Customer Reviews

Follow Me (REVEAL)

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This short book is an easy read. I had our staff and elders read this book along with the other ones in the series. It is helpful in thinking through the quesion: How do people grow? What things are causes and what are the effects of growth. I appreciate the authors candid discussion about spiritual growth. They are upfront about their own weaknesses which demonstrates their humility. The research is thoughtful and will be thought provoking for you church, staff, or board. Depending on your situation, this book could be a game changer for you.

"Follow Me" provides some very strong research data from Churches some of which is very helpful while others left me with questions on how the surveys were formed and what kind of biases may have been coming into play when congregants answered them (i.e. They have been taught that reading the Bible is really important, while meditation may be left out entirely leading them to answer in that way). Hawkins and Parkinson seemed to downplay the importance of community in the role of spiritual formation. Much of their "changes" were framed with the language of individuality(p.122)and a sense of the church (as an institution) being separate from the congregants themselves (p.125), rather than the two being one and the same. While there ware some helpful pieces of information within the short book I felt that overall the "changes" extrapolated from the data were not consistent with the communal life of discipleship that Christians are called to when entering into the Body of Christ.

This second set from Willow provided just the info I needed to spur on the VIsion Team at my church.