Why do so many churches appear to create so much busyness and absorb so much energy, without actually growing or creating significant spiritual progress in members’ lives? The answer, according to Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger in their book Simple Church, may be that most churches do not have a clearly defined strategic process for discipleship.
The book arises from research on numerous US churches, showing a high correlation between churches which are thriving (at least 5% growth for 3 consecutive years) and churches which are designed around a straightforward and strategic process that moves people through the stages of spiritual growth. The steps towards implementing a “Simple Church” are: clarity (starting with a ministry blueprint), movement (removing congestion in the church’s spiritual growth process), alignment (maximising the energy of everyone), and focus (saying no to activities which don’t contribute to the strategic process).
The book is not the easiest read around, containing plenty of padding and some corny illustrations, but the underlying reasoning seems to be sound. If a church has a simple strategic process which is understood by everybody, then everybody knows what they are signing up for, and it is much easier to evaluate how the church is performing.
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[…] of the 50 or so books I have reviewed this year, which is the best? Simple Church by Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger is an important book because it provides considerable insight into […]