Recent commercials for an office-supply store feature an "easy button" that, when pushed, provides a simple solution to an everyday problem. Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger seek to provide an equally simple solution for ministry leaders.

Simple Church, which is thicker than the title suggests, makes the case for a simplified approach to ministry based on the discipleship methods of Jesus. Instead of multi-level outreach strategies and programs, Rainer and Geiger propose a leaner process based on four concepts: clarity, movement, alignment, and focus.

The book is based on research of over 400 churches classified into two strata. The vibrant/growing strata consisted of churches that had demonstrated at least 5 percent growth in worship attendance for three consecutive years. The non-growing churches, by contrast, had less than one percent growth over the same three-year period.

All participating churches completed the Process Design Survey, which measures the simplicity of their ministry structure. ...