Everywhere You Look - by Tim Soerens (Paperback)

About the Book

The emerging generation is opting out of the church in large numbers. They're embarrassed at how the church is portrayed and dismayed at their options for participation. What's the point of the church anyway? With practical, actionable steps, Tim Soerens offers a vision of the church grounded in a grassroots movement of ordinary people living out the church in their everyday lives.

Book Synopsis

What's the point of the church anyway?

The emerging generation is opting out of the church in large numbers. They're embarrassed at how the church is portrayed in the media and dismayed at what appears to be their options for participation. Is church really necessary anymore in our day? Is it even possible?

Tim Soerens sees this unsettled state of affairs as an extraordinary opportunity: the church, he says, is on the edge of a new possibility at the very moment so much of it feels like it's falling apart. In his extensive travels in all kinds of neighborhoods, Soerens has seen the beginnings of this movement firsthand. In Everywhere You Look, he lays out practical, actionable steps for building collaborative communities in any neighborhood.Here is a vision of the church grounded in a grassroots movement of ordinary people living out what it means to be the church in their everyday lives. Read this book--and join the movement.

Review Quotes

"Everywhere You Look is a refreshing reminder of the need to refocus our energy on the heart of God. Using theological and practical insight that challenges us all, this book pushes us to see the current polarized climate of the church as an opportunity rather than an obstacle. Tim Soerens gives us a glimpse into what is possible if we open our eyes to what God is already doing, beginning right where we are."

--Jonathan E. L. Brooks, senior pastor of Canaan Community Church, Chicago

"Everywhere You Look is the manifesto on church and community I have been waiting for. Revolutionary in its simplicity and pulsing with possibility, this book got its hooks in me and won't let go. "God is up to something," Soerens writes. May our dusty ideas and duct-taped plans crumble as we wake up, link arms, and head out to the streets to see it for ourselves."

--Shannan Martin, author of The Ministry of Ordinary Places and Falling Free

"As I read, I felt my heart racing with two possibilities: 'I'm not alone!' and 'What seems like church meltdown could be the stirring of new movement!'

"Many conversations about the church talk about it in third person, as if it's an institution to fix. Tim Soerens invites us to name the often unspoken emotional and cultural realities at work in our own human hearts that prompt us to be part of the problem. With pastoral patience he speaks to the discouraged, grieving, anxious, frustrated church, calling us to become Christ's humble, peaceful, prayerful, attentive, curious, hopeful church, one reader at a time."

--Mandy Smith, pastor and author of The Vulnerable Pastor

"Everyone knows it is a hard time for the church in our culture. . . . In the face of that hard time, Soerens has written a book that teems with hope and possibility for the future, a hope that the church need not reiterate our mistaken past, and a possibility that real people in real time and real circumstance can live out the why of God. . . . I finished reading the book with exhilaration for what lies ahead for the church. Now is no time for regret or anxiety. Now is a time for recovery of the newness of what is old and best in our tradition."

--From the foreword by Walter Brueggemann

"If you have left the church, if you are thinking about leaving your fellowship, or if you are thinking about becoming a part of Christ's body, STOP! You should read Everywhere You Look by Tim Soerens as the next step of your journey. This book, written by someone who has been in your shoes, is not another formula or fad but has a way of answering all the questions you forgot to ask. Soerens presents a uniquely uncomplicated way forward for the body of Christ, and in our present dilemma, that is an extraordinary gift!"

--Randy Woodley, activist-scholar and farmer, author of Living in Color

"With this book, Tim Soerens sets us on a journey to reexamine 'Why church?' A manifest plea to all who are ready to give up on church, Everywhere You Look invites us to find new practices, pray with new fervor, and embrace a new church emerging all around us. Reading it will force you to think, imagine, and do new things."

--David Fitch, Lindner Chair of Evangelical Theology at Northern Seminary Chicago, author of Faithful Presence

About the Author

Walter Brueggemann is William Marcellus McPheeters Professor of Old Testament Emeritus at Columbia Theological Seminary. He is a leading interpreter of the Old Testament and is the author of numerous bestselling books.

Tim Soerens is a pastor, social entrepreneur, and co-founding director of the Parish Collective. He is also the coauthor, with Paul Sparks and Dwight Friesen, of The New Parish. He lives in Seattle with his wife, Maria-Jose, and their two boys.