Do Something Else [Hardcover]

Do Something Else is meant to encourage faith communities and their leaders to reconsider church as usual, reengage Spirit-led entrepreneurialism, and reimagine new models of ministry bubbling up in their midst. Many churches and leaders are already setting the pace. They are establishing new gatherings in old buildings and using new building to do old things. They are emphasizing diversity, welcome, and friendship. If these stories are hidden from view, they shouldn't be. These pages will uncover how new expressions get started, how they are led, how they struggle, and how they are sustained. Do Something Else will encourage candidates for ministry who see limited options, ministers who wonder about staying in ministry, clergy call-seekers trying to find hope in a desolate career landscape, and churches attempting to manage staffs with limited resources. It will also offer permission to small churches resigned to be without a pastor, larger churches looking to do a new thing in an unorthodox way, and middle governing bodies who need promising examples of working models in order to take the risk on new opportunities. This is the most hopeful book I have read for a decade. While secularists celebrate the rise of the 'Nones' and conservatives insist anyone 'liberal theologically' is doomed, Nate Phillips has tracked down some fabulous models of innovative church, from tweeting to the new ministry. It is a riveting read, each narrative made manageable and intriguing. With this book, Phillips establishes himself as the voice of those who are hopeful about church adapting itself into new ways of serving the kingdom. --Ian S. Markham, Dean, President, Professor of Theology and Ethics, Virginia Theological Seminary Phillips is a devastating storyteller. Do Something Else is resplendent with stories of hope unearthed from the 'dry bones' of mainline churches--which, as it turns out, are less dry than we think. Written with grace, humility, and profound respectlãD