David John Seel Jr. - The New Copernicans: Millennials and the Survival of the Church

PRAISE FOR THE NEW COPERNICANS

John has done something remarkable here. He not only reveals the flaws in how institutions discuss millennials, but also builds a completely new framework for explaining how human consciousness has evolved in a global, digital age. Its an essential read for anyone who wants to survive the next 25 years.

Mike McHargue

Author, Finding God in the Waves

Co-host, The Liturgists Podcast

Do not miss reading this book. Full of wisdom, research and passion, John Seel helps us to view this tectonic shift toward millennials influence in culture as a generative opportunity. As an artist, I have seen this shift already taken place in the art world for some time now. The iceberg is right in front of us! Its now the churches responsibility to respond to principles that John carefully traces in this fine work.

Mako Fujimura

Artist

Vision Director, Brehm Center, Fuller Theological Seminary

The New Copernicans is a prophetic warning and wise guide for the evangelical church. Seels call to listen to the haunted spiritual longings of millennials will help us to join in their intuitive sense of a non-dualistic convergence of Gods Spirit moving among us. John is a useful and humble partner in spiritual pilgrimage.

Richard Rohr

Author, The Divine Dance

Founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation

No one has done more to reframe my understanding of our current moment than Dr. John Seel. The ideas in this book will change both your understanding of our cultural landscape and your relating to the people who inhabit itespecially those much-maligned and misunderstood millennials.

Sean Womack

CEO, Smack.co

We know the Kingdom is always nearits in the stories that shape us, the journeys that refine us, and the loves that direct us. Yet, millennials have taken to heart this reality in a way the church has not. Can the church learn from her children? In The New Copernicans, John Seel has given us an on-ramp. I am beyond grateful for this work.

Chase Daws

Reformed University Fellowship Campus Minister

University of California, Berkeley

We are, I believe, in the midst of a shift in the plate tectonics of American religious culture. A work like Taylors A Secular Age has resonated because it has so accurately uncovered the genealogy that leads to this moment. What has been missing, however, is the kind of careful listening to and nuanced observation of those who are the vanguard generation of this shift. The New Copernicans fills this gap, providing important insights into this massive generational shift.

James Davison Hunter

Author, To Change the World

Im a millennial as well as a college professor and a cultural critic, and I find John Seels way of thinking about my generation compelling and grounded in a generosity thats extremely rare. I wish I could put a copy of this book into the hands of every person tasked with leading the church.

Alissa Wilkinson

English Professor, The Kings College

Film Reviewer, Vox

In working with young adults over the past two decades, I have heard many wonder about the future of the church (and our world!) as it relates to the wiring of the next generation. The New Copernicans is a good reminder that the millennial generation was created for such a time as this! Johns encouragement to pay attention and learn from this generation is a helpful construct in understanding how to reach the world for Christ in an ever-changing culture.

Vincent Burens

President and CEO

Coalition for Christian Outreach (CCO)

There are many things going on in this remarkable book, bunches of reasons you should consider buying it. At the very least, it is an insightful cry to church leadersconservative evangelicals, especiallyto more deeply understand the profound cultural changes we are experiencing and how younger adults are often carriers of this post-Enlightenment shift to right-brained, relational ways of experiencing life and faith. It is one of the most provocative books of cultural discernment Ive read, and I hope church leaders explore it. But there is more: Seel has walked with the New Copernicans and has listened well. He tells stories ranging from meeting Black Lives Matter activists to the founders of churches that revolve around meals and hospitality, to rising adults who explain why social media is so very important to them. You may not like all that he tells about here, but you will learn much, and you will be inspired to enter more vividly into the world in which we are increasingly finding ourselves, being guided by those who are in the vanguard: the New Copernicans.

Byron Borger

Owner, Hearts & Minds Bookstore

Amidst much clamor and din today, John Seel brings a deft listening skill, winsome voice and humble exhortation to the subject of New Copernicans. A must-read for all those who endeavor to understand both the challenges and opportunities for a generation that is poised to change the world.

John Priddy

CEO and Cofounder, Windrider Institute

Will Christ win or lose the millennials? No question is more worthy of pastoral consideration because the stakes for the future of the church and of basic Christianity could not be higher. John Seel offers highly informed, deep, and appreciative insights into the spiritual lives of the millennials. He shows us older Generation Xers or Baby Boomers how to value the wonderful spirit and faith of a generation that is too often underrated, and that holds the key to the new future of Christian faith and community. Seel has written a magnificent book that every pastor and lay-Christian should read for new perspectives, for practical approaches to outreach, and for renewed commitment to spreading the gospel.

Stephen G. Post, PhD

Professor of Family, Population and Preventive Medicine, Stony Brook University

President, The Institute for Research on Unlimited Love

Copernicus saw something that many people of faith werent ready for. John Seel challenges us to see millennials as New Copernicans with four on-ramps to spiritual pilgrimage: justice, beauty, sexuality, and spirit. In this much-needed road map for ministry, John helps us reframe these on-ramps for more effectively meeting the challenges of the new evangelization.

Christopher West

Senior Lecturer, Theology of the Body Institute

I spend a lot of time with organizations and leaders who throw their hands up in the air or offer only surface-level prescriptions to dealing with the next generation. John Seels The New Copernicans offers a simple, radical alternative of thoughtfully, humbly seeking to understand how millennials view the world, and to consider the ways in which this might be a gift to us and to our faith. I learned a great deal about millennials, and therefore the future, in this paradigm-shifting book, and I am grateful to John for showing us a way forward.

Michael Wear

Author, Reclaiming Hope: Lessons Learned in the Obama White House

About the Future of Faith in America

I enjoyed The New Copernicans more than I can express. I am a more informed Christian and parent after reading this book. As a producer, I live and work in Hollywood, which is made up of imagination and young artists. Artists are prophets, prophets are Copernicans, and our culture is shaped by our millennial Copernicans. If we dont take the time to understand them, we will be unaware of the trajectory of our nation. That is why I call Hollywood the worlds most influential mission field, and John Seel calls this New Copernican reality the churchs most pressing mission field. And the missionarys first job is to learn who the people are whom they are serving.