Simple Church Book Review free essay sample

A simple church is designed around a straightforward and strategic process that moves people around through the stages of spiritual growth. The leaders and the church are clear about the process (clarity) and are committed to executing it. The process flows logically (movement) and is implemented in each area of the church (alignment). The church abandons everything that is not in the process (focus) (pgs. 68-67). The first section of the book discusses the need for churches to simplify. Many churches have become cluttered in the sense that they have made it difficult for people to receive the simple but yet powerful message of Christ. So cluttered that many people are busy doing church instead of being church (pg. 19). When churches are complex they tend to produce spiritual stagnation which causes people to remain stuck in the same place spiritually for years. It is not enough for a church to have a full calendar with endless programs, there must be a process in place that moves people through the stages of spiritual growth. If we want to have churches that are alive, Rainer Geiger advises leaders to step back, look at their church with fresh eyes and see the whole picture (pg. 23). They must also understand what the church should be doing, why they should do it and how they can structure the church to carry out its purpose. As part of this examination process the church must look at the current programs and ministries implemented to determine what they contribute to the whole. Ultimately a simple church must design a simple discipleship process that is clear and moves people towards spiritual maturity. According to Rainer Geiger simple church leaders are designers who design opportunities for spiritual growth. While complex church leaders are programmers who run ministry programs (pg. 26). During their survey process it was determined that simple church leaders are expert designers who are not producers of spiritual growth and vitality which they believe is commanded by 1 Cor. 3:10. Rainer Geiger consulted with two churches (Cross Church and First Church) to examine their programming, staff meetings, calendar, numbers, staffing decisions, new ideas and how they convey church announcements. Upon their findings Cross Church was a simple church because they centered everything in the ministry around their main focus, which was to lead people to love God, others and serve the world. On the other hand First Church was a very active church but there was no process in place that focused on an overarching theme or statement, they were missing the how. Churches that are vibrant and growing are simple, while complex churches struggle and are not alive. Rainer Geiger’s paradigm consists of four steps that are required for a church to move from complex to simple. The first step is clarity (the blue print) which is to design a simple process that can be communicated and understood by the people. The authors point out that in order to get clarity the church needs to define its ministry process by ensuring the members understand how they will mature. They also need to illustrate it by using metaphors or visuals that bring clarity to the process. Churches must measure their process to see if the people are progressing. The process must be discussed frequently so the people can grasp it and there must be consistency with the discussion beyond the initial launch. According to Rainer Geiger, simple churches are so focused on their ministry process that there is little time for extra events (pg. 217). When implementing focus in the church, leaders must clearly articulate (easily communicate) why they are so compassionate about the ministry process. This will help the people understand and agree with the single minded process of the church (pg. 220-221). Lastly the process must be simple to understand on both sides so that people are able to move through the process of spiritual transformation. For a church to stay focused the keys are to eliminate, reduce and limit. During the reading of this book, I did not notice any weakness because all of the information provided was based on observations and surveys that compared simple churches to complex churches. The strength of this book is that the authors did field work to comprise statistical data and their results echo the benefit of keeping it simple. They demonstrated how a simple church is most effective in leading people through a process of spiritual maturity, while capturing the ineffective strategies used in complex churches. The book also directs readers to various scripture that reiterate the need for simplicity in the church. Finally the book gives readers something to think about in relation to the condition of their ministry; they are able to get a clear understanding of the what, why and how. I really enjoyed reading Simple Church, the information and statistics provided is very relevant to churches everywhere. Something that stood out to me in the text is that simple church leaders are designers, they design opportunities for spiritual growth and complex church leaders are programmers, they run ministry programs (pg. 6). This helped me to define my role in church leadership and it reiterated the importance of keeping it simple. After careful examination, I choose to be a builder by following the Great Commission (Matt 28:16-20). When I look in my current church, I can see the need for a paradigm shift from being leaders that are programmers to leaders who are designers that have clarity which would bring about body movement, alignment and ultimately focus within the ministry. One of the prevalent issues that I have noticed in my church is the lack of consistency with movement. They start the process of moving people from one place to the next but it never comes into full fruition, which produces spiritual stagnation. On a personal level, I have found it difficult to balance my work life, personal life and ministry life. It is even more difficult when you are bombarded with constant activity in the church and are expected to be part of it all. I can identify with pastor Rush’s frustration, there is so much to do in so little time. As a Christian you want to keep the right attitude in all that you do for God but sometimes the constant overload can be overwhelming. However if we keep the church simple it may bring balance in the lives of  the people. Through this text, I have learned that the process does not have to be complex to be effective. Keeping it simple is the key as the results can lead to spiritual growth for all involved. Jesus kept the message of the gospel simple; we need to follow his example in order for people understand the message with clarity so they can move to transformation.