The Divergent Church

BOOK REVIEW: THE DIVERGENT CHURCH
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Date Abstract/Short Summary             The text reveals that the world is witnessing new faith-based communities with unique variations from conventional churches. The authors indicate that despite their difference, they maintain the fundamental religious principles of worshiping God and communing with other people in society. Such a shift has risen from the innovations in ministering leading to divergent churches that use contextualized practices to advance religion while meeting other purposes beyond spiritualism. Shapiro and Faris describe different types of divergent churches that embrace contemporary and innovative ways of ministering, including conversations, communal dining, living as a social good concept, and many other ingenious approaches. Such time-honored practices have become the current ways of drawing people into religion and enabling them to establish connections with God, their fellow humans, and the world. Book Evaluation The book by Shapiro and Faris acknowledges that churches and religion have taken a gradual but dynamic change in their forms. However, the authors note that although the purpose may have also changed slightly due to emerging tweaks, they maintain the fundamental principles of connection to God as a divine being. The most radical shift has been the concept of congregating which has taken a completely new shape from the conventional one due to the emergence of new approaches consistent with the diversified needs of various communities. The authors call the current approaches the divergence of the churches because they present unique characteristics and practices reflective of their need to connect with other people, God, and the world. Shapiro and Faris note that creativity is the dominant aspect in the contemporary divergent faith communities, something that distinguishes them from the traditional one that was more structured and uniform across different regions. These transformations are critical for seminarians to enable them to embrace the most helpful ones for ministering to their congregations while identifying and remaining cautious with the least impactful approaches of the divergent churches.             Diverse ministerial concepts illustrate the flexibility of the modern forms of evangelization and congregation. For instance, the idea of church and other fundamental life elements depicted in chapter one is a helpful technique that one can embrace in a local ministry. It presents progressive thoughts about mechanisms that facilitate communing among Christians, worshiping God, and advancing other Christian-based agendas in a liberalized manner. The most interesting aspect of this method is that it is not static. Instead, it displays a fluid feature that integrates spiritualism and innovation that extends the impacts of the church beyond this spiritual realm to include creating a difference in the local communities through non-profit initiatives like promoting social justice. Shapiro and Faris demonstrate that this congregating approach ensures every person is engaged in the activities of the church by participating in the various groups with a noble course in their community. As a result, they implement the religious teachings of creating a better world through actions. This idea is progressive because every community has its unique needs that require contextualized ways of addressing them. It allows the church to be intentional and realistic about the change that it effects on its neighborhood by actively participating in the process.             The social good idea by the Convergence of Alexandria piqued my interest because of the widespread impact that it induces in a community. Shapiro and Faris indicate that this congregation approach resembles the tenets of the social innovation framework by Gregory Jones whose primary goal is to find appropriate ways for building, revitalizing, and transforming areas for the flourishing of mankind. Having a church that goes beyond routine worshipping to prioritization achieving a social good is a progressive aspect. The Bible often teaches about assisting other people to grow and changing the world to a better place. Unfortunately, traditional churches play a minimal direct role in their settings and assume that the congregants would actualize these teachings in their daily lives. However, this approach by Shapiro and Faris presents an innovative church that supports arts within the institution through diverse ways, including using the sanctuary for rehearsals, studio recordings, concerts, and displays. By combining worship with these aspects, the church acts as a catchment point for many youths and enables them to become part of a congressional and share in the ministry. Our communities are polarized and marginalize many people who feel they do not belong in the church due to their orientations. However, such an approach can attract such individuals to the church and expose them to spirituality through these dynamic tactics that are liberal-minded and embrace diversity.             I find the conversation practice transformative with far-reaching impacts on all participants in a congregation. The commonplace approach in many churches is that the priest or a pastor leads the sermons and addresses the congregants as they listen. Their participation remains limited to singing and sometimes reading bible verses when prompted. However, the conversation idea shifts the dominance of one person and instead requires everyone to participate in the spiritual and other discussions freely. Shapiro and Faris argue that “in many congregations, conversation is not only the currency of change, but also the currency used to connect with Go...