sustain:if:able kiwi

global style lovely review

There is a lovely review of my Out of Bounds Church?: Learning to Create a Community of Faith in a Culture of Change (Emergent Ys) book just appeared on amazon.com.

Titled: Written in New Zealand, published in US and quite useful also in Latin America it reads as follows: How does Taylor’s book translate into a Latin American situation? I would answer rhetorically: Was it not really written with churches in São Paulo in mind? To start with, the problems are the very same: churches, small and large, which, ignoring the obvious cultural changes, use the same communication and teaching methods of almost a century ago. This condition is perpetuated by pastors who seem not to live in the Age of Information. Therefore, also here in Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking America, the churches need to become missional in a postmodern way, responding with creative and flexible structures and movements to the culture of change. Not only the principles, but also the practical ideas presented by Steve Taylor in The Out of Bounds Church? apply perfectly to urban Latin America. They are relevant for São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Santiago, Montevideo, etc. We can see ourselves in the Kiwi book. Contextual differences play a lesser role than our share in postmodern culture. Then, dear Steve, “waiho i te toipoto, kaua i te toiroa” (Maori proverb: “Let us keep close together, not far apart”).

Finishing with a Maori proverb. Now that’s classy aye!