THE GREAT GIVEAWAY
Reclaiming the Mission of the Church
By David E Fitch. Baker Books. 263 pages. £5.41 (Amazon)
ISBN 0 80106 483 X
Written out of frustration with the North American church scene, the thesis of this book is that evangelicalism has ‘given away being the church in North America’.
The author pastors and teaches at a seminary in Chicago and is co-founder of Up Rooted, a gathering of church leaders ‘engaging the postmodern context’. The charge is that, seduced by the values of the consumerist, capitalist culture, the church has lost her biblical distinctives and become a Christianised version of big business or psychological therapy. Secular leadership models and entertainment values are in the driving seat and many of her core responsibilities are farmed out to parachurch organisations. Much of this rings true, though the book is entirely rooted in the USA, which is a distinctly different Christian culture from our own.
