Weird Church

This week both Jeff and I got to do something new.  We attended two book release parties and sat on a panel at the events.  Jeff did the Thursday night honors, while I spoke on Saturday.  Weird Church was written by one of our friends, Beth Estock who is a local pastor and coach.  Her writing partner is Paul Nixon a pastor and coach from the east coast.  In their book they talk about shifts that have occurred in the culture and new forms of ministry taking place.  Here’s what Amazon says about the book, 

“In the post-Christendom era, the institutional church just isn’t what it used to be. But don’t give up hope for the future of faith. Weird Church offers church leaders a clear vision of what’s coming next, so long as they’re willing to live into a few critical shifts. Utilizing Spiral Dynamics as a means of framing the current changes in North American culture, Nixon and Estock give a thrilling forecast of where the church is going as we race toward the mid-century.

This book is a wake-up call for those who still think church revitalization is simply a matter of doing better the things that used to come so easily. A must-read for anybody who is designing Christian ministry for the new world that is rapidly emerging around us.”

It was exciting to be on the panel and to hear from the other panelists about the amazing ways church is unfolding here in Portland.  What I most appreciated about the experience was the chance to share our story and to be hopeful about the future of the church.  There are so many people out there faithfully following God and doing new, sometimes weird, things to live into what God is dreaming for us now.

Thanks to Beth & Paul for writing about these awesome ways of church and for inviting us to participate in the journey!

-Eilidh

WEIRD CHURCH BOOK TRAILER from Jason Moore on Vimeo.