Organic Church

This post is from the defunct blog "Dying Church"

I've been reading and enjoying Organic Church, but I haven't gone to the trouble of typing many of the memorable quotes from within the book. Fortunately Steve @ Ponder This has done it for me. Here's a sample:

Many a church continues long after the soul of the church has departed because the building itself keeps them going. A building can become an artificial life support system that keeps a church alive even though it died long ago. (37)

In many church in the West, ministry is done for Jesus, but not by Jesus- therein lies the big difference. If we evaluated our churches not by attendance or buildings but by how recognizable Jesus is in our midst, our influence would be more far-reaching and our strategies would be far more dynamic. (54)

Unfortunately, in most churches in the Western world the presence of the pastor is more noticeable than the presence of Jesus. (57)