Forming Communities of Hope in the Great Unraveling, by Alan J. Roxburgh and Roy Searle 

'Full of wisdom and discernment - it argues we cannot make the church work by following the current narrative of control and strategies; we need to reorient our attention, changing from the drive to fix things in order to stop, be still and listen'

Forming Communities of Hope in the Great Unraveling: Leadership in a Changing World
By Alan J. Roxburgh and Roy Searle
Eugene, Oregon: Cascade Books
ISBN: 979-8-3852-2089-2
Reviewed by Shaun Lambert

This is a book of wisdom and discernment that has left me with hope. In it the authors have wrestled with God and this time of great change in which we live, a period they call the great unraveling. This unraveling is a cataclysmic shift into a dark night where the old certainties no longer exist. Leaders are left exhausted, fragile, anxious, and without an anchor, while still expected to have all the answers.

Although this is a leadership book it is not just for leaders, it is for all who are followers of the Way, because often one of the biggest obstacles to change are congregations themselves. The Covid pandemic and lockdown accelerated this unraveling, but this falling apart has its roots in the wrong story of progress and human agency the church has been colonised by since the Second World War.

The central thesis of the book is that we cannot make the church work by following the current narrative of control, management, strategies, formulas and programs, fixing what is broken. We need to reorient our attention, ‘to change our attention from the drive to fix things in order to stop, be still, and listen.’

The question to ask is not ‘what do I do?’ but ‘what is the Spirit calling God’s people to do at the moment?’ There needs to be a move away from an emphasis on our human agency, to see God as the primary agent, acting within the great unraveling, reweaving the story of hope.

Rightly they recognise how important leaders are in developing the awareness of the need for change. Both authors have sizeable networks and have engaged in many deep conversations with leaders around the issues in this book.

It’s not just that local churches aren’t working, there is a problem with leadership training. As the authors argue leadership training has made leaders ‘little more than therapists and purveyors of middle-class values for a narcissistic culture or ‘strategists of progress,’ rather than ‘agents of God’s future.’

I would see their analysis of the future of traditional forms of local church and leadership as realistic rather than harsh. Part of paying attention is the need to face reality. The prayer that comes to mind as I read the book is, ‘I let go of the desire for power and control. I welcome walking in the dark listening to God in hope.’

They trace the story of endless progression sold to us since the end of the Second World War (while recognising its earlier roots) and tell a different story rooted in scripture and history. They offer four alternatives, two from scripture and two from history which illustrate what God does in dark times – including the story of Benedict’s monastic movement and Celtic Christianity. This is not a quick read or quick fix; it will need to be read repeatedly, slowly and attentively.

From these stories and their own experience and wisdom they offer three practices that enable leaders to walk a new humble path, ‘for the churches have lost their capacity to pay attention to God.’

The first is dwelling, where we pay deep attention to those who live in our neighbourhoods and local communities, resisting the individualising virtual world. This is incarnational ministry, as we trace where Jesus is at work, ‘offstage’ where we are not looking. They identify stumbling blocks to making this a reality, including adding it to our to-do list, or lack of time. They break down the layers of dwelling and offer a little experiment in how to begin.

Out of this dwelling comes the need for the second practice, discernment which asks: ‘What is God doing among us and in our community? How then do we join with God?’ These are not simple practices, but they are profound. Discernment itself requires further contemplative practices of attention, stillness and listening.

These practices are not carried out by individual leaders but by the whole community of which they are a part, and so transitioning to that communal model is an important part of the book.

Because of their emphasis not on human agency but the agency of God they recognise that Jesus is ‘ahead of us,’ and so the third practice implicit in this theology is exploring. As they argue, ‘While we don’t believe the structures and leadership forms that have colonised the Euro-tribal churches over the past seventy-five years can carry us forward, nor do we believe the Spirit has given up on this part of the church.’  And so, we are called to inhabit a new space within the old, a liminal space.

There is much more that could be reviewed in the book but as we hear about a ‘Quiet Revival,’ the lens these authors offer would be a more helpful one to join in with what God is doing, rather than trying to commodify what is happening in our churches. As we listen through practices like Lectio Divina, the Examen, these practices belong to the whole community not just the professional leaders and can guide us as we seek to discern and explore the embodied present. Leaders need companions they trust to navigate this and to help them introduce these practices to their community.

There is much that resonates with me including an emphasis on a contemplative posture, the local and neighbourhood – the need for the whole community to make the journey together. But perhaps the most significant realisation is the need to reorient ‘our own and our people’s attention to the presence of God in the mundane elements of our common life.’


Baptist ministers can buy a copy of The Great Unravelling directly from Roy for £18 including P&P. 

Contact Roy at roy@northumbrian.org requesting a copy, and he will send one along with an invoice.

Roy and others, including Baptist ministers, Alan Roxburgh, Simon Mattolie, Ruth and James Neve and Mairi and Graham McBain from The Commons Cooperative will be leading a series of online leaders table conversations over the late autumn and winter.

Six weekly, fortnightly or monthly 75 mins sessions will be spent sharing together, looking at the themes that are raised in the book Roy and Alan Roxburgh have written, Forming Communities of Hope in the Great Unravelling – Leadership in a Changing World: 
 

• Welcoming one another around the table. 
• Where we find ourselves.
• What can you learn from the experience of God’s people, looking at Jeremiah, Luke / Acts and from the Celts and Benedictines.
• What it means to dwell, discern and explore what the Spirit of God is doing in our neighbourhoods and communities.
• What kind of leaders do we need to be to form and encourage communities of hope in a changing world?
• What might companionship, support and accountability look like for leaders and how we can pray for and encourage one another?

If you’d be interested in joining one of these series of conversations, drop Roy an email: roy@northumbrian.org or look on The Commons Cooperative website when details will be published in October: thecommonscooperative.com

 
The Revd Dr Shaun Lambert is a Baptist minister, author, psychotherapist and Honorary Mindfulness Chaplain at Scargill Movement, a Christian community and retreat centre. His most recent book is Mindful Formation - A Pathway to Spiritual Liberation