Mention the word “evangelism” and Presbyterians generally tend to deny, ignore, and make any excuse that evangelism is not a significant part of what we are called to do.  Excuses range from:  “Evangelism is offensive!” to “I don’t want to go knocking on doors!” and “Who am I to push my religion upon someone else?” When I encounter these responses in presbyteries, I find that the biggest “Ah-ha!” moment is to demonstrate that Scripture offers more than one way to do evangelism.

In an excellent book,  Got Style? Personality Based Evangelism, author and pastor, Jeffery Johnson, argues that “personality is the human component involved in effective evangelism.”  He says:

Evangelism is not about convicting, convincing, or converting the non-Christian. That is the work of God through the activity of the Holy Spirit in a person’s heart. Evangelism is about persuasive presentation, using both speech (lips) and actions (life) to share the Good News. (p. 12)

Johnson offers six chapters to explain six styles of evangelism:  Assertive, Analytical, Storytelling, Relational, Invitational, and Incarnational.  There are detailed explanations of each style, the pros and cons of each, as well as how Scripture supports each style.  This is a great book for any church leader looking for Biblical texts to preach or teach a series on the styles of evangelism.   Johnson also provides a rich bibliography that helped shape his thoughts on evangelism. There is also a unique assessment tool (which is recommended to be taken first) for people to discover their own particular style.   Got Style is a well written, detailed resource to help churches move beyond themselves and into the world that needs to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Reviewed by Robert Shaw

Dona Markham is keenly aware that transformation causes pain and conflict, yet transformation is essential to a thriving organization. After making the case for continual organizational transformation to engage an ever changing culture, she describes a leadership style that manages the associated conflict and pain which she calls Spiritlinking Leadership.

Spiritlinking Leadership fosters strong interpersonal relationships and inter-disciplinary collaboration to link people together so they can sustain the conflict and pain of continual transformation while maintaining a clear understanding of an organization’s mission. Her objective for conflict management is not elimination or reduction of conflict but fostering the personal relationships so that conflict remains healthy. On page 54 boxed text proclaims: “Sometimes, the Leader’s Most Important Task Is to Increase the Pain.”

While she primarily uses health care organizations to provide examples of what to do and what not to do, her prose is built atop a solid theological framework that is visible just beneath the surface of her prose. For example, consider the definition boxed on page 76.

“SYNERGY:
The Energy-Laden, Unexpected Accord
-or Communion-
That Emerges in a Group So That Momentum Can Be Channeled toward the Good That is Held in Common”

Throughout the book Markam highlights key sentences in boxes and marginal notes. Each chapter ends with a series of questions to encourage readers to reflect on the application of Spiritlinking Leadership to their organizations.

The challenge after reading this book is to create a congregation and judicatory organization structures that implement Spiritlinking Leadership. The simple committee structure with each committee having clear non-overlapping responsibilities with committee chairpersons deciding strategic plans and imposing those plans on committees is inconsistent with Spiritlinking Leadership. Spiritlinking Leadership fosters relationships such that every participant of a worshiping community feels their contribution is vital to the success of the organization and their opinions are incorporated in the ever evolving strategic plans to achieve God’s mission for the congregation. Thus Spiritlinking Leadership will create a unique structure suitable to persons involved and their God given mission.

By Ori Brafman and Rod A. Beckstrom

Reviewed by Craig Williams

The overleaf of this book says, “If you cut off a spider’s head, it dies; but if you cut off a starfish’s leg, it grows a new one, and that leg can grow into an entirely new starfish. Traditional top-down organizations are like spiders, but now starfish organizations are changing the face of business and the world.”

A friend of mine observes in a dissertation that church organization often follows the organizational structures of the prevailing culture. In the 50’s denominations mimicked the United Nations and in the 80’s Wall Street. We are in a different and fast changing time. This book is a helpful analysis and challenge. It looks closely at the success of many companies that have decentralized leadership. It looks too at how those practices can be incorporated in other places. The authors challenge us to look at our roles and see if they help or hinder an organization in accomplishing its mission. It is one of the questions facing our denomination – Does our organization help or hinder our mission? Maybe that question has been answered by most – that it does hinder our mission. But the next question is – What do we do about it?

The title is a misnomer. These organizations are not “leaderless”, but neither are they controlled by an individual or small group “at the top.” One of the helpful observations is that the starfish organization is led by catalysts not CEOs. Here’s a quote:

“While both are leader types, catalysts and CEOs draw upon very different tools. A CEO is The Boss. He’s in charge, and he occupies the top of the hierarchy. A catalyst interacts with people as a peer. He comes across as your friend. Because CEOs are at the top of pyramid, they lead by command-and-control. Catalysts, on the other hand, depend on trust. CEOs must be rational; their job is to create shareholder value. Catalysts depend on emotional intelligence; their job is to create personal relationships. CEOs are powerful and directive; they’re at the helm. Catalysts are inspirational and collaborative; they talk about ideology and urge people to work together to make the ideology a reality. Having power puts CEOs in the limelight. Catalysts avoid attention and tend to work behind the scenes. CEOs create order and structure; catalysts thrive on ambiguity and apparent chaos. A CEOs job is to maximize profit. A catalyst is usually mission-oriented.” P. 129

One quick question:

Which style of leadership seems more like Jesus?

One quick observation:

When we adopted the CEO model for church and pastoral leadership (following

the culture) we moved away from the ways of Jesus.

For a more complete discussion of this book, go to It Takes a Church on the blog page.

Suburban Church (2)

To download the document, click on the Scribd logo on the top left of the reading pane.

IT.
Some ministries have IT. Some don’t.
Most churches want IT. Few have IT.
When a church has IT, everyone can tell.
And when a church doesn’t…everyone can tell.
(It: How Church Leaders Can Get It and Keep It, Craig Groeschel, p. 8 )

A new book for 2008 that captured my attention from cover to cover was Craig Groeschel’s, It. Intrigued by the title and the concept, I quickly learned that he wrote a book about what every church leader is trying to find. It is a book about how to put vibrancy and health back into a congregation. It is a leadership book about seven contributing factors of congregations that have it.
Written in a contemporary style of authenticity, simplicity, and highly illustrated with stories, and pictures, the book is about the author’s journey to put vibrancy back into his own ministry. After studying the 13 campuses of Lifechurch.tv, he found certain characteristics in many congregations that was missing in his own church. Craig Groeschel admits that he had lost it in his ministry and what he did to get it back.
The substance of the book is found in the seven contributing ingredients to it. Key factors include:

· Vision: You Can See It Clearly
· Divine Focus: You Know Where It is Not
· Unmistakable Camaraderie: You Enjoy It with Others
· Innovative Minds: You’ll Do Anything for It
· Willingness to Fall Short: You Fail Toward It
· Hearts Focused Outward: You Want Others to Have It.
· Kingdom-Mindedness: You Share It

You might consider his “factors” to it as overly simplistic, but the strength of the book is the discussion questions found at the end of each chapter. I feel that every leadership team needs to read this book and take the time to assess their own congregation through the discussion questions. Read It. It is a quick and easy read. The implications for our churches could change the landscape of our denomination forever.