Book Review: Robert Cotton on Discipleship

Reimagining disciples, or the gospel?

A review of Robert Cotton, Reimagining Discipleship,  London: SPCK, by Kara Martin

I started off wanting to like this book, since it references much of what I am passionate about: Christians being whole-life disciples, public actors of faith in the marketplace, and making God’s presence known with creativity and grace.

However, I became more uncomfortable with the book, the more I read. It was not until p.142, near the end, that the author articulated the reason for my discomfort. He explained that part of his rationale for writing was a reaction to his discipleship at St Aldate’s Oxford based on “the inerrancy of the Bible, the atoning sacrifice of Christ, and a need for personal conversion.”

This book is trying to imagine discipleship without those elements. He prefers to see the Bible as trustworthy, and influenced by tradition and culture; and he wants to “resist those voices in the church that seem to tell me only to face the Son”; and he wants to explore notions of corporate rather than personal conversion and discipleship.

In some ways, I wish he had included the story of his move away from the beliefs of his youth at the beginning of the book rather than the end, because it clarifies much better what he was moving away from, and what he was moving toward. Until then, the book seemed difficult to get into, a little dense and unwieldy. It seemed to be providing a solution, but had not demonstrated the problem that it was addressing.

Cotton is the Vicar of Holy Trinity and St Mary’s, Guildford in the UK, and many of his stories flow from his preaching and reaching ministry in that parish. A visit to the church’s website indicates the themes that are explored in the book: reaching out to the local community, valuing Scripture alongside reason and tradition, and practising an inclusivity that transcends gender and sexual barriers.

Perhaps the book is a reaction to the success and force of the evangelical Anglican church in England, because he starts by questioning whether a bigger church is a better church. The reality is, as church statistician Peter Brierly notes, of the 175 UK Anglican churches with Sunday congregations of more than 350, 83% of them are evangelical.

There are some helpful ideas in Reimagining Discipleship. The idea of opening up church beyond worship services, as places of hospitality for the community; accepting that the busyness of people’s lives may mean they have a sense of ‘belonging’ to church, even if actual attendance is less regular, and finding creative ways of growing that sense of belonging creatively; and the need for a faith that goes beyond morality toward relationship with God.

There was also a section exploring the idea of ordaining people for ‘secular’ vocations, telling the stories of James, a chief operating officer for an engineering firm, and Ann, a finance office in local government. Both of them are Anglican priests, with the training and ongoing support that such ordination provides, who work fulltime and seek to pastor their work colleagues while fulfilling their job descriptions.

Cotton’s closing refrain is that “inspired disciples are inspiring disciples”, however I fear inspiration that is separated from the Bible, the cross, and a personal response to God. We need firmer foundations for the message and character that are the source of inspiration for others.

KARA MARTIN is the Associate Dean of the Marketplace Institute, Ridley Melbourne, has been a lecturer with Wesley Institute and is an avid reader and book group attendee. Kara does book reviews for Eternity Magazine.