Improvising Church
IVP Academic, 2024
By Mark R. Glanville
WHO: Mark R. Glanville, associate professor of pastoral theology at Regent College, Vancouver, and an Old Testament scholar.
HE SAYS: “Jazz by its nature as a traditioned, improvised, nuanced, intelligent, conversational art form, is an evocative metaphor for the church in post-Christendom.”
THE BIG IDEA: Using jazz as a filter, the author explores a biblical, practical and inventive vision for building incarnational communities.
THE PROGRESSION: In Part 1, “Harmony,” the author looks at the personality of incarnational communities. Part 2, “Rhythm,” explores four “notes” that can bring energy into these communities. Finally, Part 3, “Soul,” explores the heart of incarnational communities.
These three sections are made up of 12 chapters or “notes” that do a deep dive into 12 characteristics of incarnational communities: Text Grants; Leader-Full; Local; Beauty; Worship in Polyrhythms; Shared Life; Healing, Kinship, and Maternal Nurture; Creation; Voices; Conversations; Sins of Our Kin; and Prayer.
“The biblical pathway outlined in this book may not be a recipe for fast growth. But it is, I pray, a recipe for faithfulness that God will bless with fruit.”
