A review by davidewright_philosophy
Jim and Casper Go to Church: Frank Conversation about Faith, Churches, and Well-Meaning Christians by Jim Henderson
2.0
Readers can figure out pretty quickly what they are getting with this book (the shtick stays the shtick throughout the book), and while it is now a bit dated I found some parts of it helpful. I came away with two ideas to ponder raised in the course of the book. First, when it comes to schools and other learning communities, it is often taken to be a good thing that people have a *low* teacher to student ratio whereas in churches, success is often measured by having much high ratios. Perhaps many churches should re-think their stance on this. Of course, the Church should grow in numbers but that doesn't entail that your church should grow in numbers. Dorothy Day emphasizes it regularly in her writings on what Christians should be up to, and I think it is for good reason. Second, the book suggests that churches regularly invite insiders and atheists or skeptics to visit (even if it means paying them to do so) and write some substantive remarks about what they observe and how they are treated, possibly posting these remarks online for the congregation and the community to consider. Taking up that role themselves, the book's authors demonstrate just how bizarre some church's practices can seem to Christian visitors and non-believers.
As other reviewers have rightly noted, several of the conversations between people are pretty wooden, and the reviews of the churches they provide are more sketchy and impressionistic than I was hoping for (so choose your professional Christian and atheist visitors carefully!). I also can't say that I enjoyed the company of both of the authors, though if one did then the book would be more enjoyable. That said, it was a fairly gentle and well-meaning tract that prompted some reflection, and I think that many pastors and other church leaders could benefit from breezing through this, taking note of some family resemblances they might find to their own communities.
As other reviewers have rightly noted, several of the conversations between people are pretty wooden, and the reviews of the churches they provide are more sketchy and impressionistic than I was hoping for (so choose your professional Christian and atheist visitors carefully!). I also can't say that I enjoyed the company of both of the authors, though if one did then the book would be more enjoyable. That said, it was a fairly gentle and well-meaning tract that prompted some reflection, and I think that many pastors and other church leaders could benefit from breezing through this, taking note of some family resemblances they might find to their own communities.