American Society for Church Growth - Book Review
Church Next: Quantum Changes In How We Do Ministry
How are the leaders of a church going to react to the changes, which are taking place in modern culture? The first thing they should do is purchase a copy of Eddie Gibbs‚ clear-sighted book, Church Next. In this book, Gibbs weaves together documentation, helpful charts, and a winsome narrative style to render a concrete strategy for the church's survival in changing times.
Gibbs renders a unique perspective. As professor of church growth at the School of World Mission at Fuller Theological Seminary, he is like a cultural lightening rod; synthesizing information from students, pastors, denominational leaders, sociologists, theologians, and demographers. Subsequently, Gibbs dedicates a chapter to each of the seven important or "quantum" changes a church must undergo if she is to reach postmodern people. As a result, there is hardly a more thorough, yet readable book on the market, which address these issues and their impact on the local church.
Gibbs begins by entreating the church to move from a marketing perspective to a missiological orientation. Gibbs believes because most church leaders have little mission-orientated training, they readily fall victim to marketing strategies. In the next three chapters, he discusses the changes leaders must undergo. Gibbs warns that accountability will become increasingly relational rather than hierarchical, and the mentoring of leaders into authentic spirituality will be necessary. Then turning his attention to the church's spirituality, he explains how postmodern young people are seeking genuine models of spirituality and virtuous behavior, not just in the clergy, but in the community as well.
The final three chapters address the metamorphosis, which will need to take place to effectively communicate the Good News to a postmodern mindset. In addition to inviting the de-churched and never-churched, he urges Christians to infiltrate them as well. Then, he warns the syncretistic philosophy of the postmoderns necessitates a move away from confrontational to relational evangelism styles. Finally, he pulls together these suggested changes into a holistic strategy, which can liberate our congregations from generic "cookie-cutter" churches into distinct incarnational communities.
The book also accommodates group study. Each chapter ends with helpful "Steps to Implementation." These steps offer practical suggestions for moving the church slowly, yet purposefully, to a relational, missional organization poised to engage a postmodern culture, which is growing distant.
Few books have attacked the subject of cultural shifts and the church's response so enthusiastically, adroitly, and thoroughly. This book should be on the reading list of every pastor, professor, and denominational leader who seeks to keep the church relevant in a culturally-fluctuating milieu.
Reviewed by Bob Whitesel, Senior Editor of Strategies for Today's Leader and a lecturer and trainer on church growth and evangelism.
This review was originally published in Strategies for Today's Leader.