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Eldredge did not return to the congregation where he felt at such a loss for God's presence. Instead, he has spent the past few years in a home church of about 20 people, including his colleagues at Ransomed Heart, their spouses, and friends. For a few years the church called itself the Nebuchadnezzar, named after the hovership in The Matrix, says member Aaron McPherson, who came to know Eldredge while studying at Focus on the Family Institute.

"We listen to one another's stories. We worship together, and we minister to each other in the four streams," Eldredge says. (In Waking the Dead, he spells out these four streams of ministry—walking with God, receiving God's intimate counsel, deep restoration, and spiritual warfare.) Church members gather frequently, and not just for worship. They go camping together, celebrate one another's birthdays, and share holidays such as Thanksgiving.

Eldredge says he wants the church, now called Imago Dei, to multiply into several more small groups that will meet weekly and come together monthly for a larger gathering. Eldredge says he asked his old friend McConnell to lead Imago Dei because its members need to hear teaching from a variety of people.

Some argue that Eldredge's theology of church is thin, and thus ultimately inadequate. But Eldredge believes this different approach to church is more spiritually demanding than attending a larger church outside Ransomed Heart's orbit. "It would be so easy to go to a large church right now. You really don't have to love people there," he says. "If you really want to know somebody, go camping with them. Our camping trips have really brought out some great awfulness."

McConnell agrees with Eldredge that the intimacy of Imago Dei is its strength. "So much of what is asked of the church—life, vitality, engagement, bearing one another's burdens—can only happen, it seems to me, in small groups," McConnell says. "Living with these people is a whole lot harder than being in a large church, because they see my blemishes and I see theirs."

McConnell makes the comparison from experience, as the former pastor of Rolling Hills Covenant and Sierra Madre Congregational, two large churches in Southern California. "In a sermon before 2,000 people, I can appear to be vulnerable and real," McConnell says. "But what does my wife say? What do my kids say? The quality of character and life in pastors is often unknown and just assumed."

McConnell says Imago Dei will allow each small home church to be autonomous about its worship style. "We're looking forward to the day when Imago Dei is not primarily about Ransomed Heart. I wouldn't want to be part of a church that's so tightly focused," he says. "We're sure the transition is going to be messy. One of the things we're telling even this group of 20 is, Be prepared for change. If you're uncomfortable with change, this is not the place for you."

Whether the change is merely messy or the beginning of a renewal movement in evangelicalism remains to be seen.

Douglas LeBlanc is a CT contributing editor who favors button-down collars on his plaid flannel shirts.

Copyright © 2004 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

A sidebar to this main article discuses Eldredge's theology.

More on John Eldredge and his ministry is available from Ransomed Heart Ministries

Articles from Christianity Today and our sister publications about John Eldredge and his books include:

The Dick Staub Interview: John Eldredge Is Wild at Heart | The author of Wild at Heart and The Sacred Romance discusses rediscovering the Gospel through a ransomed heart. (Nov. 11, 2003)

Battle Cry | John Eldredge calls men, and now women, to a mythical, mystical adventure of faith. (Nov. 11, 2003)

The Gospel According to John (Eldredge) | The gospel is not about sin management, says this best-selling author; it's about adventuresome life. (Today's Christian, May/June 2003)

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August 2004, Vol. 48, No. 8