National Park Service maps? The ones that include photos, history, best hiking routes rated according to difficulty, services, average weather conditions, info about flora and fauna, and more? That's what Becoming Church is like. Luke Edwards doesn't just draw us a map for starting fresh expressions, he fills his trail guide with snapshots, interesting facts, degrees of difficulty, and lots of intriguing side-tracks along the way. This is a highly readable, ready-to-implement guide, written by someone who has helped launch hundreds of fresh expressions.
-Michael Frost, Morling College, Sydney
"This book should come with the following warning: 'Reading this book and acting on what you have read will prove hazardous to your institutional, culturally domesticated way of being church.' Read it anyway. It will quicken your yearning to build community with unlikely people with 'Jesus at the center.' You just might become church.
-Bishop Gregory V. Palmer, Resident Bishop of the Ohio West Conference of The United Methodist Church
Visit freshexpressionsus.org to order your copy today.
*If you are a member of the Western NC Conference - laity or clergy - enter the code "WNCUMC" at checkout for a great discount!
