The Millennium Matrix: Reclaiming the Past, Reframing the Future of the Church (Jossey-Bass Leadership Network Series) - Hardcover

This ambitious, Protestant-oriented manual for church growth sweeps across two thousand years of Western cultural evolution. Miller, an active Christian church leader, businessman, and theologian, relates concepts of oral, print, broadcast, and digital communications to Christian spirituality, tracing these trends and their influence on evangelism since the time of Christ. In a nonacademic manner, similar to Jim Collin's in Good to Great and other recent best sellers, Miller seeks to make the modern church more relevant to America's online culture. His presentation is slick, but it will appeal to busy lay leaders who seek a quick read and a few ideas to recharge apathetic congregations. Easy-to-grasp charts provide useful summaries of the text. Footnotes are extensive and helpful. Recommended for thoughtful, informed Christian readers active in their church. - Joyce W. Smothers, Princeton Theological Seminary, NJ (Library Journal , November 15, 2004)

In this dynamic book, theologian, futurist, and communications expert M. Rex Miller presents the innovative millennium matrix, that explains the way we store and distribute information changes our worldviews. Based on the author's extensive research, The Millennium Matix explores the major paradigm and worldview shifts over the past two thousand years and maps them into an easily accessible chart summarizing the entire history of culture and church. From the oral culture of Jesus' time to the print world of Gutenberg's Bible to the broadcast era of television to the emerging digital culture, readers will see the impact of communication on worship and spirituality. Even more, the book then provides practical suggestions on how Christians can successfully navigate the rapid cultural changes that are occurring and that will continue to occur over the decades to come.