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of the key ideas presented in Faithful Presence, where David Fitch explores a sacred, historical ecclesiology which has been replaced by programs and franchises.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.

This book is a helpful primer on what the church is and what the church could be, and how it's framed by the practices that are given to us by Jesus. It has a distinctly Anabaptist bend, So a lot of it is going to sound kind of uncomfortable to a lot of Protestants. And, not to mention, those who are Catholic or orthodox.

All in all, this short book has a lot of helpful thoughts and a lot of helpful ways of framing life together has the truth, but it it always just feels too short. I feel like a lot of good ideas are framed without giving me much to work with, and a lot of ideas are brought up without a lot of Illumination later. I know that this book is a seemingly adaptation of material from his longer book Faithful Presence, so in that sense I would almost just recommend reading that book. Or, even his Seven Practices book, because it covers a lot of the same grounds but a little more applicationally and in a few more well-rounded ways.

I don't know about the other books in the series, but if all of these books turn out to be shorter versions of longer books that the authors have written before, I would recommend taking a subject you're interested in and reading the longer work.

I love these short works from Anabaptist thinkers and practitioners. Fitch's contribution is a wonderful addition to this series exploring the origin, history, and practices of the church.

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.

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.