Rewritten and, well, reimagined for the 21st century, Frank remains a champion of church in the 1st century. But at its best, his is not a wooden literalism verging on fundamentalism, but an evocative appreciation for the peculiar genius of Jesus and his earliest followers for the ways Way-farers can arrange ourselves to most beautifully reflect God’s in-breaking kingdom.

Let’s face it: Viola’s earlier 2008 release Pagan Christianity was a rampaging bull in an ecclesiastical china shop. Called simplistic and mean-spirited by detractors and a prophetic call for renewal by its champions, all readers had this in common – we wanted more. Okay, Mr. Deconstructor, we said. We see how you can tear down someone else’s sand castle with gusto – now let’s see how you’d build your own. And build he does.

This book is a comprehensive re-visioning of what leadership, authority and accountability in a Trinity-rooted, organic church. If you’ve always had an inkling that you don’t need denominational “covering” or hierarchical authority fencing you in to be right with God (as an individual or church body), Reimagining will fund your biblical imagination with an alternative reading of Scripture that points to the dignity of each person in the church, encouraging relational and shared authority responsive to the leading of Christ alone.

“The body of Christ has been stifled by human traditions for far too long. Reimagining Church charts a fresh course for the church that recovers the simplicity of Christ and listens seriously to what the voice of the Great Shepherd is saying to His people.” – Jon Zens, editor, Searching Together and author of A Church Building Every ½ Mile: What Makes American Christianity Tick?

“True to form, this book contains a thoroughly consistent critique of prevailing forms of church. However, in Reimagining Church, Frank Viola also presents a positive vision of what the church can become if we truly reembraced more organic, and less institutional, forms of church. This is a no holds barred prophetic vision for the church in the twenty-first Century.” – Alan Hirsch, author of The Forgotten Ways and The Shaping of Things To Come

Click here to download the gleanings for “Reimaging Church”(PDF)
(Right-click and select “Save Link As”)

GLEANINGS – What are They?
Several months ago, I decided to go through the time-intensive labor of typing out passages from books I read. The collection of quotes and comments came to be known as “gleanings.” If you want to read the gist of a book without flipping through all the pages, this format is for you. Consider it my version of “Cliff’s Notes.”