The book is probably best considered in terms of the concepts of diagnosis and cure. In diagnosis we are given a wealth of stories and biographical material to consider. Scazzero shares story after story of woe – church splits, marital strife, bitter pastors, etc…. So what was the problem? Why all this failure? Interestingly, Scazzero lays the blame squarely at the feet of a church culture of “emotional repression” (55). He says, Lastly, Scazzero, as noted already, undermines the authority of Scripture. His constant comments in the vein of ‘Bible studies are not enough’ are compounded by his minimal use of Scripture in the book overall. He quotes much more extensively from popular culture (novels/ films etc) and personal experience than from scripture. A typical line of argument is as follows: Pantheism teaches that God is all things. But Pantheism has now been combined with Theism (God is a personality) and this produces panentheism, which attempts to retain God’s personality but adds that He also indwells every created thing. Any grandiose scheme, such as promised in EHS, would need a biblical doctrine of suffering, which is central to becoming more like Jesus. The ideal place in EHS to reveal such a doctrine is in Scazzero’s Chapter 4, “Journey through the Wall: Letting Go of Power and Control.” Scazzero begins the chapter by saying:

The first is that it’s not a success unless it’s “bigger and better.” Numbers aren’t all bad. In fact, quantifying ministry impact with numbers is actually biblical. When it comes to the church and numbers, the problem isn’t that we count, it’s that we have so fully embraced the world’s dictum that bigger is better that numbers have become the only thing we count. When something isn’t bigger and better, we consider it—and often ourselves—a failure. What we miss in all this counting is the value Scripture places on internal markers. In addition to the word “authentic,” Scazzero uses the terms “true self” (p. 56) and “false self” (p. 49). The word “authentic” is not in our Bible, and we cannot imagine any translation using the word “authentic” as an adjective before the word “self.” Furthermore, the designations “true self” and “false self” are not in the Bible as Scazzero is using them. These are psychological constructs regarding human nature. In contrast the Bible identifies humans in relation to their fallen nature and their need for salvation and new life in Christ by grace through faith (Romans 6-8).

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Philippians 3:10 is a strong and essential verse regarding experiencing “the fellowship of his sufferings,” as a means of spiritual growth. Psychology or the Bible? In the early Middle Ages during the 4th through the 6th centuries, there lived a group of hermits in the wilderness areas of the Middle East. They are known to history as the Desert Fathers. They dwelt in small isolated communities for the purpose of devoting their lives to God without distraction. The contemplative movement is traced to these monks. They were the first to promote the mantra as a prayer tool. [These desert fathers reasoned that as long as the desire for God was sincere anything could be utilized to reach God. If a method worked for the Hindus to reach their gods, then Christian mantras could be used to reach Jesus] (Ray Yungen, A Time of Departing). Imagine leading a church where every staff, leader, and volunteer knows how to communicate clearly. Imagine a culture, where everyone feels safe to tell the truth and has the skills needed to do so. Imagine the unity that is possible when every voice is heard.

After 10 years, a number of events converged to prepare us for a conversion of leadership/personal integrity. Until this point, we often divided leadership into sacred/secular categories. Everything- our prayer, work, relationships, and rest is holy! It was to be our way (Rule) of Life. This led to a major focus on a holistic intentionality in our spiritual formation in our leadership and eventually throughout our church. Peter Scazzero learned the hard way: you can't be spiritually mature while remaining emotionally immature. Even though he was the pastor of a growing church, he did what most people do: Imagine leading a church where every staff, leader, and volunteer knows how to communicate clearly. Imagine a culture, where everyone feels safe to tell the truth and has the skills needed to do so. Imagine the unity that is possible when every voice is heard.

The Journey of New Life Fellowship

The title and subtitle are metaphoric symbolism. Crossing the Tiber River near Rome is often used for Protestants returning to Roman Catholicism. Scazzero is an Italian name for Peter Scazzero who is senior pastor of New Life Church in Queens, New York City. Rev. Scazzero has not claimed Rome for his official residence, but makes many trips across the Tiber. Scazzero’s stated mission is to introduce Catholic contemplative prayer and practice to evangelicals. Scazzero avoids the term Catholic for obvious reasons but uses “Contemplative Prayer” freely, assuming probably correctly, that evangelicals will not know the meaning of the term. In over four decades of leadership, I've come to the conclusion that one of the biggest gaps in our leadership training comes down to one essential skill... Leaders, by definition, are captivated by the future – moving forward, making progress, and changing the world. And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. When I became a Christian, I believed I was a "new creation" (2 Cor. 5:17) and that I no longer needed to deal with my past. However, when I discovered the genogram tool, I found a new way to bring all of the baggage of my family of origin to Jesus to be changed.