Coloring Outside the Church's Lines

Creating Your Own Future by Lyle Schaller, Abingdon, $11.95

Reviewed by Greg Asimakoupoulos, pastor, Crossroads Covenant Church, Concord, California

Coloring inside the lines was never my strength as a preschooler. So imagine my delight thirty years later when I was asked to review a book that invites church leaders to color outside the traditional lines of ministry.

In Lyle Schaller's latest book, a coloring book for church visionaries, the prolific parish consultant for the Yokefellow Institute articulates a repeated principle: A congregation's future is either the friend of thoughtful planning or a victim of a paralyzing dictator known as the status quo. The choice, as the title suggests, is up to each local church.

Adjusting to the future, though, isn't automatic, even for churches who want to remain (or become) relevant. According to Creating Your Own Future, one of the most common mistakes made by church leaders is underestimating the attractiveness ...