Dear Church: Letters From a Disillusioned Generation

Dear Church is a series of letters from a former emergent church staffer to the global church she's not always sure she wants to be a part of. On a personal level, Cunningham's story awakens the sometimes missing voice of the twenty-somethings who are distancing themselves from conventional expressions of religion. On a global level, Dear Church invites every person to engage their own disappointments and share in Sarah's story---the story of journeying through disillusionment and back again. Includes discussion questions that can be used for personal or group reflection.

Dear Church is a series of letters from a former emergent church staffer to the global church she’s not always sure she wants to be a part of. On a personal level, Sarah’s story awakens the sometimes M.I.A. voice of the twenty-somethings who are distancing themselves from conventional expressions of religion. But, thanks to discussion questions that can be used for personal or group reflection, this book is much more than just one person’s story. On a global level, Dear Church invites every person to engage their own disappointments and share in Sarah’s story—the story of journeying through disillusionment and back again.

First-time author Cunningham is a 20-something who feels ambivalent about and alienated from the church. In 14 letters, she vents her frustrations, telling the church why she is dissatisfied and letting other disgruntled Gen-X and Gen-Y readers know they are not alone. Her generation digs technology, but still craves human intimacy and community. They value "authenticity" and thus are suspicious of churches where worship seems too polished, too "preplanned," too self-consciously cool. The Holy Spirit may move some people to leave their local church, and Cunningham thinks that's okay, as long as they find Christian community somewhere else and refrain from gossiping about the members of their ex-church. The book is not wholly devoted to complaining; Cunningham also highlights the aspects of church life that give her hope. She loves the resiliency and flexibility of the church. And she loves Jesus, who was simultaneously anti-institutional and deeply committed to the church. Cunningham's epistolary format is ironically gimmicky, drawing from the same wells as the inauthentic church services she critiques. Questions at the end of each chapter will help small groups who want to use this book as a jumping-off point for discussion, but ultimately, there is little here that hasn't been said before. Copyright 2006 Publishers Weekly.

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Reviewed by Cassie Hale (Kokomo, IN), July 14, 2007

I LOVE this book! Sarah's frustrations with the church matched mine completely. However, she was humble and honest enough to apologize for the way we have held our Churches on such lofty ground. The first half of the book, I kept saying, "Yes, yes, that's exactly right", in a righteous-indignation kind of way, but then the 2nd half was a bit more humbling. I found myself saying, "I see where my thinking was so wrong." I would recommend this to ANYONE who is at a crossroads in their life when it comes to church--especially those of us who grew up in the church. I went through a crisis of faith that lasted a couple years. I never quit believing in Christ, but I had lost all faith in his church. I'm 29 and this book helped me to look at His church with new eyes. I love His church now with all my heart--even with all its warts and flaws! Excellent read.

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