Jim Henderson - Jim and Casper Go to Church: Frank Conversation about Faith, Churches, and Well-Meaning Christians

You will never read a more interesting book about how outsiders view the church. Overhearing the conversations between Jim and Casper as they go to church is pure gold. Its like being a reporter who somehow wound up in the White House and overheard the most private workings of government and then got to use the information to help thousands of people. Jim and Casper will help any church leader who pays attention.

TODD HUNTER
National Director, Alpha USA
Former National Director, Vineyard Churches USA

Jim Henderson is one of the most creative, committed, insightful, honest, affable, and downright interesting people Ive met. That makes me want to hear what he says and read what he writes.

BRIAN D. McLAREN
Author and Activist

Jim and Casper Go to Church is a daring book, way overdue. Jim and Casper call us to listen, to carry on a conversation, and to be honest and openseekers of truth. This is not just a novel idea. It is exactly what Jesus did. We must begin talking to each other about the deep things that matter, the truths that call out for each heart and soul to be discovered, embraced, and known. Jim and Casper Go to Church is an absolute must-read for every pastor, staff member, leader, and person who takes expanding the Kingdom of God in a dark and hopeless world seriously.

DR. DAVID FOSTER
Author of A Renegades Guide to God
Founding Pastor of TheGatheringNashville.com

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Jim and Casper Go to Church: Frank Conversation about Faith, Churches, and Well-Meaning Christians

Copyright 2007 by Jim Henderson and Matt Casper. All rights reserved.

Cover illustration of T-shirt copyright by Rodrigo Oscar de Mattos Eustachio/iStockphoto. All rights reserved.

Author photo of Matt Casper taken by Yvonne Casper.

Designed by Stephen Vosloo

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Henderson, Jim, date.
Jim and Casper go to church : frank conversation about faith, churches, and well-meaning Christians / Jim Henderson and Matt Casper.
p. cm.
ISBN-13: 978-1-4143-1331-3 (hc)
ISBN-10: 1-4143-1331-4 (hc)
1. Church. 2. Evangelistic work. 3. Non-church-affiliated people. 4. Evangelistic workUnited States. 5. Non-church-affiliated peopleUnited States. 6. United StatesReligious life and customs. I. Casper, Matt. II. Title.

BV640.H46 2007
277.3083dc22

2006101300

Printed in the United States of America

13 12 11 10 09 08
8 7 6 5 4 3

I would like to dedicate this book to Helen Mildenhall, Christine Wicker, and Matt Casper, none of whom would call themselves Christians, but their kindness and courage have helped me to understand God in new ways.

Jim Henderson
Seattle, Washington Fall 2006

Thanks to Jason Evans and Jim Henderson (read the book, and youll see why); and to my enchanting wife, Yvonne; to my smart, funny children, Evelyn and Cole; to my mother; to my father; and to the Rev. Tom Ottethe people most on my mind when I ask myself what its all about.

Matt Casper
In San Diego and in a NY state of mindFall 2006

CONTENTS

Introduction
I Pay People to Go to Church

Rick Warrens Church
Saddleback

Church, L.A. Style
Dream Center

The Mayan and McManus
Mosaic

Mega in the Midwest
Willow Creek

Helen, the Almost-an-Atheist,
Takes Us to Church
First Presbyterian

Big Church or Church Big
Lawndale

The Drummers Church
Jasons House

Emerging Church Weekend
Imago and Mars

Come as You Really Are
The Bridge

Osteen Live!
Lakewood

Keeping It Real
The Potters House

Is This What Jesus Told
You Guys to Do?

Do you remember the first time you went to church?

When I was young, I frequented church, growing up Catholic. But, like so many other Americans, I dropped out for a while after college. When we got married, my wife and I went on what she called our search for God and gained exposure to a variety of Protestant churches. It was the first time I witnessed any expressions of faith outside of the Catholic tradition. Those visits to Protestant churches, which ranged from large, African American Pentecostal churches to tiny, middle-class, white fundamentalist congregations, shook us up. Our reactions spanned the gamutfrom bored to mesmerized and repulsed to comfortable. After a few false starts, my wife and I wound up in a series of churches that led us to Christ and a more holistic Christian life.

But many people never have a positive church experience, or perhaps any church experience at all. Still others are jettisoned from the church world by hurtful or irrelevant experiences they suffer in those places.

In fact, even though many people think of the United States as a Christian nation, and journalists proclaim America to be the most religious nation on earth, an enormous number of Americansone-third of all adultsare unchurched. In part, that figure remains prolific because of the large number of young people who abandon the organized church as soon as they are no longer held responsible for their daily choices by their family of origin.

Historically, Americans have been attracted to Christian churches. Why the seemingly sudden change in behavior? It certainly is not because of a lack of churches: There are more than 335,000 Christian churches in this country. It cannot be attributed to the indifference of church leaders, since the primary measure of success used by churches is the weekly attendance figure. And it is not because church leaders are unaware of the existence of unchurched people: Best-selling Christian books trumpet the fact; well-attended seminars discuss methods of reaching the unchurched, and churches spend millions of dollars every year attempting to attract people who are not connected to a faith community.

Research among those who avoid churches suggests that the main obstacle is the busyness of these people. But that excuse is probably just a smoke screen; after all, churchgoing folks are busy, too. Somehow, despite equally frenetic schedules, churched people find a way to make time for church. Further exploration shows that people avoid church because they perceive church life as irrelevant, they have vivid memories of bad personal experiences with churches, they feel unwelcome at churches, or they lack a sense of urgency or importance regarding church life.

A Changing Environment

As our society changes, so do the reasons for the growing number of church dropouts and church avoiders. For instance, the encroachment of postmodern thinking over the past two decades has laid a foundation for new thinking about the value of skipping church. Postmodernism suggests that there may or may not be a supreme deity; each person must determine that independently, and that decision cannot be imposed on other people. According to postmodern thinking, how one chooses to handle that determination is a personal, private matter that need not have substantial influence on ones life. What matters most is that people are comfortable with their own decisions, and that they are able to have whatever faith-oriented experiences they desire.