Monday, January 16, 2006
Out of Bounds Church
Out of bounds church - Steve Taylor.
This one's been sitting on the shelf for a while, but I'm glad to have pulled it down! I'd followed the author's blog for a while and went to the Auckland book launch to get me a copy. It's finally been read and here's my chance to ruminate on it.
The most striking design element is the wide margins on the outside of each page. Each contains various items -- a song to play, movie to watch, recipe to make and, most interestingly, comments from other readers. Steve selected several people to read the draft and make comments on it then added some of those comments into the book. I really enjoyed the comment from the other writers. It allowed new voices to amplify and challenge Steve's intent. It gave the whole thing a more organic and community-based feel.
I have to say the margins annoyed me.
I like my books to be linear and the way one's eye is naturally drawn to text meant that the margins became quite disruptive. But I also liked the distractions (especially with so many U2 songs being suggested) and fresh input. I just don't know how to combine the two well. I wish I could think of a better way. It must be a limitation of paper as a medium.
The content centred around several 'postcards' from emerging forms of churches throughout the world. Each postcard sparks an idea that forms the chapter. Other people have covered the content so you can continue scanning google for that.
In late-breaking news Steve has requested new 'postcards' which he has been posting throughout January. See them here.
This book is definitely worth reading and is one of the most useful that I've read dealing with theological reflection on emerging forms of church. I'm a little unsure of its depth of content, but I'm seldom satisfied with pop-Christian lit so that's not saying much.
Suggestion: Read, have fun and question.
