Holy Shifts!

a reformation story

By: David Jones, Macland Presbyterian

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Holy Shifts is the story of what happens when a church realizes that faith hasn’t failed—but some of the old containers have.

This is not a how-to manual.
It’s not a blueprint.
And it’s definitely not a nostalgia project.

It’s a memoir-in-motion, told from inside a small congregation that discovered something surprising: when familiar answers stop working, God may not be absent—God may be inviting us to see differently.

With humor, honesty, and pastoral wisdom, Holy Shifts traces the quiet, unsettling moments most churches recognize but rarely name:
The building still stands.
The budget still prints.
The committees still meet.
And yet a deeper question lingers:
Is this really all the church is meant to be?

Drawing from scripture, lived experience, and a series of memorable distinctions—ownership vs. partnership, funnels vs. flashlights, committees vs. teams—David W. Jones invites readers into a reimagining of church not as a place we maintain, but a practice we live.

Along the way, we meet familiar biblical companions—Abram and Sarai, Esther, Mary, a boy with five loaves and two fish—not as distant heroes, but as mirrors. Their fear feels like ours. Their hesitation sounds familiar. Their courage is quieter than expected.

At its heart, Holy Shifts is about attention.
About courage.
About discovering that faith doesn’t grow by clinging tighter—but by letting go at the right time.

For pastors, leaders, seekers, and anyone who has ever loved the church enough to question it, Holy Shifts offers a hopeful truth:

The future of the church may not be about building something bigger.
It may be about learning to see what has been holy all along.