The book that I am reviewing is Taking Your Church to the Next Level: What Got You Here Won't Get You There by Gary McIntosh. I chose this book to review because I am familiar with another of Gary McIntosh's offerings which is, One Size Doesn't Fit All.
One of the great challenges of leadership is that what works to get you to one level is not the skill set that is needed to succeed at the next level. And oftentimes, we see played out in leadership, what has been referred to as the Peter Principle, i.e. people are raised to their highest level of incompetence. In other words when people are successful at one level they are raised to the next level. If they are then competent but not successful at that next level they will be advanced to the next level. It is only when they reach a level of incompetence that they will stop being advanced.
Gary McIntosh, as he does in the previous book I have read from him, gives information about the life cycles of churches, using a fictitious narrative between three friends, all of whom are pastors, describing their church situations and the struggles they are having. It makes the book and easy read, while reveal information and wisdom gathered from multiple church experiences.
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This book in its opening chapters is describing my experience at my last church which was a new church plant. I can see now mistakes that were made early in the process which ultimately were the death of the church. Although the church was surviving under my leadership, as the book points out, it's survival was still in jeopardy. Unfortunately, the church closed, as a result of failure to thrive (my words), under the administration of the next pastor.
ReplyDeleteI am about a third of the way through the book, and in some ways it is not all that new in terms of describing the various life stages of a church or an organization. I am looking forward to moving on to how to lead during the various life stages of a church or an institution. While I see some value so far for Christian leaders, it is much more suitable for pastors and church administrators (local church administrators). As far as conference administrators it could be helpful in their choosing of church pastors when churches need to be filled.
ReplyDeleteI have almost completed my reading of this book. There are many chapters that are not applicable to my situation at my church because they describe life stages that my church is not experiencing.
ReplyDeleteThe way the book is written, it is intended that only certain chapters will speak to a reader at a particular point in their experience in the church.
I am looking forward to completing this book, but so far I am not sure how this book will apply to my ministry in new and innovative ways.