Resources

Bryan Stone, Brazos Press, 2007. 335 pp., $27.99

If you’re looking for some light reading on evangelism, this is definitely not the book for you. Stone has written what could be called a definitive look at what Christian witness once was and what evangelism has become through the epochs of time.
Stone begins this work by examining the question “Is evangelism a practice?” (Chapter 1). The answer to this question is the crux of the book’s thesis. Stone makes it clear throughout that evangelism is a both/and: it is what we do, but even more, it is who we are as disciples of Jesus Christ.

Much of the book is a detailed walk through the history of witness and evangelism, beginning with ancient Israel and working it’s way through Modernity. Ultimately, the tome concludes that it’s a Christian’s life that speaks evangelism louder than words. However, Stone isn’t suggesting that words aren’t necessary; instead, he concludes that the church as community is best equipped to carry the message.

Win and Charles Arn, Baker, 1998. 176 pp., $16.00

One of the real evangelism classics. It's been said by some that this may be the last book on evangelism you need on your bookshelf.

The Master's Plan for Making Disciples is based on one assumption: The most effective was as well as the New Testament way to make disciples is by focusing on one’s spheres of influence such as friends, relatives, neighbors, and associates at work. Churches that use the methods and strategy suggested in this book may no longer need to worry about advertisements, major programming, the fad of the day gimmick to reach the unchurched, or even strategic planning. This model is being used all over the world including North American with amazing results.

Tom Clegg, Group Publishing, 2007. 195pp, $17.99
Next DoorTom Clegg is at it again ... doing what he can to help the church become the body of Christ in motion. In this, his update and second chapter to Lost in America, Clegg goes beyond his previous dependence on stats and engages his real life stories to bring the point home. This edition is intensely personal, but not to the point of irrelevance.

The theme of the book almost seems to be “Evangelism: how the church has been getting it wrong for so long and what to do about it.” And though there are the ever needed and popular statistics to back up his observations, it’s really his stories that bring the points home. The stories, however, aren’t laden with pointed fingers so much as they are personal public confessions of, and repentance for, how Clegg has engaged in evangelism over the years. Th ese stories will help church members to nod their heads in agreement with “Yep, that’s why I haven’t done evangelism.” Missing in America is ordered like many other evangelism books. It begins with the Great Commission and the North American church’s failures to engage it effectively, takes an informed look at why the church is so disengaged, explores what isn’t working, and then offers a prescription to solve the problems. What makes this book different than many others is that is presenting real, workable solutions that are practical in the church today. In fact, the book has been written as a study guide and is packed with thought and discussion provoking questions, exercises, and even group movie watching experiences to help your small groups and study groups really wrestle with the issues.

This book would be the perfect choice for a congregational study. If you can’t get the congregation on board, at least get your board/session/council to take it on.

Kelly A. Fryer, Augsburg Fortress. 96 pp. $10.99
Although written for a Lutheran audience a decidedly ELCA audience at that, Reclaiming the “E” Word by Kelly Fryer has something to say to every Mainline congregation. The “E” word in this case is evangelical and fryer makes the claim that it’s time pick up the mantel for ourselves.

The book in the product of a Department for Research and Evaluation project designed to “take a look under the hood” of four large and rapidly growing ELCA congregations to see what made them different from others in the denomination. What they found should come as no surprise, and yet for many, their findings will be an eye opener for many readers.

Using primarily qualitative instruments, i.e., mostly using interviews, the team found five common themes or practices through these congregations. (1) God is real to people in these congregations; (2) The Bible provides a framework for everything they do, think, decide, and dream; (3) They have a deep and real commitment to the priesthood of all believers; (4) the people, especially the leaders, are deeply pragmatic and willing to do whatever it takes to connect with new people; and (5) Believing that God changes lives, they actually expect something to happen.
Though most church leaders might nod in affirmation, the nuts and bolts of becoming a church that reflects these practice can be elusive.

Whether you’re Lutheran or not, this book offers a glimpse of how we Mainliners really can redeem and renew the “E” word.

Martha Gay Reese. Chalice Press, 2007. 160pp.,
$19.99

If you’re looking for a book with the newest and slickest evangelism and marketing tips, this is not the book for you.

On the other hand, if you’re perplexed why Mainliners have such a strong aversion to evangelism … and want to do something about it … this is the book for you.

In 2004, Reese set out with a Lily Endowment grant to study the state of evangelism in the Mainline. Her team interviewed over 1,000 pastors, lay people, professors, seminarians, denominational officials, and kids in youth  groups. They spoke to long-time church members and brand-new Christians and studied 150 churches in seven different Mainline denominations that are doing the best job of reaching people with no church background. Her findings and her conclusions are startling, heart-wrenching, and heart-warming. It turns out that there are some reasons to hope that the Mainline could have a future.

One of the real gems in this book is the opportunity it affords for conversations about why Mainliners might consider sharing their faith. First, there’s the decades old de-emphasis on eternal security, getting “saved,” escaping the fires of hell, etc. Add to that the privatization of our faith and evangelism takes it on the chin. Reese devotes a chapter on the topic. And though there aren’t any surprises why Mainliners don’t do evangelism, it was eye-opening why those in the churches reaching the unreached do evangelism. This chapter alone is worth the price of admission. If there’s a single recurrent theme throughout this study, it is the necessity of prayer. Not bookend prayers at the beginning and the end of the evangelism committee meeting, but prayer that sounds more like work than many may be comfortable with. And yet, church leaders of all stripes confessed that prayer was the foundation on which they built their growth.

This book could be one of the most important books you read this year, especially if you choose to read it along with a small group of leaders and the culturally influential in your church. So, it’s a particularly good thing that Unbinding the Gospel includes a study guide.

David T. Olson, Zondervan: 2008. 237 pp., $19.99

Just in case you’ve been living in a cave, the title of Olson’s book is an apt description of reality. The American church is in crisis. Lest there be any doubts lingering in your mind, Olson’s research of over 200,000 churches from the Mainline, Roman Catholic, Evangelical, Pentecostal, and Independents demonstrates it with no little finality. If you like statistics, you’ll love Olson’s treatise. It turns out that we’re not as bad off as some have predicted – the US didn’t close 100,000 churches within a decade. On the other hand, we are closing about 30,000 churches every ten years, and though we’re planting about 4,000 churches each year, the population is outstripping our gains. From church attendance to membership to church planting, The American Church in Crisis explores what’s going on in USAmerca’s churches.

Olson’s research doesn’t just look at the national scene. Regions and states are taken into consideration as he looks at trends both collectively and denominationally.

The first section of the book is devoted to revealing the basic data in a suggestive format. The second section takes a swing at interpreting the data and offers some evaluative insights. The third section is called Introspection, but could be called prophetic as Olson suggests what might happens if nothing changes. This is a must read for anyone in the church business.

Bill Easum. Abingdon, 126 pp., $14.00

If you’re looking for a book to snuggle up with in your easy chair in front of the fire so you can be comfortable, then go find another book to read because A Second Resurrection will keep you
up all night. Besides being classic Easum that includes broad, sweeping statements that are unsettling, the book will either excite you with the possibilities of church resurrection or it will so unsettle you that sleep will be the farthest thing from your mind. Indeed, Chapter 4 begins “This book is going to make some of my friends madder than Hell” (33). I’m sure he isn’t far off.

The premise of A Second Resurrection is that turning a church around isn’t a matter of revitalization or even transformation. It’s about a total spiritual resurrection of the church. Easum’s contention is that churches experience resurrection when (1) they get a new pastor - either physically or else the one they have is spiritually resurrected; (2) the church’s leadership becomes spiritually resurrected; and (3) the church membership itself is led into spiritual resurrection. In that order.

The book begins with a couple of inventories and reflections to help the reader decide whether their church is spiritually dead. Once that’s settled, the rest of the book is a practical, hands-on, how to effect a church resurrection. Largely, the premise is that spiritual resurrection is experienced when leaders begin to live and model a life worth watching so that others not only watch, but follow. In a word, the book is big on discipleship - not the learn more about God kind, but the put into practice in your real life kind.

If you’re a church leader committed to helping your church become faithful and effective, you couldn’t do much better than beginning with A Second Resurrection. But don’t read it before you want to go to bed, at least not if you plan on sleeping.

Jim Henderson and Matt Casper, BarnaBooks, 2007. 169 pp., $16.99 Jim Henderson made the headlines in 2006 when he “bought” an atheist’s soul on eBay and sent him to ten churches and asked him to report on his experiences.

Following that rather sensational project, Henderson hooked up with Matt Casper, another atheist, and the two set off on a tour of some of the largest and/or cutting edge churches in the U.S. They visited Saddleback, Willow Creek, Lakewood, Mars Hill, The Potter’s House, and even a house church.

Most of the chapters record a dialog between the two authors both during and following each church they visit. However, Casper has a knack for asking the tough questions. For instance, their visit to the Dream Center in Los Angeles elicited, “But is that what Jesus told you guys to do? Put on a Christian rock show that’s visually and sonically indistinguishable from a non-Christian rock show, change the words, and call it church? Is that pulled from the Bible?” (18).

The insights aren’t so astounding as they are disturbing. Much of what the church does in the name of reaching the unreached is called into question; not because it isn’t attractive, but because in so many cases it comes across an inauthentic. Indeed, the call for authenticity and integrity is at the core of this book’s message.

In the end, some of the chapters almost seem redundant, in that so many of the churches seemed to have cloned worship services and elicited similar responses. And yet, each chapter is filled with a nugget or two worth mining.

We recommend this book for church leaders who are committed and called to reach out to the never-churched crowd, as well as the pre Gen-X generations.

Peter Metz. Abingdon Press, 2007. 63 pp.,
$8.50

Marketing Your Church is the newest Abingdon release in The Church of the Resurrection Ministry Guides. As such, it joins the recent
rash of books written by staff members of Mega Churches. The book is a quick read … really, I read it in less than forty-five minutes … and lasers in on the topic of advertising.

Metz begins with the metaphor of choosing a restaurant. When we decide we’re going out to eat, we choose a destination based on what we know about the place. Kid friendly? Romantic? Ethnic? When it comes to dining out, he asserts, we seldom if ever walk into a generic restaurant that we know absolutely nothing about. And yet, without being intentional about marketing to the community, that’s exactly what we seem to expect of those who wake up on a Sunday morning and decide to go to church.

Chapter one begins with “Getting Your Message Right.” Metz rightly insists that each church needs a mission statement. Armed with mission in hand, he touches on how to define your church’s “message” (selling proposition) and develop a “message strategy” to deliver that message to the church’s “target” in the community. Th e gem from this section is Metz’s insistence that the church’s message must communicate only one main idea. Only one.

Chapter two, “Selecting Options …” discusses the alternatives churches have for communicating their message. Newspaper? Television? Radio? Yellow Pages? Website? Fliers? Metz touches on all but personal invitation, which he covers in Chapter four.

Chapter three, “What to Say and How to Say It” is arguably the best chapter of the book, but only if you’ve read the first two chapters. It’s one thing to say the goal is to communicate only one main idea, it’s quite another thing to figure out how to do that for Christmas, Easter, and even in the Yellow Pages. Metz provides us with photographs of actual ads The Church of the Resurrection has run that illustrate the principle better than all the words one could fit on a page.

Then there’s Chapter four, “Empowering Your Members.” First, Metz admits that over 90 percent of The Church of the Resurrection’s new members came because of a personal invitation. His numbers aren’t skewed. Ninety percent or more is pretty typical for new members, so it’s a bit surprising that Chapter four is by far the shortest chapter in the book—only four-and-a-half pages long.

Overall, Marketing Your Church  is a fine overview of a church’s advertising and marketing. On the other hand, this is not a book chock full of tips on how to market on a shoestring, even though Metz does give a brief nod toward a few of the less expensive marketing methods.

Something’s gained and something’s lost with a book this short. Larger churches will likely find the information too basic to be much help in making marketing decisions. Smaller churches may be frustrated that the book’s brevity offers only broad strokes. Still, that’s sort of the point of an overview, and Metz does a good job at introducing and whetting the appetite for more.

Jeffrey A. Johnson, Judson Press, 2009. 168 pp., $15.00

When I first started reading Got Style, I was convinced it was a mainline retelling of Becoming a Contagious Christian by Hybels and Mittelberg. Although there are plenty of similarities, I have to admit I was pleasantly mistaken. There’s lots more to this book than just a basic training guide evangelism, although it is also that.

The premise of the book is that there are a number of different ways to evangelism, but not every method suits every person. So Johnson includes an evangelistic personality inventory (heavily adapted from the Contagious Christian inventories) and helps the reader identify which of the six styles of evangelism they are likely to be comfortable with. Although the inventory is found in Chapter 8, the reader is encouraged to take the inventory before reading the book, ostensibly so they don’t get discouraged or angst ridden as they read about styles that are definitely beyond their comfort zone.

Each style gets its own chapter complete with biblical and contemporary example and anecdotes of the style in action, a thoughtful evaluation of the pros and cons of using the style as an evangelistic tool, the potential benefits of the style, and even gentle warnings about over-reliance on the style.

The book is not a difficult read, but neither is it in the “easy read” category – there’s too much excellent research and thought put into the book for it to be called simple. We recommend this book for personal and small group use.

Finally – there’s a new tool for church members to help you invite guests to church. All committed Christians know we should invite friends, relatives and neighbors to share in worship.

The SMILE program is a natural complement to the Martha Grace Reese "Unbinding the Gospel Series" message and/or Bill Tenny-Brittian "Hitchhikers Guide to Evangelism."

SMILE empowers you to reach out easily, personally and effectively, yet without the angst of HOW to extend an invitation. Hitchhiker's Member Churches save $20 on their congregagtional membership to the SMILE program.

XEE is a site with an excellent remake of the classic Kennedy Evangelism Explosion tool. Free.