Widening the Circle: Experiments in Christian Discipleship
Widening the Circle is a provocative collection of anecdotal reviews by participants in various intentional communities throughout North America. The result is a fascinating and wide-ranging insight into the experience of following Christ in community. The stories are written with unusual transparency, recounting successes, but not shying away from acknowledging painful disappointments. [...] I recommend this book for anyone interested in stories of real life experiences of following Christ in community. --Henry Friesen, from March 2012 issue of The MessengerWidening the Circle gives a voice and platform to these grassroots workers for peace and justice who were and are willing to pursue Christian discipleship in a very real way in order to embody the Kingdom of God rather than seeking to be the next poster-children for post-modern hipster Christianity. The church can benefit from hearing from and understanding the various discipleship movements presented in Widening the Circle; from knowing that they are happening, they do exist, and our American culture is direly in need of them. --Alex Dye, Associate Pastor at Oak grove Mennonite Church, published on Englewood Review of Books websiteIn the end, Widening the Circle is an important work and I am grateful to Joanna Shenk and Herald Press for undertaking it. It gives a voice and platform to these grassroots workers for peace and justice who were and are willing to pursue Christian discipleship in a very real way in order to embody the Kingdom of God rather than seeking to be the next poster-children for post-modern hipster Christianity. The church can benefit from hearing from and understanding the various discipleship movements presented in Widening the Circle; from knowing that they are happening, they do exist, and our American culture is direly in need of them. --Alex Dye, Associate Pastor at Oak grove Mennonite Church, published on Englewood Review of Books website