In this issue:

Moving Beyond Personal Preferences into Missional Thinking

Book Review: Preaching in the Small Membership Church

The Right Question

It’s not change smaller churches resist, it’s folly.

David R. Ray

Moving Beyond Personal Preferences
into Missional Thinking
By Ed Stetzer and David Putman

Being missional does not mean doing things the way we like them. It means to take the gospel into the context where we have been called … and, to some degree, to let the church take the best shape that it can in order to reach a specific culture. However, the problem is our preferences. You can't be missional and pick what you like at the same time.

We prefer some forms of music. We desire certain church organizational structures. We would like specific outreach plans. Simply put, we have certain things that we like. That is not a problem when our preferences line up with the missional choices for our community. The problem occurs when they do not. That situation requires a change of heart and the willingness to set aside our preferences.

That is not just an issue within churches. It is often an issue with church leaders. Many times we think that the people within the church do not understand the culture. Sometimes they understand the culture better than we do! We often rush off to the next best conference of the month and come home and announce that this new model is the key to reaching our community.

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BOOK REVIEW

Preaching in the Small Membership Church
By Lewis A. Parks, Abingdon, 2009
Reviewed by Ann A. Michel

Lew Parks’s newest book is ostensibly a preaching primer with good, solid advice on some of the basics, such as selecting a good biblical translation and commentary, research and preparation, and effective delivery. But at a deeper level, his discussion of the preaching task provides a conceptual framework for exploring the contextual dynamics and leadership imperatives unique to smaller congregations. The book is held together by a rich subtext that affirms the vitality and importance of small church ministry while at the same time recognizing its particular challenges.

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The Right Question

Leaders do not need answers.
Leaders must have the right questions.

When groups are facing a major problem, the challenge can seem overwhelming. Some questions can help sort the issues into more manageable units.

What can I do in the short term?
What can I do over a longer term?
What parts of the problem are in my control and what parts are not?
What are my options and the advantages and disadvantages of each?

Editors:  Lovett H. Weems, Jr. and Ann A. Michel
Production and distribution: Carol Follett