Here are some books that may be helpful for those considering the simple church journey or who have set out on the journey and are looking for some helpful thoughts.

We generally don’t endorse a lot of books. They can’t substitute for that all important person-to-person contact. Moreover, books tend to suggest to the reader that the author “has it all together” and that somewhere out there is a smoothly running, well-oiled house church machine. That is rarely — maybe never — the case. Small group churches are a study in problem solving. These books may be able to help with that. Some books are linked to free, online versions. Others are available from other sources, usually Amazon.

The Outward Bound – Vernard Eller. Three Models for the Church: Commisary vs. Caravan; Avant-Garde vs. Expediti; The Royal Vienna String Quartet vs. The Barbershop Foresome.

So You Don’t Want to Go to Church Any More – Jake Colsen (Wayne Jacobsen). What would you do if you met someone you thought just might be one of Jesus’ original disciples still living in the 21st Century? That’s Jake’s dilemma as he meets a man who talks of Jesus as if he had known him, and whose way of living challenges everything Jake had previously known.

The Starfish Manifesto – Wolfgang Simson. How prophetic listening married to apostolic building will disciple half the planet

Houses that Change the World – Wolfgang Simson

Church Without Walls by Jim Petersen

Western Theology by Wes Seeliger (out of print). Loanable from Summit Fellowships.

Fearless Faith by Jon Fischer

Paul’s Idea of Community by Robert Banks

The Problem of Wineskins by Howard Snyder

Call to Commitment by Elizabeth O’Connor

Resident Aliens by Haurwas and Willimon