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    Shaping the Church
    Shaping the Church
    Shaping the Church
    Ebook55 pages30 minutes

    Shaping the Church

    By Luke Hutchinson

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    About this ebook

    Shaping the Church by reviewing its current context is a call for the church to look outside the four walls and observe the culture of today. By presenting the decline of the church and the common trends of British society, Luke discusses six suggestions for the shaping the personality of the church. Shaping the Church is Luke's effort to encourage all Christians, leaders and pastors to embrace a modern worldview in the 21st century, by looking at the world around us.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherLuke Hutchinson
    Release dateJun 9, 2014
    ISBN9781311783592
    Shaping the Church
    Author

    Luke Hutchinson

    Luke Hutchinson is a church youth and children's worker in Brighton, UK. Having recently finished two years a mission training college in the Netherlands and New Zealand, Luke has a heart for mission and having visited many countries, Luke desires to see change in the global church. On completing his research assignment for college, he has published this work into a bitesize ebook called Shaping the Church.

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      Book preview

      Shaping the Church - Luke Hutchinson

      Shaping the Church

      By Reviewing Its Current Context

      Luke Hutchinson

      Published by Luke Hutchinson at Smashwords

      Copyright 2014 Luke Hutchinson

      Contents

      Contents

      Preface

      Introduction

      What Went Wrong?

      No – Christianity Will Not Advance

      Current Religion

      Social Trends

      Yes – Christianity Will Advance

      1. Standing on God’s Word

      2. Ethnic Church Movements

      3. Engaging Generation Y

      4. Family

      5. Loving the Poor

      6. Keep Your Head Up

      Slow Turning Ship

      Pioneering Spirit

      To Shape the Church

      Afterword

      Contact

      Preface

      It has given me, at times, much joy to write this and I have probably spent as much time staring out the window watching the seasons change in the college garden, asking the Holy Spirit for inspiration, as I have actually researching and writing.

      This work was originally written for my final research assignment that allowed me to select any topic of choice. It was surprisingly easy to write but of course challenging and not trouble-free. The topics discussed are close to my heart – understandably as this is about my own culture. At a mission training college students are encouraged to widen their worldview perspective, often writing and discussing different cultures, theologies and ways of life. However, it has been eye opening and sobering to analyse my home culture and the world I live in today.

      It is necessary to comment that I have written from my perspective – on the surface it appears a research paper, but the underlying content is my own reflections on the Christian life and church. I grew up for 17 years in a small Evangelical church in the North of England and I’m currently a member of a Baptist church in the South of England. These two churches and visiting a handful of others around the country have colourfully shaped my view of church.

      It has been enlightening to compare the British culture with other cultures around the world, observing how churches and countries perceive the Great Commission has enabled me most to write this work. This perspective has shone a lot of light on the good things and not-so-good things about how we Brits do church.

      A handful of North American authors have been used in this work because of the resources available at the time of writing. I do not presume the contexts are completely transposable but ideas and concepts can be applied into British culture. Moreover, this is a research paper, not a biblical exposition. Primarily the goal

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