Encouragement for the Small Church

I really enjoyed Brandon O'Brien's The Strategically Small Church and felt like it offered some excellent insights with the caveat that it is so broad in the illustrations and examples it gives that it feels somewhat impersonal and lacking in direction. As a pastor's daughter and pastor's wife, acquainted intimately with small-church ministry, I applaud and relate to the discussion of the strengths of small churches, especially in today's culture. O'Brien indicates the appeal and niche for the small church today is first of all being authentic, not so polished. People very much want authenticity today, real world, natural products, real food, etc. Small churches also can better focus on a few programs that are generated and run by members. Pastors of small churches know their people and their weaknesses and strengths and can take their ideas and let them run with them. They shouldn't feel the need to have all the standard programs but simply those that fit their church and that people in their church have a heart for. Small churches also offer more of a family atmosphere, more interaction with people of different ages, more interaction with the same people, more interaction, period. In the day of broken homes, people are more than ever looking for a family. Lastly, pastors of small churches must utilize their membership and in so doing train leaders.
O'Brien strongly argues that there is both a biblical and a pragmatic need for the small church or at least a small church mentality. He says many of the very small percentage of mega churches (in comparison to the rest of churches which largely are 500 or fewer) currently emulate and try to incorporate some of the advantages of the small church, perhaps breaking themselves up into small churches. He gives examples from all kinds of different denominations and church ministry styles and strategies and it's in this effort that he starts to seem more like a researcher writing a report and less like a Christian with a distinct passion for the small church (he almost leaves you with the question what exactly is a church and what does/ should it stand for?) nor do I like the pragmatic emphasis. Christians should do what the Bible says, even if it doesn't make sense to the world. All in all, I'd recommend this book for those involved in small-church ministry and I would definitely encourage pastors to embrace the advantages of working with a small church.
I received this book from Bethany House for the purpose of reviewing it.

A Needful Challenge

Max Lucado is always a fabulous storyteller, as is evident in his Outlive Your Life. In this book he challenges Christians to reach out to the needy, to see the different from us as the opportunity to make a difference. I appreciated his pointing out that the Gospel is "the bread" or the essential element of this outreach and would have liked there to have been more yet about this extremely vital truth; but I recognize that Scripture does stress that we should reach out to the poor, the broken-hearted, the captive, the orphans and widows and that it indicates we should aid them with their material needs as well as point them to Christ. It was good to be reminded that God often used and uses the unlikely to be ministers, but of course it's not merely the simple and uneducated but also the educated that God used in Scripture and continues to use. We're to give God our best, out of whatever resources He's given us. I'm thankful for the challenge this book gives Christians and hope it will help to balance us rather than cause us to swing too far in another direction.