This is a test
- 48 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
Slow Church Study Guide
Book details
Book preview
Table of contents
Citations
About This Book
High-speed internet. Rapid rewards. Quick thinking. Fast food. Fast... church?Slow Church by Chris Smith and John Pattison has been eagerly received by a people who are ready to be invited out of franchise faith and back into the kingdom of God. This eleven-session study guide provides an opportunity to reflect on the message of this groundbreaking book both individually and in community. Each session features- A guide to lectio divina- Suggested videos that can be watched online- A series of in-depth questions expanded from what is currently in the book- A quote for reflectionHere is an opportunity to begin to develop a deeper and richer community where people know each other well and love one another as Christ loved the church.
Frequently asked questions
At the moment all of our mobile-responsive ePub books are available to download via the app. Most of our PDFs are also available to download and we're working on making the final remaining ones downloadable now. Learn more here.
Both plans give you full access to the library and all of Perlegoâs features. The only differences are the price and subscription period: With the annual plan youâll save around 30% compared to 12 months on the monthly plan.
We are an online textbook subscription service, where you can get access to an entire online library for less than the price of a single book per month. With over 1 million books across 1000+ topics, weâve got you covered! Learn more here.
Look out for the read-aloud symbol on your next book to see if you can listen to it. The read-aloud tool reads text aloud for you, highlighting the text as it is being read. You can pause it, speed it up and slow it down. Learn more here.
Yes, you can access Slow Church Study Guide by C. Christopher Smith,John Pattison in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Theology & Religion & Christian Church. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
Information
Topic
Theology & ReligionSubtopic
Christian Church1
A Theological Vision for Slow Church
Read
- Foreword by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove
- Introduction
- Chapter 1: âA Theological Vision for Slow Churchâ
Facilitator Prep
These and all other resources are available at guide.slowchurch.com.
- Slow Food Manifesto
- Carl HonorĂ©, âIn praise of slownessâ (video)
- David Fitch, âA Slow Church Ecclesiologyâ (video)
Welcome
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, âTrust in the Slow Work of Godâ (poem)
Lectio Divina
Read the following text with these three questions in mind:
- First reading: What word or phrase touched my heart?
- Second reading: Where does that word or phrase touch my life today?
- Third reading: What is the text calling me to do or become? What is the text calling us to do or become?
Our firm decision is to work from this focused center: One man died for everyone. That puts everyone in the same boat. He included everyone in his death so that everyone could also be included in his life, a resurrection life, a far better life than people ever lived on their own.Because of this decision we donât evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly donât look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. Weâre Christâs representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into Godâs work of making things right between them. Weâre speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; heâs already a friend with you.How? you ask. In Christ. God put the wrong on him who never did anything wrong, so we could be put right with God. (2 Cor 5:14-21 The Message)
Conversation Starters
- Slow Food, Slow Money, Slow Cities and the other Slow movements differ in scale, scope and strategy. What they have in common is their opposition to what Canadian journalist Carl HonorĂ© describes as âthe cult of speedâ: a philosophy of life that is controlling, aggressive, impatient, etc. What are some ways we have ceded ground to the cult of speedâin life, society, culture and even in the church?
- Slow Church suggests that what makes the Slow movements so compelling is that they make possible âreal and meaningfulâ presence. How does Fast Life threaten to short-circuit real and meaningful presenceâwith God, with one another, with our own selves and with the natural world?
- âMany churches . . . come dangerously close to reducing Christianity to a commodity that can be packaged, marketed and sold. Instead of cultivating a deep, holistic discipleship that touches every aspect of our lives, weâve confined the life of faith to Sunday mornings, where it can be kept safe and predictable, or to a âpersonal relationship with Jesus Christ,â which can be managed from the privacy of our own home. Following Jesus has been diminished to a privatized faith rather than a lifelong apprenticeship undertaken in the context of Christian communityâ (14). This is flamethrower language. Why do you agree or disagree with this assessment?
- Slow Church was written by nonspecialists (20). Neither author is a pastor, church planter or professional theologian. How do the vocations and gifts of people in your congregation who are not church specialists give shape to your churchâs life together?
- No one is a passive observer in the biblical drama. God desires collaboration with humanity, which âundermines our cultural impulse to be consumers and spectators rather than faithful participants in the unwritten fifth act of Godâs playâ (23). What will happen when more people move from being âchurch consumersâ to coproducers of Godâs Story in the world?
- âOur calling in Christ is to community, to a life shared with others in a local gathering that is an expression of Christâs body in our particular place. The people of God become a sort of demonstration plot for what God intends for all humanity and all creationâ (29-30). What are the theological and practical convictions of your congregation that give shape to following together in the way of Jesus?
- What are the shared practices that help form your congregation as a local church community? What are the particular strategic initiatives to which God has called your local congregation, in its particular time and place, in participation with Godâs mission?
Closing Thought
Gerhard Lohfink, Does God Need the Church? Toward a Theology of the People of God:
It can only be that God begins in a small way, at one single place in the world. There must be a place, visible, tangible, where the salvation of the world can begin: that is, where the world becomes what it is supposed to be according to Godâs plan. Beginning at that place, the new thing can spread abroad, but not through persuasion, not through indoctrination, not through violence. Everyone must have the opportunity to come and see. All must have the chance to behold and test this new thing. Then, if they want to, they can allow themselves to be drawn into the history of salvation that God is creating. Only in that way can their freedom be preserved. What drives them to the new thing cannot be force, not even moral pressure, but only the fascination of a world that is changed. (27)
2
Terroir
Taste and See
Read
- Chapter 2: âTerroir: Taste and Seeâ
Facilitator Prep
- David Fitchâs alternative criteria for measuring church success
- Alan Roxburgh, âWhy Join God in the Neighborhood?â (video)
- Paul Sparks, Tim Soerens and Dwight Friesen, âThe New Parish Movementâ (video)
Welcome
Wendell Berry, âManifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Frontâ (poem)
Lectio Divina
Then when you pray, GOD will answer.Youâll call out for help and Iâll say, âHere I am.âIf you get rid of unfair practices,quit blaming victims,quit gossiping about other peopleâs sins,If you are generous with the hungryand start giving yourselves to the down-and-out,Your lives will begin to glow in the darkness,your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight.I will always show you where to go.Iâll give you a full life in the emptiest of placesâfirm muscles, strong bones.Youâll be like a well-watered garden,a gurgling spring that never runs dry.Youâll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew,rebuild the foundations from out of your past.Youâll be known as those who can fix anything,restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate,make the community livable again. (Is 58:9-12 The Message)
Conversation Starters
- âSlow Church is rooted in the natural, human and spiritual cultures of a particular place. It is a distinctively local expression of the glo...
Table of contents
- Cover
- Title Page
- Contents
- How to Use This Study Guide
- 1 A Theological Vision for Slow Church
- 2 Terroir: Taste and See
- 3 Stability: Fidelity to People and Place
- 4 Patience: Entering into the Suffering of Others
- 5 Wholeness: The Reconciliation of All Things
- 6 Work: Cooperating with Godâs Reconciling Mission
- 7 Sabbath: The Rhythm of Reconciliation
- 8 Abundance: The Economy of Creation
- 9 Gratitude: Receiving the Good Gifts of God
- 10 Hospitality: Generously Sharing Godâs Abundance
- 11 Dinner Table Conversation as a Way of Being Church
- Praise for Slow Church Study Guide
- About the Authors
- More Titles from InterVarsity Press
- Copyright