Catch the Wind

by Charles R. Ringma

Book Overview

Addresses the question of why, since Jesus appeals so much to people, the Church does not. The book shows how change in the Church can happen, why there should be change, what basis there is for... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1573832669
• ISBN13: 9781573832663
• Release Date: October 2003
• Publisher: Regent College Publishing
• Length: 200 Pages
• Weight: 0.66 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Pointers for church renewal

Charles Ringma, Catch the Wind: A Precursor to the Emergent Church (Vancouver: Regent, 2003) Ringma draws on his mission and pastoral experience in mainstream and house churches to argue for the need for change. He majors on the need to develop healthy processes that empower people and open koinonia that embraces strangers. He also comments on the importance of ongoing renewal, since churches (even the most radical) tend to formalise because people naturally want control and stability. He invites church leavers back and challenges young people (and their mentors) to get a vision for radicalism. Ringma is an Australian writer though has been teaching mission and evangelism in the Philippines and at Regent College in Canada, and he urges theologians to read Scripture afresh and help churches to become authentic communities: `In a new Reformation, may the church become a diverse movement of grassroots groups structured for empowerment, responsibility and mission and devoid of the institutional trappings that presently hamper its liberation' (p.179). Originally reviewed for D Cronshaw "The Emerging Church: Pioneering Leadership and Innovation Reading Guide", Zadok Paper (Forthcoming 2010).

Poignant, reflective and challenging

If you struggle with the Christian church, this book is for you. Charles Ringma has the courage to stand up and ask some very difficult questions to the contemporary church. He challenges the assumptions that form the basis for the church's current institutional structures; structures that constrict and marginalized lay people.While he doesn't describe a "single ideal model" for church, he does paint a picture of what church can be: a dynamic, caring, people oriented, and de-centralized community that is focused on, and centered in, Christ.