Jerry Herships shares his experience as a pastor of a non-traditional church. He makes an appeal for a paradigm shift about the way we think of church. If Jesus were alive I think he also might hold "church" in bars, make sandwiches for the homeless and include the LBGTQ as friends. So much of what the church does comes off as judgmental….against abortions, drug users, LBGTQ community, divorce, and drinking. The way we think about God IS too narrow sometimes. That's the message I get from this book. I think his ideas are liberating, even in the way his switches from "he" and "she" in referring to God. This book will definitely open your mind to new ways of thinking theologically. It's a very "in your face" book, but polite. He's challenging church communities that are dead and going through the motions without connecting with the people worshipping nor to their community through those people. It's a timeless message, but couched in vocabulary and cultural references of today to shake up our thinking and resonate with those who are fed up with lifeless church and inauthentic Christianity. I recommend this book as a refreshing wake up call. I would rate it 5 out of 5.

Rogue Saints offers a new perspective on what it means to be a Christian, or a follower of Christ. His church, AfterHours, works with people on the margins of society in the same manner as Jesus. They don't just follow the "rules" in the Bible, they live out the example that Jesus set - no judgment, God loves everyone exactly as they are.
On the other hand, the book didn't really inspire me in the way that similar books by Sara Miles or Nadia Bolz-Weber have, but that's just a personal opinion. I felt that the book became repetitive, as in "here are all the different sorts of believers in our group, and look at how we help the homeless" without really diving deeper into the theology or discussions that hold this group together. Why do they feel at home in AfterHours? What is the draw that keeps them coming back?

This book was not what I expected from the title and sub-title but I am glad to have stumbled upon it. Rouge Saints serves as a look at finding spirituality outside of the church even if you are still christian.

I loved the way this author interweaves his personal experience and advice as he shares his unconventional Ministry. While I am not a traditional christian myself I found the way this book approaches christian spiritual experience to be uplifting and unique.

Those who enjoy books like smoke gets in your eyes will likely find themselves at home with the style of writing here.

Have you ever felt disillusioned with church, let down by its lack of making you feel uplifted once the service was over? For anyone else who is tired of those who preach the word but don't live it, you'll have a deep connection this book. Herships does an excellent job of pulling apart the sad reality of the modern day church and its emphasis on legalism versus authentic worship (plus, if you're so inclined, he also offers a cocktail recipe at the end of the chapter. And even if you're like me and don't enjoy alcohol, read them anyway because they're just as humorous as the actual chapters).
Everything about this book resonated with me and I was taking notes by page two. Before I'd even finished the introduction, I'd recommended it to three people. Much of what the author clearly writes about are feelings I've had for years but haven't had the knowledge to properly articulate them in a way that went beyond, "Because I think so." Herships provides the historical and biblical reasoning behind his conclusions, and in the stories he shares of serving the homeless and disenfranchised while whole heartedly welcoming ALL with open arms, he shows he is living what he preaches.
For those who may be easily offended, there is some language used in the book. If that is the sort of thing that bothers you, I would still recommend reading this book because the overall message it leaves you with shouldn't be missed.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free advance copy. This did not have an impact on my review.

His first book, "Last Call" was about his personal journey from an altar boy in Church to show business, gigs, bars, and various game shows to make ends meet. He returns to the ministry albeit with a difference: going out people who congregate at bars and pubs. He shares his story of "from serving drinks to serving Jesus." In this follow up book, Herships continues by giving us a closer look at what his unconventional ministry looks like. More importantly, he tries to help us find out our big purpose in life through connection and community. He tells stories of people who would be considered "misfits" in many churches. Just knowing that there are people with bigger problems than our complaints about life, will easily put our worries in perspective. In an uninhibited "in the face" manner, the author makes it clear that he does not stand for rules and restrictions about how to do ministry. He even admits to wanting to bash "shitty church." Preferring to let the ends justify the means, he kicks off by reminding us that our starting point for theology should not be "original sin," but "original blessing." We don't start off by thinking how bad we look but how good we have been created. We are created in the image of God. He does several counter-intuitive things such as labeling people as "heathens," choosing unbeliever to be part of his leadership team; even adding in cocktail mix at the end of each chapter. The objective of the book is to help us find a way to serve God through meaningful connections with the community around us, especially in the uncommon places.


Herships shares five different kinds of spiritualities at work. All of them are about connecting to life outside of the four walls of the conventional church. The spirituality of yoga is part bashing of "bad church" and part exhortation of revitalizing our worship. Unfortunately, his bashing goes beyond "bad church." He goes against basic doctrines of hell, contemplative disciplines, and other church-type worship and puts forth the notion of good works that not only church members could do. He quickly flies into the famous Micah 6:8 passage that urges people to do justice, love kindness, and to walk humbly. He even defines Christians not on the basis of their statement of faith, but on the basis of how they live like Jesus. The spirituality of running refers to the practice of serving others. He shares a touching story about a certain village where people were compassionate about saving babies that float along a river. Eventually, one guy became so flustered that he decided to look for the source of the continuing problem, to look for the one who kept throwing babies into the river. While it is good to do good works, we need to go to the source of the issue. For instance, just giving money to the poor is not going to help in the long run. We need to find out the problem of poverty in the first place. The spirituality of horses blasts the kind of "church talk" we often hear about love and goodness. Instead, Herships pushes away talks about hearing, about studying, about being a fan of Jesus, but to replace all our talk with living like Jesus. In other words, don't just talk about horses of love, what love can do. Run like horses to proclaim the love of Jesus. The spirituality of fly fishing is about "a continual exercise in hope." The active word is exercise. Exercise our humility. Exercise our smallness. Exercise our worth in faith. Finally, the spirituality of painting is about creating a church that "doesn't suck."

My Thoughts
This book contains rogue ideas to shake up any complacent church. On the positive side, the author is unafraid to bash what he calls "bad churches" that talk more than act; that are stuck in old ways; that ignores the changing societal needs; that prefers to live for themselves instead of for Jesus. Page after page, he does not mince words when he criticizes the conventional church. He makes it uncomfortable for many so as to make them sit up and rethink about their ministries. Sometimes, a good reminder needs a faith electrocution, not a pillow nudge. This is what Herships has done. Before anyone picks up this book, be ready for some in-the-face words from the author. Perhaps, a warning label needs to be attached that says: "Warning: tough words for the church inside."

On the negative front, he does go overboard at times, Despite his disclaimers that say he is not bashing churches, only bad churches, the way he bashes the conventional church show otherwise. For all his good observations and counter-conventional-church stance, I suspect that the language he uses and the theology he claims may alienate his good intentions. Truth is, there are all kinds of people in every Church, including genuine members serving society at large on weekdays. His generalization of "bad churches" could very well prove to be unloving.

The sleepy Church do need to be woken up from time to time. The author believes that he is the alarm clock, the "devil's advocate," the agent of change to make the church more aware of the need to love people with action, not just words. It is a clarion call to live like Jesus and to fulfill the call to do justice, love kindness, and to walk humbly for all of our lives. My recommendation: Read this book with an open mind. If you are easily offended, avoid this book.

Jerry Herships is the founder of AfterHours Denver, a faith community that meets in bars and pubs. He often speaks at seminars and workshops about non-traditional ministry outreach. He desire to connect with people where they are.

Rating: 3.75 stars of 5.

conrade

This book has been provided courtesy of Westminster John Knox Press and NetGalley without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.

I liked that this book talked about finding spirituality in different ways - horseback riding, fly fishing, painting, etc. This is definitely a different way at looking at Christianity but not entirely new - I've read other books about finding your spirituality outside of the church with sort of a sliding irreverence. This one definitely had more footnotes which I liked. I would have liked more scripture and I didn't ever see how the drinks were supposed to be connected.

Three stars
This book came out March 12
ARC kindly provided by publisher and NetGalley
Opinion is my own

I enjoyed Rogue Saints. While I don't agree with everything, I understand the feeling as being turned out by the church. Jerry Herships reminds us to love people as they are just as God does. I think this book can give a lot of hope to those who have been maligned. Don't give up there is a church for you.
While the author says we spend too much time as thinking of church as a building, he doesn't delve into the theology of a church and that it is a people and not a place. I think this would have strengthened his argument for those questioning it.
Over all this was a god read; I really enjoyed seeing what activities help people connect to God and how they expressed their spirituality.

Jerry Herships, “Rogue Saints,” is a provocative book that courageously, compassionately, yet prophetically inspires us to live out our mission—to be the literal imperfect hands and clumsy feet of God in the world! It is raw, real, and extremely relevant to our (my) comfortable Christian lifestyles that typically doesn’t demand alot from us (me). Hership's book is filled with down-to-earth stories, witty propositions, and powerful nuggets that will make you think, ponder for a bit, and propel you into subversive action. This book a must read for rooted and rogue Christians alike!