Blue Like Jazz - Chapter 12 Questions

Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious thoughts on Christian Spirituality

Chapter 12: Church: How I Go Without Getting Angry

Discussion Questions:

1. What are your earliest memories of church? What are some of the positive and negative church experiences that have shaped you?

2. Bottom of page 130: “There was room at the table for me, but I wasn’t in the family”. What are your honest thoughts about how you fit in at the church you currently attend? Do you feel “in the family”? How, or why not?

3. On the bottom of page 134, Miller shares his hopes for early numeric growth at his church Imago-Dei. But attendance hung around 30 for too long. What is it about numeric growth that validates a church or ministry? Is it healthy or unhealthy to pay attention to “numbers”?

4. Starting on page 136, Donald lists four things about his church that he really likes. The first is spirituality. Would you agree that prayer and fasting is more desirable than creating a program to address a need in a church or community?

5. On page 137, Miller writes about giving up his “bad attitude” toward other churches. Where is the line between critique and criticism of churches – yours and others? Why is it a bad idea (if it is indeed a bad idea), to participate in criticizing a particular church or group of churches?

6. What are you hoping to find in a church?

7. In your mind, what would be 3-4 components of a church where you would fit?

8. What are you doing right now to find that church – assuming you are not attending there now?

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