What Is the Church and Why Does It Exist?

by David Fitch

"David Fitch delves into the origins of the church, exploring the identity and calling of the body of Christ in scripture and church history. Learn about the Christian practices that shape the church and how our understandings of church might change in light of the life of the church through the centuries. At a time when the church in the US is losing credibility and cultural privilege, Fitch calls us to embrace historic Anabaptism as a model for thriving as God's people in our own time and place"--

Genres: Nonfiction, Theology, Christian, Church

96 pages, Paperback

Published March 30, 2021

Reviews

[Simon Wiebe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Das Buch von Fitch hat mir gut gefallen. Es sieht die kirchlichen Praktiken als Wesensmerkmal und Herzstück von Kirche und weniger bestimmte Glaubenssätze, die seit den Bekenntnisbildungen mehr im Fokus stehen. In den Worten von Fitch:

„The church became less focused on being a local gathering practicing a way of life together and more focused on the large organization enforcing orthodoxy. All this seems to have started as the early church moved from being a group of people marginalized in Roman society to a people culturally accepted by the power of Rome.“

[Josh Olds · Rating 5 out of 5]

As I continue on my faith journey, I find myself drawing ever closer to the description of “Anabaptist.” I grew up in a Christian Church/Church of Christ, went to college/seminary at a Baptist school, then took my first pastorate at a “Bapticostal” non-denominational church. I’ve never been too fond of denominational labels, as they’re usually used to “other” rather than bring together, but, through the influence of Shane Claiborne, Drew Hart, Ron Sider, Scot McKnight, and others, I’ve slowly drifted toward Anabaptist philosophy.

It’s only natural, then, that I sought out a primer of sorts for Anabaptism, and found the Small Books of Radical Faith series to be a solid starting point. This volume, What is the Church? outlines, in brief, the ecclesiology of Anabaptist faith and the role and function of the church body. David Fitch breaks it down into six simple chapters that root the church as a practicing community of believers through whom God works.

This definition would revolutionize much of Christianity if we would accept it. The COVID-19 pandemic revealed to us, and the world, that many segments of Christianity were focused only on a once-a-week physical gathering. And while I don’t want to downplay the need for such a gathering, Fitch is careful to define church as a body rather than an experience. It’s not something that we go to or have done to is, it is something we are and work out ourselves.

In the concluding chapter, Fitch argues for three different types of gathering in church: the close circle (a committed small group of believers), the dotted circle (a larger community of believers), and the open circle (wherever the church takes the Gospel and Christ’s presence is revealed at work). Nowhere in that definition, or anywhere else in the book, does Fitch talk church polity or buildings, organizational structure or order of service. For Fitch, and for Anabaptism in general, church is much more informal and personal.

If you’ve been looking for a new way of doing church or if you’ve found yourself turned off by the way your local church body is being the church, or if you’re a church leader wanting to move your church to action, What is the Church? is the groundwork for developing a true ecclesia in your communities.

[Esther]

What Fitch proposes in this book is a is a beautiful picture of what the church should/could be. But I have an issue with Fitch’s definition of the church as “a community of practices that join people together in their submission to Jesus as Lord.” The church is the community of people. At times, he did define the church as the people, and I wish he would have consistently leaned into this definition. But he repeatedly returned to the definition of the church as its practices. Though practices are essential, practices ≠ the church. The practices are the culture of the people/church. (One reason for my aversion to Fitch’s definition is how often people who’ve been hurt or abused in churches have been told some version of, “The church didn’t hurt you; people hurt you.” It may not have been the whole church, but it was the church. Churches *should* be healthy, but that doesn’t mean an unhealthy or corrupt church isn’t a church. Defining the church as the practices rather than the people is one way those in positions of power abdicate their responsibility and abuses are allowed to continue, thus also placing an unreasonable burden on those who are experiencing harm. But when we say, “This church is unhealthy/abusive/corrupt and it shouldn’t be that way,” it puts the onus of responsibility on all who are in church leadership and positions of power to actually do something about it. To be clear: I am not accusing Fitch of enabling abuse, but simply pointing out how his definition can be and has been used in ways that have caused harm.)

I’d recommend skipping this book and reading Fitch’s “Faithful Presence” instead.

[Freddy Lam · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the latest addition to The Jesus Way conversation of small, easy-to-read books on how to look at Christianity differently mainly to an anabaptist audience (though all evangelicals could benefit from the wisdom succinctly presented here). What is the church and why does it exist is a mini version of the key ideas presented in Faithful Presence, where David Fitch explores a sacred, historical ecclesiology which has been replaced by programs and franchises. The keyword in all this is about presence. Presence with God, and presence with others, creating social spaces instead of the posture of us vs. them. All of this is for the sake of being embodiments of God's mission, away from program-oriented discipleship to presence-oriented discipleship. I highly recommend it.

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I especially like this book's focus in the first two chapters on the church as a community that is formed through "practices." Fitch describes what happens when we shift from "practice" to "belief" -- the church moves from being a community that engages in practices that strengthen group unity to a community that believes in unity as an ideal. Further, by focusing on unity as a belief, the church may use coercion to enforce a belief in unity. These two chapters could be read and appreciated by individuals with varying levels of theological training. I found the remaining chapters less insightful.

[Angela Payne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book may typically be considered to be a quick read but don’t let that fool you, as each page is filled with tons of information about the Church. I enjoyed reading and being reminded of the history of the Church, what it is and how it is meant to be done. I thought it was informationally rich and would make an amazing study for small groups or anyone that is looking for more knowledge and a way to put Church into action. Well done.

[Christian Wermeskerch · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's Faithful Presence, but make it Anabaptist. If you can, just read Faithful Presence (unless you need the distinctively Anapbaptist tilt). If you don't have time for Faithful Presence, I would still recommend Seven Practices first.

[Dustin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this little book and found it to provide excellent insights into what the church is, should be, and could be. Makes for great discussion material. Also check out the accompanying video series from Seminary Now.

[Jon Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

It gets back to the basics with a simplicity that doesn't sacrifice the complexity. It's fantastic as either a primer or refresher.

[Jaclyn Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

simple, practical book of the church, its purpose, and our role as the Church.

[Rick Dugan · Rating 5 out of 5]

In under 100 pages, David Fitch sets out to answer the questions, "What is the church? Why is it so important? How do we do church in our time and space?"

Fitch describes church as a community of practice consisting of people gathered in submission to the Lordship of Christ. Borrowing from Matthew Bates, it could be described as a community drawn together to practice their allegiance to Christ. The key word is practice. Initially, Christians were identified not by their beliefs as much as by their practices. They were followers of the Way.

The word Jesus and his followers used to refer to the gathering of this community of practice was ekklesia, a Greco-Roman assembly where citizens gathered to discuss the implementation and administration of Roman law. Adapting this to their allegiance to Jesus, "The churches of Jesus Christ gathered to discern how best to live under the rule of a different authority, the authority of Jesus as Lord."

"Church" was identified as something practiced, lived, done together by a group of people in response to Jesus. However, eventually it evolved into a group of people identified simply by what they believed about Jesus. Likewise, using the Nicene description of the church as "one, holy, catholic, and apostolic," he illustrates how what we believe about church was separated from what we practice as church.

Fitch then draws a link between practice and presence. "Presence is the way God works" refers to both Christ's presence among us when we act as church and how Christ works through the church's presence in the world. He identifies 7 practices in which Christ is promised to be present among us:

1. The Lord's Table (Lk 22:14-30, 24:13-35)
2. Reconciliation (Mt 18:15-20)
3. Proclamation of the gospel (Lk 10:1-16)
4. Being with the least of these (Mt 25:31-46)
5. 5-Fold gifting (Eph 4:1-16)
6. Being with children (Mt 18:1-5)
7. Kingdom prayer (Mt 6:9-15)

These practices bring us into the presence of Christ and require us to bring Christ into the spaces in which we live. When church is defined by what we believe about it rather than how we practice it, it becomes possible even for Christians to live their lives without God. We may reference Christ and know what we believe about him, but he isn't the substance of our lives.

Then Fitch answers the question, "How does the church organize itself?" His answer is simple: around these 7 practices.

Where do we do this? Historically, the answer has been in a centralized location (building) set apart for the gathering of Christians. Though this is convenient and not necessarily wrong, it does make it more difficult for us to recognize Jesus in our other social spaces. And it's not as conducive to reproduction.

Fitch says the early church organized itself in 3 spaces: the Temple, the home, and among people in general. The Temple represents the close, formal circle of disciples (Acts 2:46). The house, represented by a dotted line circle, refers to the community of believers in their neighborhoods are within their social circles. This circle is more open and transparent to others. Lastly, the half-circle refers to followers of Jesus making disciples as they go among people at work, school, sports club, pub, park, across cultures, across borders, across oceans. It's intentionally going to the places where people need Jesus. The church is not a slate of programs, but a way of living in all 3 spaces.

As local churches struggle to chart a course in an environment that has changed virtually overnight, discussions on organizing around these 7 practices and practicing church in all 3 spaces will generate Spirit-led initiatives that will make us healthier and more responsive to the Lordship of Jesus in our lives, in the church, and in the world.