Jordon Cooper has posted excerpts from Spencer Burke’s book Making Sense of Church: Eavesdropping on Emerging Conversations About God, Community, and Culture. The book is due out in October, but there’s also a website. Here are some of the exceprts:

As I think about the emerging church; I see a similar shift occuring. In most traditional churches, the pastor’s role is to teach. As the fount of all knowledge, the pastor’s job is to overflow with spiritual truth each week while the congregation sits and absorbs this wisdom. Sure, there are other elements in a service–like music and prayer but for the most part, the sermon is the focal point.

With so much riding on the weekly message, churches are susceptible to “charismatic” leaders–for better or for worse. Each Sunday, the pastor must deliver something new and inspirational to the congregation, lest he or she become the topic of conversation at lunch. As the name on the marquee outside, the pastor is inextricably linked to the success and failure of the church.

In many ways, the modern worship service is a thinly disguised university lecture. Congregants file in, face the front and frantically take notes while and established scholar–a spiritual giant in their midst–passes on formula for a more fulfilling life.

And more …

Churches today have been expressly designed for passing on knowledge. Objects that appeal to the senses have been removed, Ironically, this switch to a “user-friendly” enviroment is problematic for many postmodern people–the very people churches say they want to reach. While there is something to be said for comfortable chairs and trouble free parking, slick worship services seem exactly that–slick. It’s Amway with a thin spiritual veneer.

Thom S. Rainer, dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism, and Church Growth at Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, told The Washington Times that the main reason people leave church is it’s too similar to their everyday lives. Could it be the seeker-sensitive movement has actually backfired?