theo|digital

I belong to that category of people who pay for Amazon Prime, mostly for that little jump of joy we get every time we see the UPS guy—brown shorts and all—on a dash to the front door. New books are grand. And this box took me by happy surprise: Creating A Missional Culture: Equpping the Church for the Sake of the World by my friend and influencer JR Woodward (Intervarsity Press). I was pumped about this one enough to pre-order… And it arrived ahead of Amazon’s estimate. Bonus.

I’m sure I’ll need several posts on this one as we go, but I’ll start with the keyword Culture. Easy to skip if it’s just tossed on there, but you don’t make it off the first page of the first chapter without realizing that JR is going to make “culture” a centerpiece of his construction.

How would you characterize the typical person in the congregation you serve? A mature follower of Christ? A consumer of religious goods and services? Or something in-between? …

As a church planter, I have been haunted by these questions. I’ve started churches that continue to thrive, multiplying disciples and churches around the country. I’ve also started churches that have been slow to get off the ground. I’ve celebrated with church planters whose churches have thrived and are a great blessing to their neighborhood. I have also walked with church planters through the agony of having to close church doors. Through much reflection, reading and many sleepless nights, I’ve discovered that effective church planting requires thinking about the culture of the congregation.

Alan Hirsch and others have blurbed this one, so I’m a little lower on the Klout score chart. But having been acquainted with JR’s life and ministry for almost 15 years, I suspect (and hope) this book sticks. I think pastors will not find it to be the marketed book of the week (skim so you can tell people you saw it),  but really a compendium of true experience to absorb and re-read.

I’ll post a little more review or notes as I get time to jump back in.