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Forged: Following Jesus into a New Kind of Family
Following the way of Jesus should lead us into authentic and life-giving relationships. The Jesus Way calls us into community with others to form a new kind of family--a forged family. In an era when our relationships with our families of origin are more complicated than ever, pastor T. C. Moore shows us how following the way of Jesus can lead us to forged families that are authentic and life-giving. Our forged families are the ones who love us for who we are and show up for us when we're in desperate need. Our forged families are the ones with whom we've worked through conflict. Our forged families make us who we are, strengthen our faith, and sustain us through life's many challenges. Forged weaves together stories from the author's over twenty years of experience with urban, multiethnic ministry all over the US, principles from Scripture, and his own experience as an ex-gang member turned church planter and pastor to propose a way of approaching faith in community that rejects hierarchical, bureaucratic structures in favor of formative, inclusive friendships that last.
181 pages, Paperback
Published February 13, 2024
16 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 13, 2024
Rather than a tired call for ill-conceived "unity" among Christians who often can't get agree on a place to eat breakfast, much less find common ground among themselves in doctrine and theology, "Forged" references and calls our attention to cultivate relationships that already exist.
"Forged" calls us to recognize and promote unity above uniformity in the Kin(g)dom of God. Rather than proposing a formula to be followed, TC identifies and characterizes a family that's already established in our DNA as believers in Christ. The book cruises around the family tree a little, highlighting some of our favorite traditions and recalling some familiar stories in all of our experiences with our siblings in Christ.
The book is highly readable, relatable and enjoyable. I love the chapter lengths, insights and even the order of the chapters as we delve more deeply throughout each page into what it means to be "forged family." - Moving from the easy stuff to more difficult issues like managing conflict and even covering how our forged family manages political division was insightful and gently thought-provoking.
Definitely pick this one up for yourself, your church, and other folks in your "forged family" -- as Moravian Sr. Henrietta Louisa Von Hayn said when she joined the M. Church, "it was as if I found 100 mothers and fathers all at once!" (same!)
May we similarly find faith, love and hope among our own forged family.
TONS of quotable snippets from this one made it difficult to narrow it down to the one that I think summarizes the book the best, but here's one of my many favorites! :
"To be a community that’s a refuge for misfits, to be that hospitable and affirming of all people, takes intentionality. It doesn’t happen by accident. It starts with the conviction that diversity builds strength. It’s vital that we can be our full selves— every thing God has made us— and still be loved and belong in the family of God. We must be crystal clear that what unites us isn’t a list of doctrines we affirm, or how good we look when we dress up in our Sunday best—it also isn’t our ethnic heritages or our taste in music. What unites us is our allegiance to Jesus, the Truly Human One, King of Kings, Prince of Peace. As Brené Brown has written, “True belonging doesn’t require us to change who we are; it requires us to be who we are.”
Amen!
"Forged" calls us to recognize and promote unity above uniformity in the Kin(g)dom of God. Rather than proposing a formula to be followed, TC identifies and characterizes a family that's already established in our DNA as believers in Christ. The book cruises around the family tree a little, highlighting some of our favorite traditions and recalling some familiar stories in all of our experiences with our siblings in Christ.
The book is highly readable, relatable and enjoyable. I love the chapter lengths, insights and even the order of the chapters as we delve more deeply throughout each page into what it means to be "forged family." - Moving from the easy stuff to more difficult issues like managing conflict and even covering how our forged family manages political division was insightful and gently thought-provoking.
Definitely pick this one up for yourself, your church, and other folks in your "forged family" -- as Moravian Sr. Henrietta Louisa Von Hayn said when she joined the M. Church, "it was as if I found 100 mothers and fathers all at once!" (same!)
May we similarly find faith, love and hope among our own forged family.
TONS of quotable snippets from this one made it difficult to narrow it down to the one that I think summarizes the book the best, but here's one of my many favorites! :
"To be a community that’s a refuge for misfits, to be that hospitable and affirming of all people, takes intentionality. It doesn’t happen by accident. It starts with the conviction that diversity builds strength. It’s vital that we can be our full selves— every thing God has made us— and still be loved and belong in the family of God. We must be crystal clear that what unites us isn’t a list of doctrines we affirm, or how good we look when we dress up in our Sunday best—it also isn’t our ethnic heritages or our taste in music. What unites us is our allegiance to Jesus, the Truly Human One, King of Kings, Prince of Peace. As Brené Brown has written, “True belonging doesn’t require us to change who we are; it requires us to be who we are.”
Amen!
March 30, 2024
Inspiring, challenging, and hopeful! An accessible yet deeply prophetic and thought-provoking ecclesiology for every Christian. As you read Forged, you see Moore's deep love for Jesus, his hope for the Church to be what is was called to be and his passion to see injustices and exclusionary attitudes challenged and rejected for the sake of God's kin(g)dom. His personal testimony, humanizing stories and his deep hermeneutical work from Scripture all come together to form this great read.
April 24, 2024
Several years ago, I interviewed Christian author Jerry Jenkins about a novel he wrote and he told me the story about a gang member he interviewed for the book who gave his life to Christ but then returned to the gang. The guy told him “I thought the church would be like the gang. I thought it would be family.” The guy was right. It should have been. But increasingly, it seems,
“the family of God” never quite comes together. In Forged, T.C. Moore leads readers into how we can create and sustain that kinship connection.
Perhaps not surprisingly, Moore’s background is similar to the gang member that Jenkins interviewed. He grew up in gang life, was liberated from it as a teenager, and his entire ministerial focus is on developing church family and community. Forged begins by dismantling the myth of the nuclear family. This in itself could be a whole book. Moore makes the case that this version of American individualism cut people off from their communities and heightened inequality. He makes the point that the communal nature of the early church stood in contrast to the Roman Empire’s view of family and advocates for a Christian view of family as something much more expansive than “nuclear.”
Forged then weaves between Moore’s personal and ministerial experiences while navigating through the examples set by Jesus and the early church. He shows how this focus on the church as “forged family” creates a sense of loyalty and closeness that alleviates loneliness and helps those in community find a sense of belonging. However, Moore also doesn’t shy away from the complications of being called family. I’ve been in situations where “we’re a family here” was meant to excuse overworking/underpaying or other such toxic situations. Moore mentions this specifically—and though I think it could have been given more prominence on how to recognize and avoid this trap, I deeply appreciate it even getting a mention.
Another thing I appreciated is that Moore is clear that having a family mentality will lead to conflict—closeness of relationship inevitably does—but it also transforms how we deal with conflict. Because we are family, we compromise, we work together, we solve the problem, rather than walking away.
Forged is a book about a new way of church. But it’s actually the old way of church. Churches today have become so institutionalized and commercialized that they’ve lost their distinctive features of being part of God’s kin-dom community. Moore calls readers to a deeper level of connection that can be truly transformative—not just for our own lives but for our communities as well. Like Amos railing against religious empire, TC Moore challenges the commodified and coddled ecclesiology of the American church to something more vulnerable, more authentic, more genuine, more demanding, and more in line with Kingdom of God.
“the family of God” never quite comes together. In Forged, T.C. Moore leads readers into how we can create and sustain that kinship connection.
Perhaps not surprisingly, Moore’s background is similar to the gang member that Jenkins interviewed. He grew up in gang life, was liberated from it as a teenager, and his entire ministerial focus is on developing church family and community. Forged begins by dismantling the myth of the nuclear family. This in itself could be a whole book. Moore makes the case that this version of American individualism cut people off from their communities and heightened inequality. He makes the point that the communal nature of the early church stood in contrast to the Roman Empire’s view of family and advocates for a Christian view of family as something much more expansive than “nuclear.”
Forged then weaves between Moore’s personal and ministerial experiences while navigating through the examples set by Jesus and the early church. He shows how this focus on the church as “forged family” creates a sense of loyalty and closeness that alleviates loneliness and helps those in community find a sense of belonging. However, Moore also doesn’t shy away from the complications of being called family. I’ve been in situations where “we’re a family here” was meant to excuse overworking/underpaying or other such toxic situations. Moore mentions this specifically—and though I think it could have been given more prominence on how to recognize and avoid this trap, I deeply appreciate it even getting a mention.
Another thing I appreciated is that Moore is clear that having a family mentality will lead to conflict—closeness of relationship inevitably does—but it also transforms how we deal with conflict. Because we are family, we compromise, we work together, we solve the problem, rather than walking away.
Forged is a book about a new way of church. But it’s actually the old way of church. Churches today have become so institutionalized and commercialized that they’ve lost their distinctive features of being part of God’s kin-dom community. Moore calls readers to a deeper level of connection that can be truly transformative—not just for our own lives but for our communities as well. Like Amos railing against religious empire, TC Moore challenges the commodified and coddled ecclesiology of the American church to something more vulnerable, more authentic, more genuine, more demanding, and more in line with Kingdom of God.
February 7, 2024
Moore weaves personal stories and Biblical interpretation to offer us a new way to see family and follow Jesus faithfully.
June 4, 2024
A memoir about a faith journey that can make family that's forged through love and care and justice.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews