The Small Church at Large: Thinking Local in a Local Context (Convergence Series) - Softcover

Trebilock, Robin John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0687043824 ISBN 13: 9780687043828

Publisher: Abingdon Press, 2002

Synopsis

"This book is about what happens when small churches discover ancient mission in the contemporary world. Prospect Road Uniting Church is a ministry composed of five little churches in Adelaide, Australia. Robin came to these five declining, defensive, small churches in 1996. Today there are still five churches. They are still small. But they are no longer five timid congregations clinging to survival, but five centers of indigenous mission spanning the micro-cultures of urban Adelaide and the Australian outback. Robin is about to describe a church transformation that has come at significant cost. There is hope for the small church, but only if the small church surrenders organizational models, worship patterns, stewardship assumptions, leadership expectations, and minority self-interest that has come to be more precious to small churches than the Gospel itself. The competition that challenges the future of the small church is not the influence of other major religions; nor is it the influence of deified cultural forms of sports, success, profit, or politics. The real competition comes from within the small church itself. It is the smallness of its vision, the smallness of its inclusivity, and the smallness of its heart. Robin proves that neither the lack nor the abundance of resources will be decisive for the future of the small church. Imagination, sensitivity, leadership, and sheer undiluted faithfulness will win out every time."

Edition details

• Publisher: Abingdon Press
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0687043824
• ISBN 13: 9780687043828
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 128