Relationships, Not Programs
Taking a church from dry bones to spiritual vitality
Reviewed by Cindy Crosby | posted 3/01/2004 12:00AM
At Zionsville Presbyterian Church in suburban Indianapolis, senior pastor Glenn McDonald was jolted into realizing that "busyness" had overtaken his congregation.
This realization hit him when a board member posed the question, "How long would it take someone visiting our church to learn about his or her need for Jesus Christ, and what to do about it?"
The church found that addressing this question would mean a 180-degree turn from creating programs to making disciples.
"There's a world of difference between knowing the right steps and knowing how to dance," writes McDonald.
While weaving fresh and often humorous illustrations from his own life and congregation into the text, McDonald explores six discipling relationships necessary for spiritual vitality, then examines six marks of a disciple. Each chapter ends with questions for reflection and application of concepts.
"Our lifelong job assignment is not to take care of us," McDonald writes. "It is to lay down our agendas to take up the agenda of our Lord." Pastors, church leaders, and small groups should find this book a call to evaluate the way they live and minister.
Cindy Crosby is the author of By Willoway Brook: Exploring the Landscape of Prayer (Paraclete, 2003).
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March 2004, Vol. 48, No. 3
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