This book is a guide to growing a congregation of worshippers. It's written primarily to Pastors and others in church leadership with the authority to start, build and grow congregations. In the first part of the book, Morris shares his story about how he entered the Pastoral ministry, and how he gleaned the principles that he discusses in the bulk of this book. He shares stories about God's miracles in his life and in the life of his family and congregation, which consists of some 20,000 members, to show his readers how the principles he espouses have worked for him. He seeks to show how these principles can and should work for other Pastors in their efforts to start, build and grow their own congregations. This edition contains a guide to planning quality retreats for church leaders, with questions and blanks to fill in to plan how to most effectively spend this time.
I chose this book because I wanted to read a book on how we are to go about our congregational lives. I was not surprised at this book's focus on church growth. Near the beginning of this book and in the introduction, I was soon put off. While Morris writes about being a recipient of the grace of God and doing all things through God's grace, this book smacks of the health and prosperity gospel. Because of my life experiences, this book triggered strong and not always pleasant feelings for me. Other people with other life experiences may not be so triggered. I agree with some of what he says about equipping and discipling church members so they can serve their communities. While I agree with him that we are to be generous in giving of our resources including our money, I was put off by his championing of the wealthy members of his congregation. While I agree with him that being wealthy is okay and the wealthy are to be treated like anyone else, I was offended by what smacked of elitism and almost complete unawareness of the crying need to find a place for poor, marginalized citizens in our churches. But, through this book, I gained insight as to the stresses faced by senior Pastors; I have always been aware of their stress but Morris fleshes out what this stress is. But, overall, I was put off by this apparent call to transform our churches to "spiritual Wal Marts" though Morris cites Scripture to support his views.
This book is for a narrow audience. While the back cover says it is intended for lay people, this book is intended for Pastors and then for others in the church leaderships of local congregations. But I have reservations for even recommending this book for the intended audiences, Pastors and those in church leadership. This is because of all the stress on numbers, though I know that there is nothing wrong with large churches. It is just that Morris gives Pastors the feeling that numbers are almost more important than anything. I'm not even comfortable with handing this book to my own Pastor. There are good things here but I think the stress on numerical growth is unScriptural.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review of the book. I was not required to give a positive review of this book.
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