The Connecting Church

The important offering this book makes to the Church in this day, I think, is how it recaptures the idea of Biblical community (which of course, fleshes itself out as sharing a common vision, common values, a common place...etc...). It speaks of "connecting" to each other, connecting to God...I will be intrigued to see how Frazee's vision (no doubt God-inspired) fleshes itself out in other locales, as other leaders begin implementing like ideas. Even if you can't lead your congregation to do the things he suggests (going to a small group structure, etc.) there are still some valuable concepts you can take that will show you how to connect better with those around you at your church, your work, and in your home.Face it, we're lonely people. And we need each other. This book is important in that it takes an honest look at that... the lost art of belonging...

And what was it that made true Christianity so attractive? Frazee returns us to those days of yesteryear. He helps Americans get from where they are to real Christian Community, in steps they can relate to, and in a manner much easier to relate to than my own extreme views. Small groups aren't enough- we need to go further- by having a common purpose, a common place, and common possessions. Frazee argues that we as Americans are statistically among the loneliest people on earth, and in large part because we as Christians don't practice the Gospel. I grew up in a Christian commune and have been part of five Christian communities, and still found a lot to gain from this book. At times the practical applications were not as helpful as the theoretical, but it is still an immensely practical book. I could understand the importance of common purpose, as I have been part of a Christian community which related in a common place, with meals and minimal common possessions, but had no common purpose. We came from all different theological backgrounds, with many different ministry foci. Ultimately, there was not significant cohesion or oneness without that common purpose. The second section of common place I found the most helpful, as I think about changes in moving shortly: considering where to move to, to be close to my church building, close to work to shorten commutes, close to other people of my church. Frazee makes the strong point that we lose so much time in driving, and in isolation at that, that we lose out on the bread of life of relationship. This is certainly true in areas like Seattle with it's extreme traffic. I also desire to apply his ideas on getting to know neighbors- simple things, which he goes into great detail on, such as waving, pop-ins, even borrowing (and returning!) items. I certainly appreciated the final section on common possessions. However, it appears that Frazee steps back a little bit from the extreme counter-culturalism previously advocated- perhaps because of his awareness of American attachment to possessions. He doesn't only argue that our focus on the material is inhibiting us- but that materialism which leads to the pursuit of mammon leads to individualism which in turn leads to isolation- destroying everything common in our lives. Frazee is concerned with quality, not quantity. As such he is a welcome respite from the emphasis on church growth that sweeps American church thinking, as well as churches like the Toronto Blessing movement which would seek to focus on only the individual's relationship with God, and not the relationship with one another. There are two greatest commandments, and the second like unto the first. But most of all, I would encourage reading this book just for that rare opportunity to see the TV show Friends praised for what it shows us about Christ.

This book is filled with wonderful ideas that if implemented can have an effect on a Christian like none I have ever seen before. In this book Pastor Frazee recommends a tool called the Christian Life Profile. I have taken the assessment several times within the small group context as he recommends. It not only gave me great insight to focus on the areas God wanted me to become more mature in as a believer, but now my home group knows how to pray for me effectively. Our samll group has always prayed for prayer requests for each other, but our prayer requests consisted of desires to change our external circumstances. Now we pray for each other in the area we want to mature in spiritually. Wow, what a concept! We have finally achieved an intimacy that cannot be matched!Thanks to Pastor Frazee for allowing God to lead you to bring such a counter-cultural idea to churches and a country sorely in need of healing. We will only heal if we begin to know our neighbors as he also suggests in his book.

Many will be attracted by the premise of this book: the loss of community and its recovery.Frazee and his church have made significant research and effort into exploring the topic and beginning its recovery. The main culprits that have allowed community to be eroded out of the American scene are individualism, consumerism and isolationism/independence. The solution they discovered from among "community" doers exhibited a given set of characteristics (fifteen in all) which can be organized into three central foci: common purpose, common possessions and common place. The stickler here is that this necessitates being countercultural. Frazee outlines one way how this idea of Christian community could be played out in a congregational setting. He must be credited with not being dogmatic about his ideas or thoughts on implementation, e.g. "I openly confess that this is not an all-or-nothing proposition. ... In my estimation, the application of any of the characteristics of community will dynamically enhance the life of your congregation." This is exceedingly well said and is the premium reading this book provides.A Biblical study of NT fellowship and unity, i.e. koinonia will garner much more emphasis around the God given means of grace, Word and Sacraments. As this is where the Lord is to call, nourish and lead His people, this should be far more the emphasis than programmatic organizational schemes. For this to happen as the Good Shepherd proclaims, He gives the church "the called and ordained servants of the Word" which Frazee downplays severly (pg. 233). Christ's body should rejoice as this reader for this fine work which addresses many of the inherent faults with church growth up till now. His diagnosis of the need for more common creed, etc. are commendable. Get's one truly thinking about what should be at the core of "church," i.e. community.

Individualism, isolation, and consumerism pervade American culture, says author Frazee, and they have invaded the church as well, undermining the church's call to be a loving community. The church's usual response to the cry for community--which is growing louder and louder with the mushrooming of postmodernity--is small groups. Small groups are a step in the right direction, but Frazee shows convincingly--to me, at least, and I'm a big champion of small groups--that most small groups fall well short of giving birth to authentic community. And, based on his extensive study of the elements that do produce authentic community, whether inside our outside the church, he shows why most small groups are something less than community. Frazee's proposed solution is very tangible. In fact, it is being lived out in Pantego Bible Church in Arlington, Texas, where Frazee is the senior pastor. His antidote to individualism is SHARED PURPOSE. His antidote to isolation is SHARED PLACE. His antidote to consumerism is SHARED POSSESSIONS.Of course, his primary inspiration for this model is the New Testament church. Most pastors won't have too much trouble with the idea that it is good for a church to have a SHARED PURPOSE. Not that that's easy to pull off, but there has been so much written about clarity of mission and vision that this is widely accepted, even if seldom put into practice.But after that it gets a lot more costly to follow Frazee where he wants to lead us. He acknowledges that all three of these principles are very countercultural, and therefore they will not be easy to implement. But when the core values of a culture destroy community, the only way to nurture healthy community in that culture is to be countercultural.By SHARED PLACE he means forming Home Groups within the church that consist of a few families who all live in the same neighorhood--defined as within easy walking distance. This is so that contact between the families can be frequent and spontaneous. It also means calling families to intentionally put down roots, to not pull up and move just because relocating can bring in another $5,000 to $10,000 in income. Building community will require making community a top priority in our lives. It also means simplifying life to have more time for relationships. Frazee suggests making the changes necessary to live on a single income (or one full-time income and a second part-time income generated from home). Countercultural stuff! But, Frazee believes, the price of recovering healthy community as a way of life.By SHARED POSSESSIONS Frazee does not mean doing away with private ownership and pooling all money and property in a common treasury. Rather, he means internalizing and living by the New Testament attitude: "No one claimed anything he possessed was his own, but they shared everything they had." They still had possessions, but they no longer saw themselves as owning them, but rather as stewards (managers) of them. Which