In addition to the transience of their members, churches themselves face a crisis of hypermobility. Many churches have put down only shallow roots in their neighborhood, or no roots at all. Weve all heard the question, If our church suddenly moved to a new location fifteen miles away, would anyone in our neighborhood notice we were gone? But what if we asked ourselves this question: If our church was magically lifted off the ground and moved to a location fifteen miles away, would we notice the difference? Western churches have become so disentangled from their own places that this question could be a cold, hard look in the mirror for many faith communities.
