In Liquid Church, Pete Ward offers up a new concept of what the church ought to be about and how it ought to function. “Solid church,” or traditional church, focuses upon a central, weekly meeting. It is inflexible, fixed in structure, and has a building at the root of its identity. In contrast, liquid church focuses upon daily living (continue reading review . . . ) as Christ in the world, and a weekly meeting is therefore unnecessary. Relationships, rather than numbers or structure, are primary. Liquid church is flexible, able to respond to the culture. Like water, liquid church is also able to take whatever form is needed to reach the world. The model for liquid church is the Trinity, in which the Father, Son, and Spirit flow in relationship with one another.
Perhaps the most controversial idea that Ward has is that consumerism—often thought of as the antithesis of spirituality--is a spiritual exercise, since it is the search for something beyond one’s self. The liquid church then “embraces the believer as a consumer” (p. 65), and it uses desire for spiritual “products” as a starting point for sharing the gospel.
This positive embrace of consumerism has many implications. Ward advocates offering many spiritual choices and constant spiritual “product launches.” Relationships and communication are formed based upon choice, and worship is expressed in different ways by different worshippers--all in the same assembly. Leadership will be based upon example, not position, as spiritual consumers gravitate to those who can help them grow spiritually.
On the positive side, Ward has many insights to the limitations of traditional churches and articulates well the forces that are shaping the church of the future. There is indeed a need for greater flexibility in church structure and a need for a greater emphasis upon daily living. Using a person’s desire for something beyond one’s self as a starting point for sharing the gospel is a wise missionary method.
On the negative side, Ward offers up mostly theory with few concrete illustrations. This may be because, as he states, liquid church does not yet exist. On another point, there are historical and theological reasons for meeting weekly on Sunday, even though the central meeting has certainly been over-emphasized by churches in the past and often made the sum total of the Christian faith.
Finally, while Ward is accurate in his analysis of the forces behind spiritual consumerism, further theological reflection is needed on this subject. Without this reflection, liquid church could easily degenerate into pragmatism with many of the same problems inherent in an attractional model of church. Overall, though, Liquid Church is a book that is worth the read.
