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"The Open Church" by James Rutz
Has anyone read "The Open Church: How to Bring Back the Exciting Life of the First Century Church" by James Rutz?
I found this book at a Goodwill store yesterday and am just starting to read it.
What caught my eye is this part in the introduction:
"""Around A.D. 300, the church made the worst blunder in her history. We voluntarily decided to give up the three key freedoms that powered the early church to success: Open worship (praising God); Open sharing (building up each other); and Open ministry (serving others in the church and the world."""
"""Throughout Christendom in the Fourth Century, we professionalized the local church and turned over our Sunday services to the pros, leaving them to do almost everything while we sat and watched.
Lay men found themselves stripped of initiative and power, like newly-captured slaves. Lay women were quietly relieved of what little responsibility and leadership they had. (By about 450, even the congregational singing faded to zip, as we turned over the music to professional choirs of men and boys.)
All the laity suddenly found Sunday worship to be more distant from their personal lives and daily concerns. They fell into Spectator Christianity, where loneliness doesn't end at church -- it starts there."""
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