Most churches have spent the last sixty years trying to lower the cultural barriers to Christianity. Clean car parks. Professional music. Seeker-sensitive services. The logic made sense at the time. But has making church more like the world actually worked and is it still the right strategy?

Joel and Stu work through the tension between institutional and organic church structures, unpack the history of the attractional church model from Donald McGavran to Willow Creek, and explain why Soul Revival has deliberately gone the other direction — building a countercultural, intergenerational Yellow Submarine that goes beneath the surface of daily life.

They also answer two great listener questions from Julie about Bonhoeffer's friendship circles: whether they include non-Christians, and how kids and youth factor into church numbers.

Timestamps
00:00 Sharks gear, Sheffield Wednesday at Wembley and tribal fan culture
05:30 The AGM and the juxtaposition of formal polity in a time of crisis
08:30 Organic vs institutional structures: what's the difference and why it matters
15:00 The attractional church model — McGavran, Willow Creek and the homogeneous unit principle
22:00 The Yellow Submarine: Soul Revival's countercultural intergenerational alternative
29:00 How Soul Revival's governance actually works
43:30 Listener questions from Julie: Bonhoeffer's friendship circles and non-Christians
51:30 At what stage do kids and youth count in your numbers?
54:00 The Blitz, the fuel crisis and the Christian response to economic pressure

Discussed on this episode
Stu Crawshaw - The Yellow Submarine
Skip Bell — What is Wrong with the Homogeneous Unit Principle?
Karina Koremsky — The Fallacy of the Homogeneous Unit Principle
Bill Hybels — Becoming a Contagious Christian
Mark Senter — The Four Views of Youth Ministry
Kendra Creasy Dean — Practicing Passion
Donald McGavran — homogeneous unit principle overview

Jump in at shockabsorber.com.au — and send your thoughts to joel@shockabsorber.com.au

Stop making church more like the world. Build this instead...