Austin Terry

Acceptance Forgiveness and Love: Building a Church Without Fences Austin Terry

"I like Jesus but I don't want anything to do with the church!" That is a frequent mantra of young people today. Almost everybody you talk to can share a bad experience they had with the church. If you do word association with the term "church" you will probably get responses like, "judgmental," "critical," "condescending," "out of touch," "insignificant," and "old fashioned." This is hard to hear for those of us who have always loved the church. But we should pay attention. We are doing something wrong. The church has a message of acceptance, forgiveness, and love but it is not being heard. This book is not a how to repair the church book. It is more like a journal. It is an honest look at what is going on with the church and how some are seeking ways to allow the church to be a place of grace. It is about putting Christ at the center without delineating a circumference. If you are a church leader, this book will probably make you uncomfortable. If you have turned your back on the church, this book might give you hope once again. If you are interested in joining the conversation about how to be the church this book will be a good place to begin.