Thy Kingdom Connected

Thy Kingdom Connected: What the Church can Learn from Facebook, the Internet and Other Networks

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The universe is a ecosystem of relations. Not surprisingly then, networks are everywhere. From our roadways to our interpersonal relationships, from our food supply to our power grids, networks are an integral part of how we live. Life is connection. Death is separation. Fragmentation is a disease; salvation is relational reconciliation.

This book emerged directly from Dwight’s doctoral studies, as a way of tooling leaders to see the world, their lives, churches, and denominations, as vital networks within God’s shalmic ecosystem. Understanding how networks function and how to work with rather than against them has enormous implications for how one lives and leads.

Tapping into recent discoveries in the new sciences (especially scale-free network theory), this book focuses on reimagining church systems, identity, and mission as relationally dynamic, as such it is a relational hermeneutic which moves beyond static hierarchies, and oppressive systems.

The books brings the complex theories of networking to church leaders in easy-to-understand, practical ways. Rather than bemoaning the modern disintegration of things like authority and structure, the book inspires hope for a more connective vision of life with God. It shows those involved in ministry how they can lean into already existing connections between people in order to spread the Gospel, get people plugged in at their churches, and grow together as disciples.

Dwight often leads workshops, retreats, and speaks about the ecosystem of relations, discovering faithful presence in complex systems, and reimagining our organizational structures & leadership practices as irreducibly relational. You can reach him here.

• Published by Baker Books, 2009

• Forward by Leonard Sweet & Afterword by Dan Allender

What Others are Saying about Thy Kingdom Connected

“A wonderful tutorial for those who want to experience the kingdom as more than a wistful idea.”
Reggie McNeal
missional leadership specialist for Leadership Network

“A must read for all who yearn for a unified and healthy body of Christ in a connected world.”
MaryKate Morse
professor of leadership and spiritual formation, associate dean, George Fox Evangelical Seminary and author of Making Room for Leadership

“Friesen brings together current thinking on the Trinity, the kingdom of God, and missional church, and creates the first contextual ecclesiology for a networked world. Highly recommended.”
Ryan Bolger
associate professor of Church in Contemporary Culture, Fuller Theological Seminary; co-author of Emerging Churches

“A guide to harnessing the powerful possibilities of connections made available through social networks. You may never look at ‘church’ the same way again.”
John R. Franke
Clemens Professor of Missional Theology, Biblical Seminary; author of Manifold Witness: The Plurality of Truth

“A very readable, genuinely intelligent, and highly resourceful book. A worthy read!”
Alan Hirsch
author of The Forgotten Ways; founding director of Forge Mission Training Network

“A treasure chest of insights to further the conversation on the nature of the missional church in post-Christendom Western societies.”
Eddie Gibbs
author of ChurchMorph; professor of church growth, Fuller Theological Seminary

“Helps us see how connection is at the core of the gospel. I recommend it to all Christians emerging in this inescapable cultural reality.”
David Fitch
B. R. Lindner Chair of Evangelical Theology, Northern Seminary