Summary (Why Make Church for the Unchurched?) The thesis of the book Deep and Wide by Adam Stanley is simply put as making a church that the unchurched can’t resist to attend. This book may cause controversy in some Christian circles by leaving a traditional church view of the church’s purpose being for the churched, however, in this paradigm shift Stanley presents that the church’s purpose should be to reach the unchurched in order for people to receive the Gospel that would never step foot into a traditional church. Stanley has shown results with this mission and method by North Point Churches growth from its start with him as a church planter and senior pastor. Deep and Wide challenges the pastor to refocus and seriously convict them …show more content…
In this book there is little to nothing that can be considered as bad in regards to critique, however there are many great things to speak upon. Critique of Deep and Wide (The Bad) When reading the book Deep and Wide by Andy Stanley there is little to critique as bad, however one can see God’s hand throughout the book. First, when reading part one of the book one may consider the events that transpired between the resignation of Andy Stanley from First Street Baptist as bad, however, God’s providence through this makes it a great event. This is essential and stated in the ending of the books questions regarding “What If…” questions. If Andy wouldn’t have persevered throughout these events less people would have been reached with the Gospel and have come to known Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Overall, there is little if any parts of the book Deep and Wide to critique …show more content…
Stanley demonstrates how to apply techniques that make a deep and wide church. Application: Becoming Deep and Wide (Stay Simple) Andy Stanley shows how to become deep and wide by staying simple in a church. First, he accomplishes this by keeping programming simple. By making the programs simple he can get more involvement from those who attend North Point. Secondly, Stanley demonstrates easy simplistic ways to move people through the discipleship process. By making this process simple those who attend North Point can more easily reach the community around them. Even though these are a few of the many applications used by Stanley he effectively helps pastors by giving them simple steps to bring people closer to Christ without a church background. Application: Becoming Deep and Wide (Reaching the Unchurched
basic charge of this criticism can be stated in the words of a recent critic,
N.T. Wright: During my first semester at Northwestern College, I was assigned the book, “The Challenge of Jesus” by N.T. Wright for one of my Biblical Studies courses. This book and every other book Tom Wright has written has dramatically impacted my Christian faith. Dr. Wright has not only defended the basic tenants of the Christian faith, but also has shown how an academically-minded pastor ought to love and care for his or her congregants. N.T. Wright was previously the Bishop of Durham and pastored some of the poorest in the United Kingdom. His pastoral ministry has helped shape his understanding of God’s kingdom-vision which he is diagramming within his magnum opus “Christian Origins and the Question of God”. This series has instructed myself and countless other pastors to be for God’s kingdom as we eagerly await Christ’s return. Additionally, I have had the privilege of meeting with N.T. Wright one-on-one on numerous occasions to discuss faith, the Church, and his research. I firmly believe Tom Wright is the greatest New Testament scholar of our generation and he is the primary reason why I feel called into ministry.
These two critics are bold but necessary for the enjoyment of the vast audience. When reading the first chapter, for example, the excessiveness of names was confusing. Yes, the examples such as Katherine Branch to John Bradford were entertaining but hard to keep track of (Hall 21). It came to a point where names got mixed up which this dampened the enjoyment of reading. Next, the chapters were vast and it seemed never ending. It is highly recommended to have shorter chapters to give the book a sense of cohesion. These two examples did not hinder the book information wise but to a reader, fixing these minor problems will offer more joy to the
Criticisms (Unfavourable): Near the end of the book the dialogue becomes more rhetorical than the rest of the book. This isn’t really a problem, but can become slightly confusing at times. The best option would be to read this part slowly and carefully in order to understand what the message is.
For the book´s weaknesses, there was some confusion by the end of the chapter because there was an excess amount of abreviations that made it hard to keep up with. This caused confusion while reading and the need to turn back to figure out what the meaning of the abreviations were. For example in chapter 6 he used FCC,RJR,MBD,GGOOB, and others which caused uncertainty while reading. If he eliminating some of these abreviations or reminded the reader what they represented can reduce this confusion. Although this was the only flaw that jumped out the most, Farhad Manjoo managed to start and finish the book with curiosity on human biase.
Mead, Loren B. The Once and Future Church Reinventing the Congregation for a New Mission Frontier . The Alban Institute, Inc., 1991. Kindle eBook file.
Southland Christian Church, one of several worship centers in the United States that has earned the moniker “Six Flags over Jesus,” is Lexington’s largest megachurch. With a weekly attendance of 8,000 people and an operating budget that supports a staff of over eighty members, Southland far exceeds most U.S. congregations in terms of financial resources and social clout. In recent years, popular and scholarly studies have attempted to situate the megachurch movement within a broad cultural context. Although the majority of these analyses dispute the precise definition of a megachurch, most distinguish these multiplex sanctuaries from smaller worship communities by using the same criteria—i.e. weekly attendance, campus acreage, annual budget, etc.—that megachurches themselves draw on to represent their own success. [2] However, the essence of a megachurch is not its large buildings, but rather the theology of consumption that informs its programming.[3] In this way, a megachurch ethos has infiltrated even the smallest congregations in the United States and has helped to solidify Christianity’s inextricable connection to consumer capitalism. To those who see megachurches as symptomatic of a flawed Christianity, market-minded church growth confounds one of the faith’s oldest dualities, the contradiction of living in the world without conforming to its ways, as Paul puts it in Romans 12. Megachurches at once reject “the world” and participate in it by seeking to win the lost and wow the consumer at the same time.
In my paper I will talk about my visit to The Community Church at Murphy's Landing (CCML). I have chosen this particular Church because it is a family church type and my neighbor goes there and she encouraged me to go with her. I went there with my neighbor on April 6, 2014.This church is an appropriate for this assignment because the people there are welcoming me with an open heart and they are willing to help and provide me with information. When I visit the Church’s site I read these words “We know visiting a new church can be intimidating. But, we want to help you to be as comfortable as possible when and if you join us”. The people gather in the church weekly to glorify God in joyful worship. The expressions of worship on CCML take many forms a prayer, a hymn of reverent awe, a guitar ringing with a chorus of praise, or a warm handshake and a welcoming smile. Their weekly services begin at 9:30 each Sunday at church. Also, they have weekly podcast if anyone wants to listen online. They have many types of services for parents, kids and students. People at CCML were so friendly; they gather around me and start welcoming me, one by one. People there introducing themselves to me, one after another and provide me with their contact information and help. Then we start talking about the church services and Christianity in particular. The mission of CCML was knowing, growing and loving. They seek to live out our mission by worshipping together as a local community of believers, growing in spiritual maturity through discipleship, education, and small groups, caring for one another within the context of the larger church body and small groups, and Communicating the love of Christ to our world, both through local outreach and global mis...
The size of the Christian megachurch is manifested in its title, which demonstrates that this typically prodigious and resplendent edifice sustains a weekly attendance of at least two thousand congregants; and that the majority of the mega churches are of the Protestant persuasion, of which its doctrine is basically the antithesis of Catholicism’s authoritarian structures, as well as the other major religions of Islam, Hinduism and Old Testament Judaism (The Hartford Seminary). Over the years, there has not only been an enormous emergence of mega churches here in the US, but also of many disparaging remarks from the public, comedians, books and the news media, about this institution. Some assert that these types of churches are not really concerned about the souls of the people, and they are prodigious only because of the avarice, a misrepresentation of Jesus Christ and a manipulation of the hearts of people, in conjunction with a gross negligence of spiritual leadership. The truth is, that in some instances there is malfeasance, but in others, the church is led by the Spirit of God with vigor and integrity.
It is apparent that the issues are similar at Willow Creek and New Hope, as both have experienced great growth. They are addressing these issues by adding additional services and by assignment of small groups or small ministries to meet their congregation's needs. They have been successful in addressing the issue based on each church's individual needs. Willow Creek has added services to accommodate the service seekers or the un-churched. New Hope attempts to match congregation member's needs through joining auxiliaries or other ministries of the church.
“Reaching Out without Dumbing Down” seems to be constructed for the church leader, elder, or pastor who is considering altering their current, historic worship style for a more modern one that may attract greater numbers of unsaved people. She provides excellent standards to help Pastors and Worship Leaders plan, execute, and evaluate worship services. These same standards provide a great opportunity to educate the church family on the reasons behind the use of certain worship elements. Although written for church leadership, the everyday church member would also benefit from understanding the very concepts that Dawn is directing at God-empowered leaders.
into a richer experience of worship and a more effect life of service" (Crabb, 1977, p.31). The method to establishing an
Overall, this book helped me become more aware of my weaknesses with my preaching style and also gave me tools to strengthen them. The examples are very basic and practical and helped highlight key skills and situations that a preacher can experience when doing a sermon. This book added more knowledge to me and gave me new insights that I can use as a tool when I go back with my ministry as a youth worker.
While it is always very important to provide details when writing, he tends to be a little too wordy and at times repetitive. He also makes a lot of references to historical figures without providing background knowledge for his audience, leading them to doing their own research. Overall, it is very hard to critique this novel negatively, due to the fact that it is so well written and has such an amazing story line. This is a book that once someone starts reading it, they cannot put it down. Another thing that Niemi excels on is ending his chapters with cliff hangers, making the novel exciting and interesting. He always ends his chapters with a buildup of anxiety, and then he starts the next chapter with something completely
His church is a “good sized” suburban church that has been around for 295 years. He describes the parishioners as having a “broad tent” of theological views. This congregation is open to new ideas and re-visiting the old. They appear to be carrying out intentional missional work in their community