Undoing Church PDF Download

The church is dying in America and with the decline of the church is a parallel decline in Christianity. As emerging generations seek to connect with others and Jesus in meaningful relationships they turn to the church to meet that need, but many churches today are not delivering. But there is also a huge disconnect between perceptions of what it means to be a Christian, follow Jesus and go to church. The Barna Group, a major voice in communicating research findings related to Christianity and culture reports that 62% of unchurched adults consider themselves to be Christians and 44% claim that they have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important in their life today. At the same time 53% of Busters and 49% of Boomers contend t hat they are too busy to attend church. On top of the fast pace of life experienced in today’s culture, Christianity and church goers have a huge image problem. Dave Kinneman and Dave Lyons, in their book UnChristian, report on common perceptions of Christians held by those outside of faith circles. It is important to make a distinction between Christians and church goers, noting that not all individuals who go to church are followers of Jesus. It seems church may have become more of a Sunday social date rather than a way of living based on the Golden Rule. Much of the image problem has to do with how Christians and the church are perceived by those who do not attend church or identify themselves as Christians. As reported by Kinneman and Lyons, the church (the people who purport to follow Jesus) is perceived as judgmental, homophobic, arrogant and hypocritical. I imagine Jesus weeping at this assessment of his followers. Who wants to be a part of this group? But is it accurate? What do many of those Christian or church words mean anyway? And is the pop culture definition or perception Biblically accurate? Emerging generations represent the future of the Church in America, and if the church does not meet the relational and worship needs of this generation the future of Christianity in this country will suffer another major blow. Christians and the church have more than an image problem. The Barna Group reports that despite strong levels of spiritual activity during the teen years, most twenty somethings disengage from active participation in the Christian faith during their young adult years and often beyond that. It is also this same group that was nearly 70% more likely than older adults to strongly assert that if they “cannot find a local church that will help them become more like Christ, then they will find people and groups that will, and connect with them instead of a local church.” This provides a huge opportunity to respond. UnDoing Church is response resource for individual and group use. UnDoing Church is written in a transparent and edgy style that communicates with the reader, whether a Jesus follower or not. UnDoing Church is a tool individuals or groups can use to understand and live out Biblical truths (without the Christianese) in a fun and “tell it like it is” (edgy, sassy) way infusing authentic (not sugar coated or superficial) faith to today’s emerging generation. The content will help followers of Christ communicate their faith to others who may have misconceptions about Christians and faith while also providing strategies to live out the concepts discussed, making application a key component of this resource. This resource will hold the reader’s interest and help to present authentic Christian concepts while also blasting some commonly held beliefs and pre-conceived notions, regardless of where the individual is on their faith journey. The author relishes the adventure of following Jesus, not imply showing up at church on Sunday mornings, something that was not part of her childhood growing up in New York City. In fact, Pride did not enter into a faith relationship until she was 41 years old with two college degrees under her belt, one from an Ivy League College. Pride has a passion f or sharing her faith with others through actions, a healthy dose of humor and stories and language the reader can easily identify with. As noted, Pride was not raised in a Christian home and is sensitive to those who are seeking, curious or newer in their faith walk. She understands full well the wide range of misconceptions which exist regarding Christianity, as she once held many of these beliefs herself, having had more than one negative encounter with religious “Christian” people (who are not only alive and well, but thriving) and passionately yearns to communicate a more alive, engaging and fun way to share Jesus with others in mind expanding and paradigm shifting ways. Pride loves to engage those who do not yet follow Jesus (as well as believers and those who think they know Christ but are stuck in religion) through conversation and service. She straddles her upbringing outside of Christ and her journey as a disciple with joy, transparency, boldness and energy.