Simple Church: Returning to God's Process for Making Disciples
by Thom S. Rainer
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Read in January, 2008
recommended to tohuvabohu by:
Marc Andresenrecommends it for: pastors and church leaders
Great reminder that what church is all about isn't a collection of programs, but growing disciples of Jesus. We all know that, right? But the way we go about doing all our programs in our churches actually keeps us busy and distracted from our discipleship. Church stuff gets in the way of us being real church.
Our church tag line has been:
Meeting Jesus and discovering ...
Real community. Real worship. Real life. Real mission.
What the book showed was that where we had inserted periods, ...more
Our church tag line has been:
Meeting Jesus and discovering ...
Real community. Real worship. Real life. Real mission.
What the book showed was that where we had inserted periods, ...more
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Read in May, 2007
recommends it for:
church leaders
We read this book as a staff and we used it as a basis for figuring out what we needed to do to become more alligned, clear, focused, and healthy and a church. It really cuts to the chase and talks about how the world offers people SO much information that people are walking around on information overload. Then the church comes along and tries to keep people SO busy that they simply burn out over time. If the church truly wants to be DIFFERENT, or set apart, from the world...we need to strongly ...more
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Read in June, 2008
the idea is simple enough, and there wasn't much profound here. But it's one of those books where you're just so glad that someone else is actually saying what you've always kinda thought.
The whole idea is that complex, cluttered churches are less effective (demonstrated through research) than simple churches.
The concept is so alluring, so exciting, that the church can be VERY effective while at the same time being VERY simple... but I found the actual application to be kind of deflatin...more
The whole idea is that complex, cluttered churches are less effective (demonstrated through research) than simple churches.
The concept is so alluring, so exciting, that the church can be VERY effective while at the same time being VERY simple... but I found the actual application to be kind of deflatin...more
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The big positive of this book is that it cuts through all the crap of activities and programs that a lot of churches are trying to do and says: It doesn't have to be so complicated! Amen.
The cons of this book are 1) it could have been summarized in one chapter, but repeats itself a lot. 2) the reasoning is thoroughly pragmatic, not theological (i.e. "Churches who had simple structures grew a lot. You want a big church, right? Make it simple. It works.") I'm all for a simple church,...more
The cons of this book are 1) it could have been summarized in one chapter, but repeats itself a lot. 2) the reasoning is thoroughly pragmatic, not theological (i.e. "Churches who had simple structures grew a lot. You want a big church, right? Make it simple. It works.") I'm all for a simple church,...more
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Read in January, 2007
recommends it for:
pastors
Simple concept, but could have been presented much more simply (hence the low rating). This is one of those books (e.g. Tipping Point) that would have been a great 30-40 page booklet, but didn't need a full book-length presentation. That said, the main point of making very clear what (structural) church membership expectations are is a critical one for an institutional church, and especially invites reflection from anyone in church leadership. I liked that they made clear that service involvemen...more
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Read in February, 2007
I liked how the book started out. Simplicity. The Gospel is simple and profound. Making disciples is simple and profound. Successful churches have simplified their efforts and left the hard work to the Holy Spirit. As the book moved toward the statistical analysis, I put it down. I gained what I needed and didn't want to start viewing church as a business where the product is human hearts growing in faith. It seemed too cold and something that can't REALLY be measured...by us anyway. Man...more
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This is a great book! It's not all the time that you can read a "churchy" book and find processes and concepts that you start applying to work and home as well! Lots of interesting data and lots of personal stories from two guys who really seem to understand the simple message Jesus brought -
Love God | Love People | Serve the World
Read it and give it to everyone on staff, leadership or ministry in your church... then be patient when it takes a while to make it all come togethe
Love God | Love People | Serve the World
Read it and give it to everyone on staff, leadership or ministry in your church... then be patient when it takes a while to make it all come togethe
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Read in June, 2008
recommends it for:
pastors and peeps managing programs in ministry
i read this book because my boss is touting it big time. i actually think the message is a good one. simple is in... even at church. so cut out the crap, keep only what's relevant (making sure it's aligned with your goals), and keep it simple. this reminded me of other books i've read for the private sector... like "good to great"... which is why it's getting 2 stars instead of 3. i felt like i'd already read it.
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Read in January, 2007
recommends it for:
church leaders
The thesis is excellent, but it should be an article, not a book. The illustrations are pitifully forced, and the redundancy made me want to through the book across the room. The book DEFINITELY helped my pastor and I to streamline our process, and the way we communicate it to our people. I recommend finding an Executive Summary and reading it through several times.
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Read in January, 2006
A good reminder about keeping your process simple and making sure everyone in the organization understands the process. Sometime overly simplistic. There seems to be a little bit of if you read follow this formula you will have success. Still, the point is well taken and a good reminder to churches.
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Read in December, 2007
This book puts forth a great plan for helping churches become effective discipling centers. It helps leaders grapple with tough questions regarding programing, mission, resource allocation and leadership development. It is an easy read, but filled with valuable insights.
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The healthiest churches in America tend to have a simple process for making disciples (of Jesus). They have clarity about the process. They move Christians intentionally through the process. They align their entire congregation to this process.
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1 comments
recommended to Martin by:
Dr. David Peter
I like parsimony. It makes sense to take this approach to church polity and church structures. I think our church polity could use a little simple church.
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Read in November, 2007
The authors present a model of church in which the focus is on simplicity and quality instead of a multitude of programs.
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Excellent book for getting back to the main goal of the church: make disciples. Simplify to Maximize!
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Mentioned at http://trailridgeconsulting.co...
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