congratulations kester on the US release of the complex christ. it’s been published as signs of emergence. i think it’s one of the most interesting and creative books to have come out on church in the emerging culture. there are several that are good but don’t tell you too much you didn’t know whereas kester’s is bringing up some very fresh takes on things. i also like it because it comes out of the UK soil/context. if you are in the UK a weird quirk is that the US version is cheaper which i guess is due to the strength of the pound against the dollar. so if you’ve never bought the complex christ get a bargain…

the sub title for the book is…

a vision for the church that is organic, networked, decentralised, bottom up, communal, flexible, always evolving

kester draws on theories of emergent systems and applies them to the life of christ and the church. he mixes disciplines – theology, cultural studies, science, urban theory and it’s in this mix that the creativity flows drawing on the years of fun/experiment that kester and co had at vaux. i like the way he cross fertilises ideas from one field to another. i find it very stimulating. i also think he’s a gifted writer – he crafts words and ideas well.

my favourite two chapters are on gift and dirt. i have rehearsed these themes on this blog before but these ideas have really sparked my own thinking – the notion of developing a gift economy in the emerging church and the ruses of trickster who messes with dirt as one of his/her tactics to catalyse change. it’s worth getting the book for these two chapters alone. kester certainly owes lewis hyde a beer if they ever meet…

kester runs a blog where he discusses the themes of the book so do follow along as no doubt a fresh wave of US voices join the discussion in the next year.