Reimagining Church: Pursuing the Dream of Organic Community

Author Frank Viola gives readers language for all they knew was missing in their modern church experience. He believes that many of today's congregations have shifted from God's original intent for the church. As a prominent leader of the house church movement, Frank is at the forefront of a revolution sweeping through the body of Christ. A change that is challenging the spiritual status quo and redefining the very nature of church. A movement inspired by the divine design for authenticity community. A fresh concept rooted in ancient history and in God Himself.

Join Frank as he shares God's original intent for the church, where the body of Christ is an organic, living, breathing organism. A church that is free of convention, formed by spiritual intimacy, and unbound by four walls.

"In Reimagining Church, Frank Viola is at the top of his game, showing a serene, soaring mastery of the theology of church as organism rather than organization.
- Leonard Sweet, author of Soul Tsunami, Soul Salsa, and 11

"Dissent is a gift to the Church. It is the imagination of the prophets that continually call us back to our identity as the peculiar people of God. May Viola’s words challenge us to become the change that we want to see in the Church ... and not to settle for anything less than God's dream for Her."
- Shane Claiborne, author, activist, and recovering sinner

"True to form, this book contains a thoroughly consistent critique of prevailing forms of church. However, in Reimagining Church, Frank Viola also presents a positive vision of what the church can become if we truly re-embraced more organic, and less institutional, forms of church. This is a no holds barred prophetic vision for the church in the twenty-first Century."
- Alan Hirsch, author of The Forgotten Ways and The Shaping of Things To Come

"Frank not only pulls fresh insights out of well-known concepts, but also keeps challenging us to go back to basics and focus on Christ himself. Thank you, Frank! This practical book will identify what church can look like when it is focused on Jesus."
- Tony Dale, author and editor of House 2 House magazine, founder of The Karis Group

"Reimagining Church is a valuable addition to the resources being produced on the subject of organic churches. Written from the perspective of a long-time practitioner, Frank conveys these concepts with his usual clarity and insight and covers many of the practical aspects of starting a church. I recommend this book to anyone interested in organic church."
- Felicity Dale, author of An Army of Ordinary People and Getting Started: A Practical Guide to Starting Simple Churches

"Reimagining Church will be certain to disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed at the same time. Frank Viola cuts through the fog by putting his finger on the problems of man-made churchianity, while providing a solidly biblical, practical, and strategic vision for a powerful New Testament expression of the body of Christ."
- Rad Zdero, PhD, author of The Global House Church Movement and editor of Nexus: The World House Church Movement Reader

"Reimagining Church is a readable (and livable!) description of organic, New Testament-rooted church life for the twenty-first century. Avoiding the weeds of both wooden fundamentalism and unreflective over-contextualization, Frank Viola paints a winsome and attractive portrait of a gospel people, inhabited by the Holy Spirit with God in Christ as their energetic center. Frank helps us learn from the peculiar genius of Jesus and his earliest followers, planting seeds for authentic, deeply rooted life together."
- Mike Morrell, Graduate Fellow in Emergent Studies, MA in Strategic Foresight, Regent University; zoecarnate

"If Pagan Christianity? exposes the reality that much of our current church practice has little basis in the Bible, Reimagining Church takes the next step to establish what truly biblical church life looks like. With the inner life of the Trinity as the starting point, Viola paints an amazing picture of organic church life."
- John White, community facilitator, LK10: A Community of Practice for Church Planters

"If we are indeed at the cusp of the next major reformation of the church, as many suggest, then Frank Viola is one of the significant voices we all should lend our ears to. Frank's humble heart and bold keyboard have once again delivered a book to be read by those who desire to take an honest look at the state of the contemporary church. Reimagining Church calls us to first remember the church from the original blueprint of Scripture."
- Lance Ford, co-founder and director of Shapevine

Viola, co-author of Pagan Christianity, continues his discussion on the non-institutional church in Reimagining Church: Pursuing the Dream of Organic Christianity. Having left an organized church in 1988 for a home -- or "organic"-- church model, the author draws comparisons from the early church to the way modern churches operate.

Through chapters that focus on "reimagining" the Lord's Supper, the family of God, church unity and authority and submission, Viola, who doesn't believe in clergy, denominations or doctrinal statements, argues that most churches are set up like corporations, while those in the early church were overseen but not controlled by apostles.

In the foreword, Viola warns that offense could rise from readers with sacred loyalty to their churches. However, even though he presents what some might consider an extreme position, there are points anyone could glean when it comes to being members of the church -- institutional or not -- truly caring for and serving one another.

-DeWayne Hamby

Viola (Pagan Christianity), a leader in the house church movement, believes the church as we know it today is nothing like what God intended it to be. According to Viola, the first-century church, which should be our pattern, met in homes without any official pastor. All members of the church were involved in worship, spontaneously breaking out with teaching or song as they were moved. Decisions were not made until everyone reached consensus. There were no official leaders or elders, but there were men who served and taught and helped others, thus leading by example. Viola believes that to bring the church back on track, both clergy and denominations must be completely abolished. Churches should not have buildings nor should they worry about doctrinal statements. Such radical ideas will best be received by Emergent and postmodern readers. Skeptics will cringe at Viola's strident tone and all-or-nothing approach. More concrete examples of what Viola has seen work well in his 20 years of house church work would have greatly strengthened the book. (Aug.)Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.

Average Rating:

8 of 26 Reviews Showing:(View All Reviews)

Reviewed by Garry Sahl (Surrey, Bc,), October 23, 2009

Pagan Christianity,and Reimagining Church are well researched interesting books. Opens ones mind to what is missing.

Reviewed by Malcolm Harris (Western Cape, South Africa), May 11, 2009

Through this book I have come to relish my promotion from Church Leader to run-of-the-mill brother. It is a small step for man but a giant leap for eternity and no doubt of greater benefit to the church. Had I not read Frank Viola’s ‘Untold Story of the New Testament Church’ and “Pagan Christianity” I might have been put off by the Title of “Reimagining Church” simply because in my view, much of the malady of the church today is as a result of too much imagination and too little sound doctrine. Thankfully inside the cover of this book the only imagination is in the skill, simplicity and very readable style of the writer, the doctrines presented are soundly based on Scripture and the freshly ‘imagined’ church is very true to her original design in the New Testament. The transition from Institutionalised Christianity, with its dedicated ordained professional leaders to the Headship of the unseen but very present Christ in the midst of the twos and threes gathered in His name is sometimes a scary and unnerving prospect, which exposes and belies our dependence upon these men rather than the one who alone is worthy to be the Head of the church. ‘Reimagining Church’ is a masterpiece providing a loving, well researched, spiritually insightful transition from religion to a life in Christ and provides a fresh view of the power, glory and simplicity of the church of Jesus Christ. This book is an essential follow on to ‘Pagan Christianity’, which dealt a death blow to a lot of ‘Christianized’ pagan practices in modern Christianity and left the reader standing in the Garden of Eden with no fig leaves. Reimagining Church, provides spiritual insight into the true covering that God has provided those He redeemed from the Garden of sin, by unpacking the simple but profound operation of the New Testament church, with its organic leadership,the centrality and supremacy of Jesus, its Head and the practical operation of the priesthood of all believers.

Reviewed by Bev Sesink (Edmonton, Ab,), April 22, 2009

Thought provoking. Makes for uncomfortable reading if you are stuck on the present church model. It certainly makes you wonder if we need to make some changes as to how we do church.

Reviewed by Teresa Jones (Atlanta, GA), March 03, 2009

This was a great book. It changed my view of the church. I'm now reading "From Eternity to Here" by the same author. Wow! I'll be reviewing that when I'm finished.

Reviewed by R. Longwell (Abilene, TX), February 09, 2009

Frank Viola is an influential leader in the modern House/Organic/Simple Church movement, and as such, has written a number of books encouraging readers to reexamine what it means to be the church. Viola's latest book, Reimagining Church, may be his best yet. The book is written for the nonprofessional; for people who are leaving or are considering leaving more traditional forms of church. This is a strength, in my judgment, and will insure a wide readership. Viola's insights are accessible to everyone, unlike much missional church literature today, which is often written for seminary-trained church leaders. This is good because Viola has much to say. Viola has spent some twenty years in simple or organic churches, and has some incredibly keen insights into how these churches can and should function. Issues of leadership, relationships, sacraments, church unity, decision-making and more are addressed frankly and thoughtfully. There is real wisdom in this book -- wisdom born of experience. In my judgment, this book represents the best-articulated case for simple or organic churches I've read.

Reviewed by Jennifer Dobson (Plano, Texas), November 04, 2008

One of the best books on church that I've ever read. This is truly a fresh vision. I loved how it ties the nature of God into how the church is to be expressed. The part about leadership and covering was brilliant. Great book!

Reviewed by Matthew Sikes (Ruston, LA), October 24, 2008

This is an awesome book! I have felt this way for a long time, and I encourage anyone, who has felt that church run like a business is not the way God intended for His church to be, to buy this book. May God lead you in pursuit of His presence and His ways.

Reviewed by hummingbird (United States), September 03, 2008

In “Reimagining Church,” Frank Viola has crafted a powerful and engaging book that combines theological precision, spiritual depth, and practical demonstrations which together offer a new vision of church for the twenty-first century. No one can read this book without discovering something fresh about the many texts in the New Testament that describe church and leadership as well as being provoked to look at both in an entirely new way. I found the book's consistent emphasis on the orthodox teaching of the trinitarian nature of God and how it relates to church practices to be refreshing and insightful. The experiential stories the author presents after each chapter make this a functionally practical book as well as a theological savvy one. Viola deals with such topics as the role of culture on church practice, the so called doctrine of "covering" and its abuses, the different models of church leadership, apostolic tradition, God's eternal mission and purpose, recent movements that have sought to reform the church, and the organic nature of church – all in a brilliantly provocative and winsome manner. Since I have been a Christian I have always heard that the church is an organism, but this is the first book I have read that develops the implications of that statement and shows why it is relevant to every follower of Jesus. Some books are timeless in the issues they address. Others are timely. "Reimagining Church" is one of those rare books that are both.

View all 26 Reviews

Write a review of Reimagining Church: Pursuing the Dream of Organic Community

• Books
• Books >> Church & Pastoral
• Books >> Church & Pastoral >> Church Leadership
• Books >> Church & Pastoral >> Church Leadership >> Church Growth
• Books >> Church & Pastoral >> Church Leadership >> Church Growth >> Vision
• Books >> Church & Pastoral >> Church Leadership >> Pastoral Resources
• Church & Pastoral
• Church & Pastoral >> Church Leadership
• Church & Pastoral >> Church Leadership >> Church Growth
• Church & Pastoral >> Church Leadership >> Church Growth >> Vision
• Church & Pastoral >> Church Leadership >> Pastoral Resources
• Start A New Christianbook.com Search

I'm the author/artist and I want to review Reimagining Church: Pursuing the Dream of Organic Community.