Slow Church: an evening with author C. Christopher Smith

4/16/15 talk and potluck conversation sponsored by Duke Divinity School’s Thriving Rural Communities Initiative and hosted by Oak Church.

Chris Smith is editor of The Englewood Review of Books, and a member of the Englewood Christian Church community on the urban Near Eastside of Indianapolis.  Englewood is one of the churches whose experiences gave root to the concept of Slow Church. Chris co-authored Slow Church: Cultivating Community in the Patient Way of Jesus (Intervarsity Press, 2014) with John Pattison.

Questions for Slow Church Table Conversation:

1. Briefly describe the immediate neighborhood in which your church is located. Name a couple of its greatest assets. In what ways has your church been engaged with the people and the life of this neighborhood?
2. In what ways is your church working to cultivate a deeper life together among your members?
3. Name one or two ways in which you think your church has yielded to the powers of fast culture.
4. Of the practices that might help us slow down and be more deeply engaged with our brothers, sisters and neighbors, which one do you think might be most beneficial for your church at the present? Why? Some slow practices might include: Stability, Patience, Diligent Work, Sabbath, Gratitude, Hospitality
5. In what ways does your church practice conversation? And particularly open conversation where anyone can contribute to the direction of the dialogue? (vs. teaching / guided conversation).