What do you think?
Rate this book
The Innovation Crisis: Creating Disruptive Influence in the Ministry You Lead
If you aren’t innovating, stagnation isn’t far away. Ministry leaders carry the burden of keeping their organizations lean, focused, and relevant. The stakes are especially high for churches and other organizations that fulfill the Great Commission. When souls are on the line, there’s no room for bureaucratic bloat or sustaining a cumbersome infrastructure. It’s up to the leadership—that’s you —to realize where the organization is in maintenance mode and find ways to innovate even when the growth curve has slowed and the team has started to grow complacent. Using missions disruptor William Carey as an example, Ted Esler shows how you, too, can innovate in ways that change the ministry landscape. Esler will help you keep an eye on your “eccliosystem”—the ecclesial ecosystem in which you exist. You’ll learn about the four stages of organizational culture—disrupting, innovating, sustaining, and stagnating—and gain strategies for staying in that sweet spot where innovations keep coming and stagnation can’t take hold. The gospel of Jesus Christ never grows stale. Don’t let your ministry ever forget it!
- GenresLeadership
288 pages, Paperback
Published August 3, 2021
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 1, 2021
Is the church stale and irrelevant? Ted Esler's "The Innovation Crisis" answers that question.
Ted Esler is the President of Missio Nexus, a North American association of mission agencies and churches. He has been involved in Christian ministry on many levels for many years. In his new book, The Innovation Crisis, he laments that the church is currently out of touch with our postmodern world: “The unmet expectations I see in the ministry I lead is a symptom of a larger disease in the broader church. The bigger proof that we lack innovation is the failure of the church to capture the imagination and heart of the culture. . . We have lost our voice in culture” (p.16). To regain that voice with creative imaginative approaches in ministry, he suggests five simple concepts he calls The Shoemaker Rules, named for William Carey whom Elser celebrates as the one who “kickstarted the global missionary movement and was a prime example of an innovator” (p. 23). These rules are: “1. See a problem worth solving. 2. Ride the wave of existing innovation. 3. Be biased to action. 4. Emphasize, then strategize. 5. Think big” (p.36). He explains: “The problem should be implicitly stated in the mission. The problem is best stated as a positive. If innovation is a value, then the statement should push your ministry past the bounds of what is possible today”(p.72). “Change creates opportunity. Rather than lamenting the passing of a bygone era, Shoemakers take advantage of these opportunities, molding their ministries around new realities. Change agents understand the times and exploit the new opportunities available to them. They ride the wave, harnessing its power, instead of fighting against it” (p.81) . “Empathy building is not explaining that methodology to a new audience. It is understanding the new audience in a way that drives new solutions” (p. 134).
Esler is himself an innovator and has put his concepts into action in the running of Missio Nexus. He is also widely read and draws his practical examples from a vast network of innovators in and out of the church. But what is particularly striking about Esler’s approach is his insistence of using today’s technology in Christian ministry – a technology which is currently driving successful businesses and corporations. A large portion of the book explains these tools of technology and practically illustrates how they can be adapted in innovative ways. He stresses a postmodern approach that is already working powerfully for postmodern people.
All these factors make the book a compelling read.
5 stars M.L.Codman-Wilson, PhD. 9/1/21
Ted Esler is the President of Missio Nexus, a North American association of mission agencies and churches. He has been involved in Christian ministry on many levels for many years. In his new book, The Innovation Crisis, he laments that the church is currently out of touch with our postmodern world: “The unmet expectations I see in the ministry I lead is a symptom of a larger disease in the broader church. The bigger proof that we lack innovation is the failure of the church to capture the imagination and heart of the culture. . . We have lost our voice in culture” (p.16). To regain that voice with creative imaginative approaches in ministry, he suggests five simple concepts he calls The Shoemaker Rules, named for William Carey whom Elser celebrates as the one who “kickstarted the global missionary movement and was a prime example of an innovator” (p. 23). These rules are: “1. See a problem worth solving. 2. Ride the wave of existing innovation. 3. Be biased to action. 4. Emphasize, then strategize. 5. Think big” (p.36). He explains: “The problem should be implicitly stated in the mission. The problem is best stated as a positive. If innovation is a value, then the statement should push your ministry past the bounds of what is possible today”(p.72). “Change creates opportunity. Rather than lamenting the passing of a bygone era, Shoemakers take advantage of these opportunities, molding their ministries around new realities. Change agents understand the times and exploit the new opportunities available to them. They ride the wave, harnessing its power, instead of fighting against it” (p.81) . “Empathy building is not explaining that methodology to a new audience. It is understanding the new audience in a way that drives new solutions” (p. 134).
Esler is himself an innovator and has put his concepts into action in the running of Missio Nexus. He is also widely read and draws his practical examples from a vast network of innovators in and out of the church. But what is particularly striking about Esler’s approach is his insistence of using today’s technology in Christian ministry – a technology which is currently driving successful businesses and corporations. A large portion of the book explains these tools of technology and practically illustrates how they can be adapted in innovative ways. He stresses a postmodern approach that is already working powerfully for postmodern people.
All these factors make the book a compelling read.
5 stars M.L.Codman-Wilson, PhD. 9/1/21
November 17, 2021
Tradition? Or Innovation?
Status quo? Or Disruptive change?
Same-old, same-old? Or something new and different?
Ted Esler, author of The Innovation Crisis: Creating Disruptive Influence in the Ministry You Lead, writes about the tension between these things. His primary focus is on innovation, the right side of the elements above: innovation, disruptive change, and something new and different.
Esler does a great job framing the problem(s) and providing solutions. Ministries, churches in particular, are not the best at innovation. Tradition and “we’ve always done it this way” seem to win out more often than trying a new way.
Why? Innovation is hard. Esler writes: "Innovation is hard work with no guarantee of success and there is real risk of failure."
But, in a world filled with innovation, if the church is unwilling to innovate, we will face even more issues down the road than we already do. We need innovation in discipleship, community, racial reconciliation, technology, even preaching. The mission doesn’t change, but the method requires innovation.
This was a great book to read on innovation. Esler does a wonderful job writing. He does, at times, get deep into some highly specific examples that could be pared down and still get the point across, but overall his examples are helpful and put flesh to the bones of the point he is making.
If you feel stuck, or nervous to innovate, I would definitely suggest grabbing a copy of this book from Moody Publishers.
*I was provided a free copy of this book by Moody Publishers in exchange for an honest review*
Status quo? Or Disruptive change?
Same-old, same-old? Or something new and different?
Ted Esler, author of The Innovation Crisis: Creating Disruptive Influence in the Ministry You Lead, writes about the tension between these things. His primary focus is on innovation, the right side of the elements above: innovation, disruptive change, and something new and different.
Esler does a great job framing the problem(s) and providing solutions. Ministries, churches in particular, are not the best at innovation. Tradition and “we’ve always done it this way” seem to win out more often than trying a new way.
Why? Innovation is hard. Esler writes: "Innovation is hard work with no guarantee of success and there is real risk of failure."
But, in a world filled with innovation, if the church is unwilling to innovate, we will face even more issues down the road than we already do. We need innovation in discipleship, community, racial reconciliation, technology, even preaching. The mission doesn’t change, but the method requires innovation.
This was a great book to read on innovation. Esler does a wonderful job writing. He does, at times, get deep into some highly specific examples that could be pared down and still get the point across, but overall his examples are helpful and put flesh to the bones of the point he is making.
If you feel stuck, or nervous to innovate, I would definitely suggest grabbing a copy of this book from Moody Publishers.
*I was provided a free copy of this book by Moody Publishers in exchange for an honest review*
November 14, 2021
The world is rapidly evolving, sometimes at a dizzying pace. With that evolution comes the need for the ways of the Church and the Body of Christ to evolve with it. This is what Ted Esler posits in 'The Innovation Crisis.'
There are so many good points made in this book. I completely agree that the way the gospel is heard and experienced needs to continue to adapt and change to use new methods of information sharing made available all the time. However, I think that there are some missing pieces to Esler's theory and promoted practice.
Much of Esler's theory of a crisis of innovation and the practice of moving forward is based on the missionary, William Carey, who went to India as a shoe maker and made waves for the gospel in that country. Esler brings several points based on Carey's methods as practical steps that ministries can take to innovate. I LOVE Esler's model of the 'Innovation Spectrum,' and truly believe that using this kind of tool can be helpful in a variety of platforms.
However, what I did not like was the downplaying of some of the BIG reasons the church is struggling today. Esler breezes over the COVID-19 pandemic and the way that the church was polarized in 2019-2021. I don't think it was just the pandemic, but also the the heart-state of American christianity. Many took the opportunity of churches closing down to leave the church for good, some because they did not like the way pastors spoke about justice and human dignity, others because some churches opened their doors and did not require masks (or the opposite), and still others 'christians' who had placed their hope in a political party and felt that their church did not support that. Instead of seeking to spread the gospel, many of these American christians felt the need to take to social media to blast their views all over those spaces, degrade others of opposing views, and wait for validation of their views from others. If there is a crisis in innovation in American ministry, I think it's rather a result of the American church misplacement of it's worship. I think this is evidenced in Esler's lack of calling the church back to it's first love, to prayer for God's blessing, and to loving people before seeking to tackle new technologies or create new systems for spreading a message.
Three stars because I do believe there are some great nuggets of wisdom and practical application; however, I would have loved to see a calling of the church back to true worship of God and love of neighbor. If we start with the Greatest commandment and the other like it, then innovation is possible. If we do not start with loving God and loving people, then our innovation will be out of our own power and savvy.
There are so many good points made in this book. I completely agree that the way the gospel is heard and experienced needs to continue to adapt and change to use new methods of information sharing made available all the time. However, I think that there are some missing pieces to Esler's theory and promoted practice.
Much of Esler's theory of a crisis of innovation and the practice of moving forward is based on the missionary, William Carey, who went to India as a shoe maker and made waves for the gospel in that country. Esler brings several points based on Carey's methods as practical steps that ministries can take to innovate. I LOVE Esler's model of the 'Innovation Spectrum,' and truly believe that using this kind of tool can be helpful in a variety of platforms.
However, what I did not like was the downplaying of some of the BIG reasons the church is struggling today. Esler breezes over the COVID-19 pandemic and the way that the church was polarized in 2019-2021. I don't think it was just the pandemic, but also the the heart-state of American christianity. Many took the opportunity of churches closing down to leave the church for good, some because they did not like the way pastors spoke about justice and human dignity, others because some churches opened their doors and did not require masks (or the opposite), and still others 'christians' who had placed their hope in a political party and felt that their church did not support that. Instead of seeking to spread the gospel, many of these American christians felt the need to take to social media to blast their views all over those spaces, degrade others of opposing views, and wait for validation of their views from others. If there is a crisis in innovation in American ministry, I think it's rather a result of the American church misplacement of it's worship. I think this is evidenced in Esler's lack of calling the church back to it's first love, to prayer for God's blessing, and to loving people before seeking to tackle new technologies or create new systems for spreading a message.
Three stars because I do believe there are some great nuggets of wisdom and practical application; however, I would have loved to see a calling of the church back to true worship of God and love of neighbor. If we start with the Greatest commandment and the other like it, then innovation is possible. If we do not start with loving God and loving people, then our innovation will be out of our own power and savvy.
May 1, 2023
The book starts out with a resounding criticism of the church because of its lack of innovation. It ends on a much more hopeful note and says everyone can innovate.
April 16, 2024
Many very good ideas and all leaders should read
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews