I’m about to recommend What Have We Learned? (Abingdon, 2001), the latest compilation of genius by that master technician of church mechanics, Lyle Schaller. But not yet.
I wouldn’t recommend it for its carefully stated and masterfully supported unifying theme. I couldn’t find a theme. There’s something about forty years of astute observations of church life, but not enough to sustain a thesis.
I wouldn’t recommend the book for its theological integrity. It is far more sociological than exegetical. Schaller shines brilliantly in understanding the nuts and bolts of how churches work, but he will win no ribbons for ecclesiology. I even found myself in rare disagreement with Schaller in his section on denominational oversight of congregations.
Yes, I’ll recommend the book, but not for its disciplined approach. Schaller will give you a swarm of reasons when a handful would make the point, a list of 44 when 4 would do.
And my recommendation won’t be for Schaller’s elegant style. Schaller writes clearly. He’s accurate. He’s interesting. But his prose has all the artistry of a Yugo. A contrived conversation followed by a sizable list of explained observations makes a typical chapter. He’s an industrious workman, but not an artist.
With that off my chest, now I can happily recommend What Have We Learned? for a mini-Schaller-esque number of reasons:
1. Lyle Schaller knows churches, like Tiger Woods knows golf or Orville Redenbacher knows popcorn. Schaller has forgotten more about churches than I may ever know. That encyclopedic understanding sweetens chapter after chapter of this book.
2. Schaller remains a cockeyed church optimist, and that’s positively refreshing. He refuses to be deterred by a society leeching the nutrients out of an increasingly infertile church, but instead sees growth. Schaller is not about to take a “the best years are past” attitude. One dose of Lyle Schaller for every couple of doses of George Barna ought to be sufficient.
3. There’s something for everyone in this book. Want some fresh insight on church music? Ever wondered why multiculturalism is so confounded difficult to achieve? Need more program money? You name it, he covers it.
4. Schaller supplies interesting and useful facts. I could swear he makes them up, but I know his editor wouldn’t let him. Schaller somehow knows that for every 1,000 drivers in 1957 there were 805 vehicles. Today there are 1,130. “Twice as many vehicles are required to bring one hundred people to church as were needed as recently as 1970.” (Translate that into needing one parking place for every two seats in your worship space.)
5. This book gives ideas to chew on such as:
How do you evaluate church programs? Ask, “How will this make it easier for people to meet and make new friends?”
What’s the best way to reward a volunteer? Say, “You really made a difference!”
What’s the one thing denominations need to do better? To “change from distrust of local leaders to trust.”
Let me conclude with Schaller’s insight on substantial denominational funding coming from their congregations: “(Additional) staff cannot be hired because those dollars are being sent to denominational headquarters. The long-term consequence is the equivalent of eating next year’s seed corn. The financial base for that regional judicatory gradually erodes as congregations are unable to expand their ministries because of limited staff.”
Okay, so Schaller can write. And it’s worth reading, well worth reading. Dang, he’s good!
James D. Berkley is senior associate pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Bellevue, Washington.
Copyright © 2001 by the author or Christianity Today/Leadership journal. Click here for reprint information on Leadership.
