Making Sense of Church

“Some Christians have the ability to make you want to be a Christian just by being who they are. They make the gospel alive, real, healing, and utterly attractive. I think Spencer Burke is just one of those people, and he is sharing himself and his vision in this fine book." —Fr. Richard Rohr, O.F.M., Center for Action and Contemplation, Albuquerque, New Mexico "Spencer Burke is that true friend who lovingly tells you the brutal truth about yourself. At first it hurts, but then it leads to the most important change in your life. The conversation recorded in Making Sense of Church is something all Christians need to hear and church leaders dare not miss. It contains great insights for those ready to move from chat-room rants to real-life change." —Chuck Smith jr., Senior Pastor, Capo Beach (California) Calvary, Author of Epiphany "A lot of good, conceptual books and articles have been written over the last five years about the postmodern conversation among young evangelicals. But Making Sense of Church is the best, most revealing book I've read on the real, ground-level dialog. For five years, theOoze.com and Spencer Burke have been at the hub—they might even be THE cyber hub—of this communication. Listening in as Spencer interacts with this dialog is a good read and an enjoyable journey of learning." —Todd Hunter, Allelon Community of Churches, Former National Director, Vineyard-USA "In the face of a growing sense that the standard evangelical approach is not working, heated conversations are springing up—it’s a time of fertile ferment. TheOoze.com—and this book's distillation of its conversations—focuses on some of those conversations and points to solutions. Making Sense of Church is an engaging, stimulating presentation of bubbling new ideas at the very moment of their birth." —Frederica Mathewes-Green, Author of Facing East, www.frederica.com "Bulletin boards like TheOoze.com are where the emerging church was birthed, and Making Sense of Church is like sneaking into the maternity ward." —Tony Jones, Author of Soul Shaper: Exploring Spirituality and Contemplative Practices in Youth Ministry (Youth Specialties) "Spencer Burke is a hospitable guy, and when you experience his hospitality, you're guaranteed to learn a lot. He's been throwing ‘learning parties’ around the country and online for the last several years, and now, through Making Sense of Church, you can experience the next best thing to being there. This is an understandable and enjoyable onramp to the emerging church conversation." —Brian D. McLaren, Pastor (crcc.org), Author of A New Kind of Christian, senior fellow in emergent (emergentvillage.com) "Making Sense of Church is a unique contribution to the study of the emerging church in a postmodern cultural context. Spencer Burke is in direct contact on a daily basis with the people we need to hear from through his highly acclaimed Web site. The posts are riveting, and Spencer's commentary provides penetrating analysis." —Eddie Gibbs, The Donald A. McGavran Professor of Church Growth, School of World Mission, Fuller Theological Seminary, Author of ChurchNext: Quantum Changes in How We Do Ministry "If anyone has not only an ear, but an eye, mind, and heart tuned into the conversations of the emerging church, it’s Spencer Burke. Making Sense of Church will bring you into the very questions, ponderings, frustrations, and joys of those rethinking and reimagining the church." —Dan Kimball, Author of The Emerging Church: Vintage Christianity for New Generations (emergentYS), Pastor, Vintage Faith Church, Santa Cruz, California "Spencer is one of the youngest, freshest minds I know. I love his ideas—they challenge me to think." —Kenton Beshore, Senior Pastor, Mariners Church, Irvine, California "Congrats, Spencer. You've just opened up a brand-new window on ministry in the postmodern transition: from information, positioning, and image to essence, presence, and transparence. Your combination of humility and winsome truth-telling gives the most skeptical leaders permission to find themselves in your journey." —Sally Morgenthaler, Sacramentis.com, author of Worship Evangelism "Love the book. The warrior-to-gardener metaphor is a needed transition for church in a security age. The thing I like most about Making Sense of Church is that it gives voice to those not usually heard. It lets the young people themselves speak out rather than attempting to speak for them." —Andrew Jones, The Boaz Project, Prague, Czech Republic "What a great read. Not only the thoughts of one man but also the contributions of many make it impossible to ignore the aspirations of those who love God with all their hearts but have found the church of Jesus a hard place to grow up. The key at this time is that we start to think differently. Spencer Burke’s use of changing metaphors gives us new pictures to look at and new thoughts to think. Those who have ears or eyes—look and listen!”

Billy Kennedy

“Finding new metaphors has become an urgent task of the young leaders concerned about ministry in a postmodern world. Spencer Burke and Colleen Pepper are masters at capturing the new images, symbols, and words that express the journey into the future. They provide us with handles to walk the journey, and they do so with unforgettable color and challenging imagery." —Robert Webber, Myers Professor of Ministry, Northern Seminary, Author of The Younger Evangelicals "Spencer Burke is the right man at the right place at the right time. He enjoys a ringside seat in the dramatic dialog between the church of history and the church of post-history. He stands in the middle—between where God has been and where God is going. No iconoclast, Burke embraces both past and future while challenging the dead metaphors of a passing culture and the overnight clichés of the new ‘cool’ culture. Throughout Making Sense of Church, he blows away church leaders at both ends of the spectrum with the ‘extreme reality’ of a loving Christ." —Thomas Hohstadt, Author of Dying to Live, FutureChurch.net "For all those confused about where the church is going and what we should be doing about it, Making Sense of Church is a big help. It’s a sensible rapprochement between established churches and the emerging churches of the 21st century." —Tony Campolo, Professor of Sociology, Eastern University "Spencer Burke invites us to invest ourselves in the challenging work of reexamining what it means to be a Christ-follower in a new postmodern culture. This book is must-reading for all those in both the emerging and the established church who want to create authentic new expressions of life, church, and mission.”

Tom Sine