I just finished reading Slow Church – Cultivating community in the patient way of Jesus by C. Christopher Smith and John Pattison. By reading you must understand that I am a slow reader. I can actually key faster than I read. It takes me time to digest what I am reading so it took me two weeks to get through the book. The upside is that I get the ethos of what was written but the downside is that some of what I read at first may be hazy.
Overall I found the book transformative. Rather than taking its main premise as something to do and achieve, I find it washing over me, gently realigning the way I think and hopefully the way that I intentionally live out my faith. Slow Church, slow food, slow coffee, all equal commitment over the long haul. I like that.
I found a couple of things that I did not like. I felt that the authors referenced negative attitudes surrounding homosexuals without ever defining what they thought an appropriate attitude would be in light of all of scripture. I also found the challenging of national identity, patriotism, to be uncomfortable.
Beyond that, I believe that Slow Church should be systematically taught to anyone who wants to lead others closer to Christ, and everyone is called to do that. I recommend this book to everyone. I think there are a few excesses, but eat the meat and spit out the bones.
There, how was that for my first book review?
simplecelt 