Customer Reviews

Church Next

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Malphurs and his son Michael offer a solid rationale here for reaching the next generations for Christ. The first two parts of this three-part volume offer insights as to why the church is increasingly ineffective in ministering to buster and bridger generations. They describe how throughout its history, the church has been slow to harness technological advances for use in the cause of Christ. After making a convincing argument for the need for relevance in an information-based world, father and son offer a short rationale in part three as to how the church can use the Internet in a very positive manner for ministry.

This book is NOT a "how to" book on ministry via the Internet, but a "why to" book. It is a good introduction of the rationale for the church ministering online. For the Christian wary of the Internet or uncertain of its usefulness for the church, this book is fine choice.

Church Next is a well-thought out and easy-to-read book on both church web sites and the technology surrounding it. There are not many books available on the subject and this book succeeds in laying out the "why" behing building web sites for Christian organizations, without getting heavy on technical jargon. A lay person - like me - can pick Church Next up and understand what the author is saying, even without web site design or programming experience.

The first part of the book looks at the different generations in American culture. With study after study, this section builds the foundation for the books later argument that the Internet - and the technology surrounding it - is crucial for the Church's success in the new millenium.

The second portion of the book, looks at the different kinds of web sites that churches can build and offers tips on how to go about doing so successfully. One of my favorite sections of the book resides here, where the author interviews individuals who are resposible for building some of the church web sites that "get it".

Those who pick up Church Next should be aware that the point of the book is not to show "how" to build a web site, but "why" churches should do so. After reading it, you can count me as a convinced reader, who will emphasize to those in my church the need for an excellent web site.

I picked this book up recently and was really disappointed in it. I thought it missed the deeper changes that the web is bringing to culture and instead focused on superficial solutions that missed the point completely. My focusing on what the big ministries were doing, he missed the emerging trends on the net and really missed a chance to engage with the rest of the digital culture.