It helps to get the insight to what thinking goes on in the minds of some of those within or even outside of the church.
-- Matthew Christensen, TheoSource, April 28, 2008
It helps to get the insight to what thinking goes on in the minds of some of those within or even outside of the church.
-- Matthew Christensen, TheoSource, April 28, 2008
"I'm blown away by Life After Church. I've never yet seen a book of its kind that addresses those who 'stay' in church and those who leave! It's a significant book."
-- Mike Morrell, editor, The Ooze, and emerging church coordinator, Not For Sale Campaign
"Hopeful, prophetic, Brian Sanders speaks for the many among us who long for the kingdom of God--but find ourselves frustrated by the church as we know it. In Life After Church he offers a gentle, constructive and hopeful vision of how we can reform ourselves as a body to be the hands and feet of Jesus in our world. Simple but not simplistic, prophetic but not angry, Brian's writing is honest about the struggle to live authentic faith, striking a careful balance between honoring the past and inviting us to imagine what could be."
-- Mark A. Scandrette, author, Soul Graffiti, and executive director and cofounder, ReIMAGINE!
"For anyone who really believes Christ is Lord and head of the church, this book is a real roller coaster. At first I found myself angry and defensive in response to Sanders's critique, and yet I also found myself resonating with his deep longing for the church to be more. For those of us staying, Sanders and his 'leavers' articulate important questions. They are critical questions for the leaders of any church that desires to be faithful to its Christ-given mission and relevant to a new generation."
-- Candie Blankman, pastor, First Presbyterian Church, Downey, California
"For anyone who really believes Christ is Lord and head of the church, this book is a real roller coaster. At first I found myself angry and defensive in response to Sanders's critique, and yet I also found myself resonating with his deep longing for the church to be more. For those of us staying, Sanders and his 'leavers' articulate important questions. They are critical questions for the leaders of any church that desires to be faithful to its Christ-given mission and relevant to a new generation."
-- Candie Blankman, pastor, First Presbyterian Church, Downey, California
"I love this book; I hate this book. I love this book because Brian's longing heart is so big he can write a sentence like 'God's vision for his church is so magnificent, so beautiful, that we can never leave it without leaving him.' I hate this book because it might encourage disillusioned people to leave the church--and as Brian says, that would be leaving God behind too. But if you're wrestling with the church, Brian is a great wrestling coach."
-- Kevin A. Miller, executive vice president and publisher, Christianity Today International
Brian encourages Christians not to give up on the church as a whole, but instead seek God for more clarity of mission, values, and vision for their life going forward.
-- LW, The Journal of Student Ministries, May/June 2008
Brian encourages Christians not to give up on the church as a whole, but instead seek God for more clarity of mission, values, and vision for their life going forward.
-- LW, The Journal of Student Ministries, May/June 2008
Sanders advocates a renewed focus on the missional call of the church to be the body of Christ to nonbelievers skeptical of faith without works and justice without mercy.
-- Sean Fowlds in Ministry Today, March/April 2008
"Sanders offers helpful guidance to those who are considering leaving church as well as to those who have chosen to stay, providing the latter with practical suggestions on how to reform the church from within and maintain their joy in the process. For those who have chosen to leave, Sanders provides a chapter on how to leave respectfully and graciously."
-- Marcia Ford, FaithfulReader.com, January 2008
"Sanders offers helpful guidance to those who are considering leaving church as well as to those who have chosen to stay, providing the latter with practical suggestions on how to reform the church from within and maintain their joy in the process. For those who have chosen to leave, Sanders provides a chapter on how to leave respectfully and graciously."
-- Marcia Ford, FaithfulReader.com, January 2008
"Wow!!! Sanders has my attention. And the book never gets bitter or ruthless. It expresses the pain, not of unrealistic idealists who are not able to be satisfied, but of honest men and women who see what the rest of us do not want to see, for whatever may be our reasons. Read this book. Read this book. Read this book."
-- Don Bryant, pastor, Coastal Church, Hanover, Massachusetts
"This is the only book I know of that is about leaving church, not in the sense of tossing in the towel, but of thoughtful, deliberate, wise leaving because one's heart burns for the kingdom more than one's local church does. This book is not crazy or angry; it's thoughtful, judicious, and programmatic for those who want to pick up stakes and do church differently, more radically."
-- Scot McKnight, from jesuscreed.org
"This is the only book I know of that is about leaving church, not in the sense of tossing in the towel, but of thoughtful, deliberate, wise leaving because one's heart burns for the kingdom more than one's local church does. This book is not crazy or angry; it's thoughtful, judicious, and programmatic for those who want to pick up stakes and do church differently, more radically."
-- Scot McKnight, from jesuscreed.org
