Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: One Size Doesn't Fit All: Bringing Out the Best in Any Size Church by Gary L. McIntosh ISBN: 0-8007-5699-1 Publisher: Fleming H Revell Co Pub. Date: July, 1999 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.5 (4 reviews)
Rating: 1
Summary: Deceptively Titled
Comment: Based on the title and the blurb, I was expecting a book that would offer some suggestions for the best strategies to minister effectively in churches of different size. Instead, this insipid waste of paper keeps circling back to one theme: Bigger Is Better. According to McIntosh, you must add staff now, and start new ministries now, because you must grow toward becoming a large church. Sure, some folks might not like it and they'll leave, but who needs them anyway - you're bringing in new folks!
All of McIntosh's suggestions are driven by pragmatism. There is never any consideration of eccelesiology (the theology of what the Church is and should do). He seems to view the pastor as a corporate CEO, whose job is to set the vision for the organisation and then convince his session/diaconate/vestry/trustees/whatever-they-use-in-your-denomination to go along with it. McIntosh's pastor is certainly never a servant leader.
If you want a good book on organisational psychology, management philosophy, etc., this isn't it. You'll find plenty of much better books in the business section with material that you can adapt to fit a church setting. If you are looking for a thoughtful analysis of what the church should be in the world and how the distinctives of different size churches facilitate accomplishing Christ's mission for His Church, this book definitely isn't it. I feel like sending the author a bill for the time I wasted reading it.
Rating: 5
Summary: Excellent overview
Comment: This book is about the issues of church size and its effects on parish dynamics. The discussions of budget, finances, and church management are very useful as one considers stewardship issues and diagnosing the parish. It is written in the style of an experienced pastor giving advice to a new pastor, but the material is useful to laity, also.
Rating: 4
Summary: On average, a very useful book
Comment: The writing was lucid and what would otherwise have been a pretty bare and boring subject was made very readable. However the fictional account of 2 pastors (one new one, and a veteran pastor called 'Bob') grated on me after the first few pages. It comes over as somewhat self congratulatory in much the same way the scripted TV advertizements singing praises of a particular product do.
McIntosh has tackled a tough topic and injected guidelines and a few thoroughly useful rules of thumb that have definitely improved my approach to "doing church". I just wish that he'd gone for a more savoury dish rather than the rich syrupy sugar glaze that this one has.
 |
Title: Staff Your Church for Growth: Building Team Ministry in the 21st Century by Gary L. McIntosh ISBN: 0801090954 Publisher: Baker Book House Pub. Date: April, 2000 List Price(USD): $14.99 |
 |
Title: One Church, Four Generations: Understanding and Reaching All Ages in Your Church by Gary L. McIntosh ISBN: 0801091373 Publisher: Baker Book House Pub. Date: April, 2002 List Price(USD): $16.99 |
 |
Title: Surprising Insights from the Unchurched and Proven Ways to Reach Them by Thom S. Rainer ISBN: 0310236487 Publisher: Zondervan Pub. Date: 01 August, 2001 List Price(USD): $19.99 |
 |
Title: Overcoming the Dark Side of Leadership: The Paradox of Personal Dysfunction by Gary L. McIntosh, Samuel D. Rima ISBN: 0801090474 Publisher: Baker Book House Pub. Date: March, 1998 List Price(USD): $14.99 |
 |
Title: The Very Large Church by Lyle E. Schaller ISBN: 0687090458 Publisher: Abingdon Press Pub. Date: April, 2000 List Price(USD): $20.00 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
