Outstanding reference work for church leaders and planters

The “secret” of Redeemer Presbyterian Church’s fruitfulness does not lie in its ministry programs, according to Tim Keller in his book Center Church: Doing Balanced, Gospel-Centered Ministry in Your City. Far more important than the particular forms of ministry expression are the process by which they are arrived at, a process involving thinking long and hard about the implications of the gospel, the culture of the city, and the sensibilities of both Christians and non-Christians in the city.

The book is essentially a manual for creating a theological vision for a city, being a faithful re-statement of the gospel with rich implications for life, ministry, and mission in a type of culture at a moment in history. The book starts by discussing what the gospel is, and what is involved in gospel renewal. It then discusses the importance of gospel contextualisation and how it relates to a city, and finally movement dynamics including mission, institutions and integrative ministry.

While leaders of established churches may not spend much time considering the theological implications of their church practices, church planters (unless they are merely following someone else’s template) are inevitably faced with the task of thinking through what the new church is going to look like, how it is going to explain the gospel to the local people groups, and how it is going to embody Christian community. These are challenging theological issues, and the book provides excellent source material to assist in the process.

The author explains how his own approach to explaining and advocating the truth has been honed by receiving extensive feedback from a wide variety of people with different cultural backgrounds, and this is reflected in his writing style, in which he gives careful and respectful consideration to a range of different views before explaining his own view. While you might not agree with him, at least you will feel that all views have been considered fairly.

Readers hoping for an easy read with witty and entertaining anecdotes would be best to avoid this book. It is a long book, with a lot of words packed onto each page, aimed at readers who are committed to thinking in depth about how the current decline of the church in Western countries can be reversed. By the end I was both inspired by the possibilities and somewhat overwhelmed by the complexity and extent of the task of gospel work in cities today. In my view, this is an outstanding reference work for church leaders and planters.