The New Parish - by Paul Sparks & Tim Soerens & Dwight J Friesen (Paperback)
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<p/><br></br><p><b> About the Book </b></p></br></br><p>Headlines rage with big stories about big churches. But tucked away in neighborhoods throughout North America is a profound work of hope quietly unfolding as the gospel takes root in the context of a place. The future of the church is local, connected to the struggles of the people and even to the land itself.</p><p/><br></br><p><b> Book Synopsis </b></p></br></br><ul> <li>2015 <em>Christianity Today</em> Award of Merit (The Church/Pastoral Leadership)</li> <li>2014 Readers' Choice Awards Honorable Mention</li> <li>2014 Best Books About the Church from Byron Borger, Hearts and Minds Bookstore</li> </ul><p>When . . . faith communities begin connecting together, in and for the neighborhood, they learn to depend on God for strength to love, forgive and show grace like never before. . . . The gospel becomes so much more tangible and compelling when the local church is actually a part of the community, connected to the struggles of the people, and even the land itself. Paul Sparks, Tim Soerens and Dwight J. Friesen have seen--in cities, suburbs and small towns all over North America--how powerful the gospel can be when it takes root in the context of a place, at the intersection of geography, demography, economy and culture. This is not a new idea--the concept of a parish is as old as Paul's letters to the various communities of the ancient church. But in an age of dislocation and disengagement, the notion of a church that knows its place and gives itself to where it finds itself is like a breath of fresh air, like a sign of new life.</p><p/><br></br><p><b> Review Quotes </b></p></br></br><br><p><em>The New Parish is, </em> hands down, one of the most sensible and simultaneously exhilarating books I have read in a long time. Rich in specific details and concrete examples of a new old way, it will serve its readers as both instructor and encourager. The underlying, foundational concepts here, together with the central theme of localization, make for prophetic reportage, and the result is as exciting as it is rife with hope.</p>--Phyllis Tickle, author of The Age of the Spirit<br><br><p>Everyone wants 'tweaks'--slight adjustments that will finally be the silver bullet, costing very little and doing little to challenge our prevailing ideas and ideals of ministry. They don't exist! What is needed for the church today are wild ideas that line up with the story of Scripture. In <em>The New Parish, </em> we finally have a group of friends telling their stories and giving us something radical to consider: behaving as Jesus would in our neighborhoods. This book will blow some circuits, but seriously, aren't you tired of reading the same stuff in different packages? Read at your own risk.</p>--Hugh Halter, author of Flesh and The Tangible Kingdom<br><br><p>In <em>The New Parish, </em> Paul, Tim and Dwight offer a theologically rich vision of church life intertwined with the places we inhabit. In stark contrast to the displacement and fragmentation that dominates our age, this important book calls us to slow down, become rooted, and experience a taste of the abundance and healing that God intends for all creation. Church leaders take heed, the new parish is, without question, the church of the future!</p>--C. Christopher Smith, coauthor of Slow Church and editor of the Englewood Review of Books<br><br><p>In a society addicted to the next technique, a thought-provoking and insightful book, <em> The New Parish, </em> provides a refreshing solution. God has a sense of place, and when followers of Jesus share life together and put down roots in a specific location, they become something new, something that has the power to transform and energize that community. God is at work in neighborhoods, and the church does well to pay attention.</p>--Felicity Dale, author of An Army of Ordinary People and coauthor of Small Is Big!<br><br><p>Quietly, beneath the purview of the dominant social systems, a revolution is taking place. The church is returning to the local. In <em>The New Parish, </em> three subversives plot the church's simple way back into the neighborhood. The result is flourishing, renewal of the Spirit, indeed the gospel taking on flesh! This book is your invitation to the revolution!</p>--David Fitch, Lindner Chair of Evangelical Theology, Northern Seminary, and author of Prodigal Christianity<br><br><p>The traditional idea of a parish is just what this book is reclaiming--'churches rooted in the neighborhood.' The idea and reality of a parish used to be geographical. Those called to lead the parish did not organize for the purpose of drawing people to a specific theology or affinity or program. Done well, those called to lead 'read' their neighborhood and responded. They did not wish for 'other people, ' they thanked God for the people in their neighborhood, put down roots, built relationships and incarnated the body of Christ. This book is an attempt to reclaim that traditional understanding in a new day for a new generation. It is much needed, and I am so thankful for it.</p>--The Rt. Rev. Gregory H. Rickel, VIII Bishop of Olympia<br><br><p>What would it look like if God's reign were to be more fully realized in your neighborhood? In <em>The New Parish, </em> Tim, Paul and Dwight team up to answer this question in concrete ways. With a rich theology of place and practice, they guide us in how to have a humble posture and be a faithful presence in the neighborhood. This is a must-read!</p>--JR Woodward, national director of the V3 Church Planting Movement, author of Creating a Missional Culture<br><br><p>As someone who is doing church as parish, I have found this book a very helpful guide in practically answering what a church could look like as it is lived in community. What I also appreciate is the authors do not gloss over the challenges presented and the hard work involved in developing a new parish. They acknowledge the journey is complex, the transition difficult, and experienced guides are few. This is a resource that will definitely be a textbook for those wanting to embrace a localized view of church in years to come.</p>--Dave Harder, Mennonite Brethren Herald, May 2014<br><br><p>Faithfulness needs to encompass more than worship to include the mundane activities of everyday life, according to <em>The New Parish</em>. In prophetic tones the authors suggest that if the church cannot be present and involved in its neighborhood, it has lost its way. These theologically trained authors all propose a new parish. Follow Jesus into your neighbourhood with other followers of Jesus. This means 'taking your bodies, your locations and your community very seriously, as seriously as God in Christ took them.' If a church is in, and for, the parish, everything changes, and might result in what they call 'slow church.' . . . This book would be an excellent resource for small group study.</p>--Henry Neufeld, Canadian Mennonite Magazine, September 10, 2014<br><br><p>Paul Sparks, Tim Soerens and Dwight J. Friesen have seen . . . how powerful the gospel can be when it takes root in the context of a place, at the intersection of geography, economy and culture. This is not a new idea, the concept of a parish is as old as Paul's letters to the various communities of the ancient church. But in an age of dislocation and disengagement, the notion of a church that knows its place and gives itself to where it finds itself is like a breath of fresh air, like a sign of new life.</p>--Light Magazine Canada, June/July 2014<br><br><p>The authors explore how the limitations of staying rooted in a particular place actually provide opportunities for transformation and mission. This is a counterintuitive notion for churches that have bought into the mobile and transient values of our culture.</p>--David Swanson, Christianity Today 2015 Book Awards, January/February 2015<br><br><p>The authors offer fresh insights into the fragmentation of Western Christianity and explain why moving from megachurches to neighborhood churches is impacting the spread of the gospel.</p>--CBA Retailers + Resources, April 2014<br><br><p>This book introduces a way of understanding the local church grounded in appreciation for where and when God has placed it. . . . Church leaders who get that they need to learn to see and listen first of all--to God and to their parish context--will cultivate practices of discernment for themselves and the communities they lead. In this way they will 'spark the communal imagination toward Spirit-led action in the parish' and--as the stories in the book demonstrate--plant seeds for ministry that will bear much fruit.</p>--Aileen Van Ginkel, Faith Today, November/December 2015<br><br><p>We are accustomed, as the authors here argue, to 'living above place': leading individualized lives within a fragmented, globalized economy. Real gospel transformation has to start in our neighborhoods, as people root themselves--their spirits, emotions, and bodies--in a particular place. <em>The New Parish</em> shows how believers can come together, both within the church and beyond, for the good of their communities. If you aren't jazzed about what God is doing in your neighborhood after reading this book, it might be time to move.</p>--D. L. Mayfield, Christianity Today, September 2015<br>
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