"In Search of Authentic Faith"

written by Steve Rabey

Reviewed by Murray Brown

In this book author Steve Rabey sets out to examine future directions of the church in the midst of the cultural shift that is taking place today. He begins by gathering together a range of opinions as to why existing models of church are failing to reach these young people, before exploring the theological and cultural implications of postmodenism in greater detail.

The impression received on reading these pages is of a newspaper columnist, sifting through various points of view with little thats new or orginal to contribute.

A similar approach to the second section of the book is apparent as Rabey examine values common to the new generation: authenticity, community, religious experience and pop culture literacy have affected the approaches of the new expressions of church. There is little that is new but he has gathered together a good range of insights and experiences form various authors and practitioners.

In the final section he sets out four approaches to doing church with the emerging generation and focuses on two in particular: the church within a church and the church plant. In doing so he reports on the stories of various US churches and leaders.

Overall the book is a helpful one for someone new to the emergent church movement who desires to gain an overview of the quotes and insights of a range of key people in this area. Those who have already done extensive reading will find little here that is new. Many of the stories are interesting although all are set within a north American culture. Books such as The Shaping of Things to Come and The Prodigal Project are superior and more wide ranging in doing the same thing.