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A great overview of the process of church change

Many people today would love to know God if He’s real. They are interested in forgiveness, purpose, love and hope if they are readily available. But they’ve checked out church and can’t relate to anything, according to Brad Powell in his book Change Your Church for Good. That is why it is so critical for churches to change so that they become culturally relevant and present issues of truth in a language, context and manner that people can fully engage with and understand.

The change process needs to start with the right leader who has the necessary calling, character, competence, confidence, courage, commitment and continuous growth. The leader needs to invest in other leaders, build teams, and expose the necessity of change. A ministry charter lets everyone know where the change is heading, and continuous communication is needed to keep steering in the right direction. Hard work is not enough by itself to reach the destination; huge faith is essential.

Much of the advice in the book will already be familiar to frequent readers of church leadership books, but nonetheless I found Brad’s story unique and inspiring. I was particularly challenged by his questions about declining churches: is the problem with God, with the message, with the world, or with the church? Changing a church is very difficult and personally costly, but also very necessary. I strongly recommend the book to all church leaders.

Disclosure: I received my copy of the book for free from BookSneeze.