So I picked up this book the other day as a reprieve from the very good but exhausting Jesus of Nazareth I have been reading by Ratzinger. The subtitle of the book is – Frank conversation about faith, churches and well-meaning Christians. The book is essentially the result of a Seattle pastor hiring an atheist to tour churches across the United States with him and then dialogue and off critique of the experience.
As a pastor the content was invaluable to me because it does essentially what pastors wish they could do – that is experience other churches and get a sense for what they are doing well and incoprorate it into their own church while at the same time learning what they are not doing well and either purging or avoiding that.
So Jim Henderson is the 59-year-old pastor with 30 years experience in the role and Matt Casper is the 37-year-old copy-writer/writer/musician atheist offering his opinions.
The book is a quick read. I read all 169 pages in a day and I am typically a slow reader (I even had time to mark in the margins). This is because what you read in this book is really the dialogue between Henderson and Casper who come across very much like the Ebert & Roeper of church reviewing.
The content is engaging and at times brutally frustrating because its like being put into a room with someone and hearing them critique something you love but you’re unable to rebut. This is partly the point of the book though as it admonishes Christians to become better listeners. Dialogue not debate as the book suggests.
I won’t steal the book’s thunder but I will say what impressed Casper most in his church visits was when he could clearly see the church and the members having an impact on the community and world. The "doing" of the people was of critical importance to Casper. If the doing was not there it was not compelling at all. He was also turned off by churches that had clearly spent a LOT of $$$ on high production values, equipment, fascilities etc.
Interesting and worthwhile read. Check out www.churchrater.com for a sense of what these guys are about.
Harnessing Chaos 
Actually you can respond to Casper on ChurchRater – go here to respond to his comments about churches in the book – go here and then click on the church you want to respond about
http://www.churchrater.com/search_book.php
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Hi! I\’m glad you enjoyed "Jim & Casper Go to Church." I\’m a volunteer with Jim\’s organization Off the Map and I wanted to let you know about our Live event coming up this November in Seattle. Both Jim and Matt Casper will be speaking at this event. Here is the link if you want to find out more: http://www.offthemap.com/live
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