What Church Can Be: An Optimistic Vision

Are you committed to building a strong local church in a post-Christian context, but unsure what's possible, or how to go about it?

What Church Can Be was written for you.

Pastor and church planter Matthew Kruse's deeply loved hometown of Boston is a decidedly secular city where the gospel is primarily met with disinterest or disdain. The average Bostonian - wounded by one of the worst scandals in American church history and convinced that they have no need for "religion" - is out on church. And yet, by God's grace, Kruse has not only helped birth a beautiful and viable church that is thriving among the locals there, but he's also helped build a family of contextualized churches who are loving and leading New Englanders to the grace of the gospel.

In What Church Can Be, Kruse fuses theological exposition with personal memoir and a bevy of helpful blueprints into an optimistic and executable vision for leaders who are seeking to build healthy church cultures that foster gospel advance.

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"I don't know of another book like this. If you want to know what it's like to do church that's gospel-centered (as opposed to attractional) in a post-Christian context (as opposed to where there's a ready-made customer base) with the aim of planting more missional churches (as opposed to to simply getting big or franchising) from a pastor who's about to enter his third decade doing it (as opposed to a guy who just thinks about it), What Church Can Be is for you. It is engaging, sharp, and rich with hard-won wisdom."

​Jared Wilson, Author of The Gospel-Driven Church and Assistant Professor of Pastoral Ministry at Spurgeon College

"In the near future, the rest of America will become more secular like the city of Boston. My friend Matt Kruse has written a useful book for doing gospel-centered ministry in such a context as this." 

Dr. Stephen T. Um, Author of Why Cities Matter, Pastor of Citylife Presbyterian Church in Boston, Massachusetts, and Council Member of The Gospel Coalition
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"Matt Kruse is a 'townie.' That's New-England-speak for a local - a guy who's 'from here.' I've walked the streets of greater Boston with Matt and seen cab drivers, laborers, and random pedestrians greet him by name. This is a man who knows and loves real people in a real place. Matt may be unknown to you - but he shouldn't be. His joyful, provocative, prophetic voice makes me want to be a better pastor and fills me with hope for what church can be. I long for every pastor and church planter to read this book."

Bob Thune, Author of Gospel Eldership and The Gospel-Centered Life and Pastor of Coram Deo Church in Omaha, Nebraska 

"The Seven Mile Road churches have been planted with the goal of fruitfulness, not success. This is because Matt Kruse captured the Biblical blend of being counter-cultural and authentic. In this wonderful volume, he does not mince words, nor "make nice" with the challenges of ministry in a post-Christian setting. Matt has honestly faced the joys and discouragements of church in what the Second Great Awakening would have called the "burned over" district of America - where religion is a dirty word and church is no longer a culturally safe space. I can surely commend What Church Can Be as a volume that speaks to the heart with a courageous and Gospel-centered honesty." 

Dr. Richard Lints, Provost and Andrew Mutch Professor of Theology at GCTS
 
"Matt has written a book on the church he has lived. This is not a pristine doctrinal treatment of the church, but a broken-in, frayed, grace-filled look at life together in Jesus. By God's grace, I've experienced much of what Matt describes here, but as I read, I found myself wanting more. May every person who reads this book experience more of Christ's favorite thing in the world--his Church!"

Jonathan K. Dodson, Author of The Unbelievable Gospel and Pastor of City Life Church in Austin, Texas

Matthew Kruse is the founding pastor of Seven Mile Road, a gospel-centered church just north of Boston. He and his wife Grace have four sons and daughters whom you'd love. Along with a handful of locals, Kruse planted the original Seven Mile Road in 2001 and has seen it become a family of churches stretching from Maine to the Cape. His work has been featured by The Gospel Coalition, Acts 29, Advance Initiative, and SEND Network. He doesn't drink coffee, own skinny jeans, or know how Pilates work, but he does love the gospel, the church, and a pickup game here and there.