Who stole my church?

Our General Superintendent, George O. Wood, recommended a book recently entitled, "Who stole my church - bringing the church into the 21st century," by Gordon MacDonald.

It's been a long time since I have read something that powerful - especially concerning the themes of change and the church and bringing new methods and ideas into the church as we know it.

I like what G. MacDonald said in his preface. Rather than writing another academic, boring book about change, he writes from the perspective of a pastor in narrative form. The book itself is a novel, sharing the story of a pastor of a traditional church and the struggles he goes through in transitioning the church into the 21st century.

If you are reading this and desire to know how a pastor thinks, this would be a great book. The first chapter alone could be entitled, "an entry in the diary of George Flattery."

The book shows how we as pastors struggle with change ourselves, implementing change and helping others process change in their lives.

Change doesn't automatically mean growth but we can't grow if we don't change.

The pastor in the novel (Gordon - which tells me the novel is somewhat autobiographical) is dealing with a situation in the church where the membership has turned down, in a rather dramatic business meeting, a 150,000 dollar sound/audio sound system.

Gordon calls together 12 "influencers" in the church and over a period of months, through dialogue and discussion, the group discovers that change is necessary if the church is going to survive.

Although the characters are "fictional" I recognize people from churches that I have pastored down throughout the years.

I encourage everyone to read this book.