One Assembly: Rethinking the Multisite and Multiservice Church Models by Jonathan Leeman

One Assembly: Rethinking the Multisite and Multiservice Church Models Reviews

• 
  Jared Wilson

  It would behoove every pastor and ministry leader to read and wrestle with this book. The third chapter on catholicity in particular, whether you agree with Leeman's arguments leading up to it, is very important.
• 
  Matt

  I read it: one book in multiple sittings. Seriously, it is superbly argued. Challenging and compelling.
• 
  Brian Parks

  I was already convinced of Leeman's argument but the book makes the case quite well. Here's his argument in a nutshell... "Multisite and multiservice churches repudiate the Bible's definition of a church, redefine what a church is, and so reshape the church morally".
• 
  Sam

  Short and sweet - if you're looking for a book on single-service vs multi-service/campus, this would be it. I found it especially helpful when Leeman argues from Matthew 18 and the important relationship between Jesus's presence and the people's gathering. His appendix 1, all the usages of ekklesia, is worth going back.
  
  --
  
  2nd time: It's so different reading it now.
• 
  Barry

  While Leeman’s critique of the multi-site model seems well founded, I found his arguments against multiple services less persuasive. His reasoning could equally lend support to the home church model espoused by Francis Chan in “Letters to the Church.”
  The final chapter, A Church Should Be catholic, is really good.
• 
  Daniel Henderson

  Really helpful. His chapter on the Church as catholic is amazingly helpful.
• 
  Pig Rieke

  A long time ago in a galaxy far far away…ONE ASSEMBLY
  
  In this book, Jonathan Leeman argues that multi-site and multi-service churches repudiate, redefine, and reshapes the Biblical mandate of a church. Positively stated, the Biblical assembling of a church will promote God’s glory, a church’s health, and its evangelistic witness.
  
  Far from being a few verses here or there, Leeman challenges presuppositions and ideas about the church with the weight of Biblical witness on the subject. That said, the author is by no means attempting to rethink church rather his Biblical argument also corresponds to the historic norm of at least Congregationalists and Baptists from the 1600s onward.
  
  To those who would read this book, consider as you read that Christ as the Good Shepherd of His flock has not only died for His sheep, but also has made provision to watch over them and direct them via His Word. Sheep have all sorts of ideas of where to find the best pasture, but we would do well to hear and follow the voice of the Shepherd.
• 
  Samuel Kassing

  I thoroughly enjoyed this book and was left baffled by this book all at the same time.
  
  To oversimplify I'll try and put this review in a few sentences. To be a church you must gather geographically and physically together. Therefore the multi-site and multi-service in Leeman's view isn't 'a' church as much as it is 'churches'. This is the thesis of Leeman's book. If you subscribe to a narrow baptistic understanding of assembly you'll find this convincing. If you don't you won't.
  
  To a certain extent, I agree with Leeman. You're not a local church unless you're local and gathering. Now, I said 'local'. Leeman tends to conflate 'local', 'regional', and 'universal' categories at key junctures in his argument. The weakness of Leeman's book is his insistence upon a narrow definition of 'assembly' and only allowing exegetical arguments to influence his argument if they contain the word 'assembly'. The massive blind spot here is that he rules out Biblical, systematic, and even exegetical arguments that don't contain the word 'assembly'.
  
  Here is the last thing I will say. I think Leeman is pushing in the right direction but there is probably an easier solution to the tensions he feels. Like becoming E-free, Anglican, Luthern, Methodist, or Presbyterian. He wants connectionalism without the institutional aspects. Even his push toward being more catholic at the end of the book is this exact argument.
  
  I think this is a wonderful book and I'd highly recommend it.
• 
  Christian Barrett

  This book should really be retitled “Defining Ekklesia.” Ekklesia is the Greek word used for referring to “church” in the Greek New Testament. Leeman has a well thought out argument as he walks through the biblical reasons for a church to not be multi-sited. His argument is logical, but it does get somewhat muddled when he is discussing small groups. Nonetheless he does a spectacular job in arguing why churches should gather in one meeting place. The title can be a bit confusing, for he does not really mention multi-services, but focuses primarily on the multi-site side of things. He does make it evident that this is not something to divide over, but I would have appreciated a more thorough reasoning for not dividing over issues like this, for his arguments against other views seemed very uncharitable. I would recommend this book to those interested in this debate. For others, this book may be a waste of time.
• 
  David Omer

  Leeman makes the biblical argument for one site, one service churches instead of the multi-site multi-service model. His argument is compelling and convicting, it changed the way a look at the subject.
  
  The content at times is very dense and the chapters are long so it’s not for everybody, but I would challenge every member of a local church to give it a read.
• 
  John

  "One Assembly" is Jonathan Leeman's attempt to call the contemporary church back to a biblical definition of "church." He argues that the word "church" in the New Testament, ekklesia, is best translated as "assembly." The implications of this are significant, as it reveals that multi-site and multi-service churches are actually multiple churches. Each "assembly" is its own church.
  
  At first, this may seem to be a radical interpretation, as we've become so accustomed to referring to these multi-site, multi-service churches in the singular. But Leeman reminds us that is only a recent custom, and cannot be understood this way within the context of the New Testament.
  
  Leeman pushes hard for one church as one assembly, and makes a very compelling case for it. The implications of this are massive for the contemporary church, as we've seen small churches dying as megachurches grow geographically and in the number of services offered.
  
  This is an important word for the church today, and I commend Leeman's book.
• 
  C.J. Moore

  Really enjoyed this! One of the best books I’ve read this year. Hopeful that it’ll be read not by those who agree with it but by more so by those who don’t. If you know a multi-site pastor, send it over to him to start a war. Maybe we will see a shift to catholicity and greater cooperation in the 21st century after all.
• 
  Michael Abraham

  Leeman's section on catholicity was incredible, I'd encourage you to read the book just for that. But, he persuasively argues that multisite and multiservice church models are irregular occurrences that aren't found in the New Testament.
• 
  Adam Duell

  This was a good read. I was recommended this book by my brother a few years ago, and finally got around to reading it. Actually, just hearing my brother break down the basic premise of this book convinced me of the accuracy of Leeman’s arguments long before I actually read the thing. It was also a puzzle piece involved in my home church going back to one assembly, just earlier this year.
  
  It’s short, by most measures, but is still what I would call a hyper-specific deep dive into the very specific subject matter.
  
  Firstly, I have to say, if an introduction section ends up being 27 pages long, maybe just call that “chapter one.” After that, the first two chapters can be a bit of a slog, but it’s totally worth the work when you get to chapter 3: “A Church Should Be Catholic” (little-c “catholic”). This part ties and applies the preceding chapters together in a very inspiring and encouraging exhortation to look at the growth of the global church in a “new” way. New for Americans, at least.
  
  It’s also worth at least a quick scan through the two appendices in the back. They include a good bit of stuff that Jonathan probably couldn’t find good places in which to shoehorn into the main body of the book.
• 
  Thomas Duell

  One of the more challenging and idea forming books I have ever read. This book changed my mind. One of the most influential ecclesiologists of our day, Jonathan Leeman has done the hard work of fighting an uphill battle against the overwhelming Western understanding of what constitutes a church. Leeman conducts an in depth survey of the word ekklesia (ἐκκλησία), examining what Jesus calls the church, and what method of practice the apostles kept in not deviating from the Lord's instruction. This is certainly only one side of the debate, but Leeman does a good job of showing that the burden of proof lies on multi-site and multi-service advocates to show how to arrive at their conclusions biblically. Winsome through and through, Leeman's tone is not attacking, but wholeheartedly challenging. The book is concluded with exciting vision casting for how churches can look outside of themselves and join together with other "sister" churches to reach their city and world. A must read for young pastors and seminarians who are forming an ecclesiology.
• 
  Vincent Derr

  In this book Jonathan Leeman lays out the case for a Church being one local assembly. This book reexamines the modern American impulse towards multiservice and multisite church models. In many ways this book soars. One Assembly is short, thorough, and well written. His arguments are compelling and biblical. Skeptics will find great value in the introduction and chapter three. His argument is at its best when he is engaging with the churches found in scripture. He carefully and concisely takes us to Corinth, Rome, Jerusalem, and many other locations to show us that as far as scripture is concerned a church is a singular assembly. Many reviews take issue with Leeman’s tone. He draws bright lines and is sarcastic at times. His repeated “picking a fight with Jesus” line is a bit much. I think Leeman is being a bit tongue in cheek. If you can handle getting poked, I think you can move past the potentially off-putting tone. The other major issue is that the book purports to take on multiservice churches, but it gets more of sideswipe. Multisite bears the full brunt of Leeman’s argument. Overall, I think this book is very good. I’m compelled by his argument. I just wouldn’t be so sarcastic, and I wouldn’t draw such a bright line.
  
  4 out of 5
• 
  David Harris

  A gently forceful polemic that reorients our pragmatic, market-centered conversations about how churches should operate around the biblical norm. Refreshingly ecclesiological in ecclesiologically shallow days.
• 
  Parker McGoldrick

  Phenomenal! Solidified my thinking in a single service church (which Leeman calls a redundant phrase), and more importantly added fuel to my fire of embracing a catholic posture as a pastor. How can we partner with other churches in the area, regardless of “brand”, denomination, name, etc. to love God and love others and live out Jesus’ commission? Why the territorial-ness and competition? We’re on the same team!
• 
  Ben Robin

  Obviously I thought it was excellent.
• 
  Benjamin

  Les deux premiers chapitres sont assez techniques. Le troisième chapitre est excellent. Si vous vous intéressez au sujet, commencez par lire le troisième chapitre. De manière générale, très bon livre pour montrer l'incohérence d'un modèle d'Eglise multisite/multiservice.
• 
  Eric Durso

  I was convinced of the one-service argument prior to reading, but chapter 3 was a great way to think through and deal with the pressure of an increasingly full building.
• 
  Connor Anderson

  The last chapter alone makes this book worth reading
• 
  Jon Pentecost

  Excellent book. Helpful exercise considering how polity can shape church intuitions. The introduction and chapter 3 (on catholicity) are worth the price of the book many times over. The lexical study of ekklesia in chs1 and especially 2 are persuasive to me. But I wonder if the emphasis on the definition of the word 'ekklesia' as an assembly/congregation misses the crux of disagreement among church leaders. In my mind the definitional question is important for the sake of avoiding confusion, but the moral question is what authority you understand church leaders to have. Can elders exercise authority over multiple congregations? It seems only congregationalists and Baptists with ecclesiology would object to that, while our multi-site brethren are simply adopting Presbyterian or episcopal views of church authority.
  
  Well worth engaging and wrestling with, if simply to practice allowing careful consideration to shape your practice as a church, rather than only going with what works, or appears most strategic.
• 
  Michelle Kelley

  I have some lingering questions from chapters 1-2, but chapter 3 (A Church Should be Catholic, meaning universal) is incredibly well thought out and thoughtfully presented both theologically and via Leeman’s own experiences -
  
  “Here is what’s crucial: the inconveniences and pressures of a full building force–and I do mean force–the church as a whole to adopt a catholic posture. First, we recognize our need to plant and to revitalize. Second, close friends leave and join those churches, which creates an interest in their success and health. These separate churches then delight to hear of one another’s success and growth, and pray for one another regularly….
  
  Moving to a second service or site removes a good pressure on the church to look outward, to work harder at planting, to work harder at raising up more leaders, to work harder at partnering with other churches, to work harder at trusting other churches and God‘s work in them. Catholicity is grounded in trust–trust in God and trust in other churches.” (120-121)
• 
  Shane Williamson

  2020 reads: 31/52
  
  4 stars
  
  Having read almost everything Leeman has written, as well as being in strong agreement with 9Marks on this issue, I was already convinced of the one assembly argument and am truly thankful for this contribution in book form (at last). One Assembly attempts to make the case for a single service church gathering (over and against multi-site/service) on three grounds: biblical/theologically, lexically, and by providing a catholic alternative in planting, revitalizing and partnering.
  
  Having been familiar with the arguments prior to the book (having read them in snippets in various articles and talks), I felt that One Assembly came up slightly short of what I expected. Maybe I was wanting something new to the conversation? Not sure. It certainly read differently to Leeman's other stuff and I can't quite put my finger on it. I want to give this five starts because of the importance of the subject—it is very clear that the present trend of multi-site/service (venturing into online platforms which we'll no doubt see more of in the future) is more a result of the influencing culture of commercial branding and corporate practices than faithful biblical exegesis and application. This is the fruit of a pragmatic and results-driven Christianity. And to that end this book is vital in calling us to consider what the Scriptures say about the nature of the church.
  
  However, I feel as though the book could have been improved in two areas: first, appendix 2, written by Anne Rabe is an extremely technical yet essential component in the argument against multi-site proponents since it addresses the Acts 9:31 conundrum—possibly the strongest argument against Leeman's thesis—and yet it finds a place in the appendix? It's certainly technical but I feel as though it should have been in the main body of text.
  
  Second, I think that Leeman perhaps does not sufficiently critique the intuitions that he rightly identifies as driving modern sensibilities. Maybe he was just being uber kind—something I need to grow in myself—but for me, his argument would have been strengthened by supplementing it with something that resembles Bobby Jamieson's priceless essay titled 'Why NT Polity is Prescriptive' (read here:
  https://www.9marks.org/article/journa...). Reading this essay during the CHBC internship provided the framework in which arguments like One Assembly take their rightful place—the intuitions pushing against an argument like One Assembly reaches to the very basic level of whether or not the NT even prescribes ecclesial practices for the church today. The assumption, sadly, is a resounding no, in my experience. In my reading, Leeman gently hints at this but I feel as though One Assembly—for those without the reading I had prior to this book—needed more. It feels as though Leeman held back, and at only ±150 pages, there was ample room for more.
  
  All that is to say, chapter 3 (working toward a more catholic partnership between churches) was super helpful and I hope and pray churches and pastors read this book for a healthy dose of biblical ecclesiology that flies in the face of the modern church's preoccupation with commercial enterprises.
• 
  Annie Monson

  How we organize our churches is an important decision with eternal impact! But with no instruction manual in the Bible for how big a church should be, what technology we should use, how many churches should exist in one city, we are left with a call to responsibly apply wisdom in our leadership of and care for the body of Christ. This often requires creativity, contextualization, and careful consideration.
  
  “One Assembly” assumes that such an instruction manual does exist, and that it is the one word, “ekklesia” (assembly) used in the New Testament. Because multi-service and multi-site churches as we know them do not exist in the Bible, they must not be biblical. And anyone who disagrees is “picking a fight with Jesus.” A tightly prescriptive take on lower-order issues.
  
  Speaking of “multi-service and multi-site churches as we know them”, “One Assembly” also includes no honest consideration of multi-site model that is not attractional or stereotypically megachurchy in style. By the examples given in the book, there is no multi-site or multi-service church that is not self-interested or short-sighted, and there are none serious about the Bible.
  
  All that said, I am happy to read a book with a diverging viewpoint. I think it’s important. But aside from the narrow argument, my biggest concern about “One Assembly” is the tone in which this argument is put forth. The choice of words was consistently provocative and sarcastic, which in my impression became sanctimonious. While seeking unity and catholicity, “One Assembly” worked backwards through divisive language - this is the main source of my low rating.
• 
  Allison

  I should start by saying I am not in favor of multi-site or multi-service churches, particularly as a practical matter, but also as a theological one.
  
  That being said, I feel like this book may say too much. It probably boils down to Leeman thinking that this is a secondary issue, when I would classify it as a tertiary issue. Referring to churches with whom we disagree as “fighting Jesus“ just doesn’t seem like a helpful place to begin the argument. I also noted a lot of conflation between the multi-site issue and consumeristic church culture. Although those can be related, I think Leeman muddied the waters with tangential concerns about modern church life that weren’t directly on point to the issue he was discussing.
  
  With all that in mind, I do think it’s helpful to have a book like this being discussed in our churches. And Chapter 3 is really really great.
• 
  Jonathan Ginn

  A truly thought-provoking and potentially paradigm-shifting book dealing with ground-level matters of practical ecclesiology that are relevant for any church and church leader. I found Leeman's exegetical arguments to be well-defended, but felt like he more directly addressed the multisite church model, while only dealing with the multiservice model in a derivative and ancillary fashion. In this regard, I would have liked to see a bit more nuance in distinguishing and treating these two models separately, rather than together - the multiservice model seemingly taken as essentially an offshoot of the multisite model.
  
  Unrelatedly, Leeman's final chapter ("A Church Should Be Catholic") was fire.
• 
  Thomas Creedy

  This is superb, and should be read by everyone and anyone thinking about multisite.
  
  If you are involved in leading a multisite church, why? What's your long term plan?
  
  A lot of me, both pragmatically and for an easy life relationally, wants to champion multisite, but Leeman articulates *with constant reference to the early Jesus movement and the NT* why it just isn't a good idea.
  
  Helpfully, he's really good with the 'what about...' questions.
  
  It's very baptist, but given that this book is going to irritate most people I know ANYWAY, that shouldn't be an issue.
  
  Great call to catholicity, the great commission, and a posture of trust.
• 
  Aaron Cannon

  An excellent book that seeks to be as Biblical, honest, humble, and diligent in looking at what the church ought to look like. Even if you were to disagree with every single point he makes, this would still be an incredibly valuable resource. He asks all the best questions we should be asking about how we do church. And brings in as many scripture references as he can find relevant to the topic into one place. And even if you do agree with his thesis this book still helps to think through the subject much more deeply and have a better understanding of what a Biblical and healthy church looks like.