Some 18 months ago, Greg Hawkins and Cally Parkinson released a book called MOVE, discussing the results of a spiritual life survey taken by participants from 1000 churches. The same authors have now released a short ebook, MOVE for Church Planters: What Willow Creek and 1,000 Churches Reveal About Spiritual Growth, a book which aims to relate the findings of the survey particularly to the circumstances of church planters.
According to the authors, the survey has five key findings for church planters:
- Spiritual growth can be measured
- Church activities do not predict or drive long-term growth
- Nothing has greater impact on spiritual growth than reflection on Scripture
- There is no “killer app” for spiritual growth; and
- Leadership matters.
After examining what the survey results imply about spiritual growth, the authors move on to the topic of best practices in spiritual leadership. Based on discussions with leaders of churches that rated highly in the survey, the following four best practices were identified:
- Get people moving in their spiritual journey towards full commitment
- Embed the Bible in everything
- Create ownership by empowering people to be the church; and
- Pastor the local community, rather than just focusing on church members
This is an interesting and potentially highly valuable book for all types of church leaders, not just church planters. It is short and easy to read, and is available as a free download from http://www.exponential.org/shop/move.