I just finished reading Church Unique by Will Mancini a few days ago for a class I’m taking next week.
The main concept of the book is that each church has a unique culture, vision, and movement but few churches are living out those things.
My favorite part of the whole book was a quote he used in the first chapter from Eugene Peterson:
“In the life of faith each person discovers all the elements of a unique and original adventure. We are prevented from following in one another’s footsteps and are called to an incomparable association with Christ. The Bible makes it clear that every time there is a story of faith, it is completely original. God’s creative genius is endless. He never, fatigued and unable to maintain the rigors of creativity, resorts to mass-producing.”
North Point Ministries recently produced a video that spoke directly to the heart of this. Church today for many churches is merely doing Sunday morning the same way it worked for some other huge church.
(Come here to watch RSS readers)
There are few churches who are actually doing something unique. And by copying each other, we present a God who has run out of creativity.