Must read for Pastors and church leaders

books:

	• Simple Church: Returning to God's Process for Making Disciples Thom S. Rainer, Eric Geiger B&H Books, 2006 - 272 pages average customer review:based on 80 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Dead On... A Miracle for Us!

I am a pastor with a shelf full of church growth books. I do not, however fit the profile of the guys described in the book who hodgepodge all of the approaches together. Even that great (now classic) by Warren, "The Purpose Driven Church," left me unsettled. I have taken the slow and easy approach to Church growth and have really prayed about a purpose statement that made sense. Then I read this book! One earlier reviewer commented that the book hit him over the head like a 2x4. I have to agree. All that I have thought and prayed about for years in this area seemed to gel at once. I had both purpose and process outlined within hours and found that God had guided our church into a structure that almost perfectly aligned and focused on the new statement. All we need to do is integrate movement into the process.

Unlike other Church Growth literature this does not structure your church for you, but rather helps you to structure a disciple building church that does not violate the church's fundamental identity. The process is one you create from a look at the biblical mandate.

We used Mt 28:19-20; Mt 22:37-40 and John 13:34-35 to structure our "Simple Church" purpose statement with the 1st element, "Clarity":
-Love God
-Love One Another
-Love All People
This enables us to utilize "Movement," the second element, to plan our departments and ministries in such a way that they take people through the process of becoming disciples. We can track this and encourage it by checking numbers in worship (Love God),small groups (Love One Another), and evangelism/outreach (Love All People)and moving people into all three areas. The third element "Alignment" simply means that all ministries have the same purpose statement and movement function as the church does, while the fourth, "Focus" speaks to the need to have all staff and ministry leaders on board and to prune out all programs and ministries that do not fit the purpose and process, no matter how worthy otherwise.

I do not give any credit to a process as I firmly believe that God gives the harvest, yet this seems to have fertilized the soil in our little church and attendance has jumped some 30% since we passed and began implementing our new purpose statement one month ago.

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Thinking Outside of the Box

It is a fantastic book, full of ideas on how to simplify your church process so that more people come to know Christ instead of just attend your programs.

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Keep It Simple Silly... KISS...

This book is a must read for all pastors and church leaders. It is not a book about another church model, but it is one to help us think through the process by which we do church. It helps us to see that church is not to be program-driven, but process driven. This book helps us sort through the many things that go on in church, and to ask ourself if it is going to be part of a process to achieve an end goal, and how does each piece fit into the process. Being simple is not the same as being easy, in fact, I find that to execute the simple church as Rainer describes would take more out of the church pastor and leadership than to thrown in another program into the schedule. As Rainer puts it, "There is a big difference between simple and easy. Simple is basic, uncomplicated, and fundamental. Easy is effortless." (pg. 16)

The 4 stages to the process are:

(1) Clarity - Clarity is the ability of the process to be communicated and understood by the people. (pg. 70)

(2) Movement - Movement is the sequential steps in the process that cause people to move to greater areas of commitment. Movement is about flow. It is about assimilation. Movement is what causes a person to go to the next step. Movement is the most difficult simple church element to understand. (pg. 72)

(3) Alignment - Alignment is the arrangement of all ministries and staff around the same simple process. Alignment to the process means that all ministry departments submit and attach themselves to the same overarching process. (pg. 74)

(4) Focus - Focus is the commitment to abandon everything that falls outside of the simple ministry process. Focus most often means saying "no." Focus requires saying "yes" to the best and "no" to everything else. (pg. 76)

A simple church is designed around a straightforward and strategic process that moves people through the stages of spiritual growth. The leadership and the church are clear about the process (clarity) and are committed to executing it. The process flows logically (movement) and is implemented in each area of the church (alignment). The church abandons everything that is not in the process (focus). (pg. 67-68)

A simple 4 step process is as follows:

Step 1: Design a Simple Process (Clarity).
Step 2: Place Your Key Programs Along the Process (Movement).
Step 3: Unite All Ministries Around the Process (Alignment).
Step 4: Begin to Eliminate Things Outside the Process (Focus).

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Simple is not simplistic or trivial

Solid back to the Bible way that works in todays' world. Best book I've read this year.

Must read for Pastors and church leaders

"Simple Church" is well worth the time to read, not only once, but several times. It would be a good study book for a church council, elder board, or staff and leadership group. If one is wanting to capture the idea of getting back to the main thing in church life or at least helping your church move that direction, Rainer and Geiger provide a valuable resource.

The only complaint I have with the book is the subtitle, "retuning to God's process for making disciples" could be misunderstood. The book does not say anything about the how-to's of disciple-making. It is about setting direction and giving focus to the church. For help on actually growing people into fully-devoted followers of Christ you will need to consulte other resources. Of course, the Bible is a great place to start!

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reviews: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, page 14, 15, 16

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