I was given more than a year ago the book Breakout Churches: Discover How To Make The Leap.
Being in the middle of starting a church, I didn't see it as very applicable to my current context and shelved it...
My big project over the holidays was culling my library and one of the books I'm preparing to sell on Amazon is Breakout Churches. Someone purchased it, but the payment is delayed, so I took the opportunity to crack it open this morning- now about halfway through it, I'm really glad I did and even more, I'm realizing it's probably a book many of you who come to bob.blog might appreciate.
I'm not sure who all you readers are- but there seem to be more and more of you. And I'm not sure why you read this blog, but my suspicion is that some come because of a desire of a feeling of being "stuck" in a pretty conventional church situation, a desire to read about this emerging church thing, and a hope that maybe there's something to this that might help you?
Not sure about that, but...
What I like about this book is that it intentionally eschews talking about the Andy Stanleys and Rick Warrens. In fact- there's nary a giga-church in the bunch. Just a lot of talk about what it takes to move a declining church towards something different- what elements of leadership are present in churches that get stuck, but then overcome that stuckness? What moves them from Good (or used-to-be-good or even not-so-good-at-all) to Great?
Some summary statements about the author's findings in looking at more than 40,000 churches- what are some things that they found made a difference, not in explosive, personality-driven growth, but in turning a church around from a long, slow decline back towards health?...
Fierce Biblical Faithfulness: They are evangelicals who hold a high view of Scripture and passionately live out their beliefs.The Tenure Issue: Long tenure is a key requisite for churches to move from mediocrity to goodness to greatness. (58). The average tenure of the Breakout Church pastors was 21.6 years compared to the national average of 3.6 years.
Confident Humility: They are confident leaders who display an unpretentious humility. These leaders are not arrogant.
Acceptance of Responsibility: They do not make excuses for ineffective ministry. The comparison church leaders wanted to blame others.
Unconditional Love of the People: Breakout Church leaders love their flock unconditionally.
Persistence: They have a long-term perspective and move the church forward one step at a time but are incredibly persistent. They do not view a setback as a failure.
The Outwardly - Focused Vision: They consistently had a vision that looked outside their church. They have an evangelistic passion.
A Desire for a Lasting Legacy: They want to see the church do well beyond their ministry and work hard to prepare others to lead.
A great quote: "Good churches do not become great churches until the leaders confront reality. And most church leaders are unable or unwilling to confront reality." Amen!
There's a lot more to it than that- and while I'm hesitant to say that the difference between a vital, growing community and a slowly declining one is found only or even mainly in the leadership, it is a factor and I really like what I am a reading in this book- I can think of a number of pastors I personally know who would would find this a serious encouragement and kick in the pants all at the same time- and that's a rare thing.
Check it out:Breakout Churches: Discover How To Make The Leap.
Recent Comments