I’m going to be spending some time over the next few days looking at the book The Next Christians by Gabe Lyons. Lyons is one of the authors of the book unChristian, and this book is a bit of a follow-up to that one.

Basically, Lyons sees a major shift coming in Christianity in the United States. He feels that churches as we know them will be transforming into smaller, more vital groups. The subtitle of his book is “The Good News About The End Of Christian America.” That might give you a clue as to where he’s going.

There is a web site for this book, as well as a study guide that can be purchased separately. I found the information in the book intriguing enough that I’m going to have my students read it next semester in the “Christianity in Culture” course that I teach.

If you’d like to get a head start on the discussion, you can read the first two chapters over at scribd.com.

(This is a crassly commercial post, with all of the mentioned books linked to Amazon. I’ll get enough money to buy a stick of gum if you purchase via those links. Merry Christmas to me!)