One of the church's primary responsibilities is to foster genuine spiritual growth in people's lives. Today's pastors bring tremendous effort and passion to this task, but they are often disappointed by people who sit in the pews for years, knowing about Jesus but never really knowing him. In 2004, Willow Creek Community Church in suburban Chicago undertook a three-year study to measure spiritual growth called the REVEAL Spiritual Life Survey. Over the next six years, additional data was collected from over a quarter million people in well over a thousand churches of every size, denomination, and geographic area. Move presents verifiable, fact-based, and somewhat startling findings from the latest REVEAL research, drawing on compelling stories from actual people---congregation members of varying spiritual maturity, as well as pastors who are equally candid as they share their disappointments and their successes. It provides a new lens through which church leaders can see and measure the evidence of spiritual growth. The local church is uniquely equipped to foster spiritual growth and challenge people to pursue a life of full devotion to Christ. Move helps pastors and church leaders inspire and direct that challenge with confidence as they lead their congregations to move closer to Christ.
Move: What 1,000 Churches Reveal about Spiritual Growth
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About the Author
Greg L. Hawkins is executive pastor of Willow Creek Community Church. He is also co-creator of REVEAL, an initiative that utilizes research tools and discoveries to help churches better understand spiritual growth in their congregations. Greg and his wife, Lynn, live in the Chicago suburbs with their three children.
Cally Parkinson is brand manager for REVEAL and previously served as the director of communication services at Willow Creek Community Church, a role she undertook following a twenty-five-year career at Allstate Insurance Company. Cally and her husband, Rich, live in the Chicago suburbs and have two grown children.
Cally Parkinson is brand manager for REVEAL and previously served as the director of communication services at Willow Creek Community Church, a role she undertook following a twenty-five-year career at Allstate Insurance Company. Cally and her husband, Rich, live in the Chicago suburbs and have two grown children.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
It may be impossible for us to tell the secrets of people's hearts, but it really is possible to know whether the people in church congregations are truly growing more in love with God and extending that love to other people, according to Greg Hawkins and Cally Parkinson in this book. The book describes findings from surveys which probe much more deeply than the typical "number of attenders", "number of baptisms", and "number of participants in small groups" figures which are traditionally used to gauge the health of churches.
The "Reveal" surveys used by the authors measure the state of respondents' spiritual growth by asking questions relating to spiritual beliefs, attitudes, motivations, behaviours and satisfaction. Based on their responses, the respondents from each church can be divided into four groups: Exploring Christ, Growing in Christ, Close to Christ, and Christ-Centred. Some 250,000 people from more than 1,000 churches have taken the survey, and the results allow the authors to draw some interesting inferences about the catalysts which move people in their spiritual journeys from one group to the next, and about barriers to growth and how to overcome them, and about what steps church leaders can take to help the spiritual growth process.
I recommend that church leaders get a copy of the book and study carefully the various catalysts of spiritual growth at each stage of the journey. The catalysts for growth from "Exploring Christ" to "Growing in Christ" are different from those for growth from "Growing in Christ" to "Close to Christ", and these are different again from those for growth from "Close to Christ" to "Christ-Centred". Apart from these catalysts, the authors identified some actions taken by churches which had markedly higher-than-average results in the surveys:
* Get people moving, by having a clear pathway for people on their spiritual journeys.
* Embed the Bible in everything the church does.
* Create ownership by inspiring people to adopt the vision of the church as part of their identity.
* Pastor the local community by taking responsibility for addressing local community needs.
Interestingly, the churches with the best results in the surveys ranged in size from small to very large. Some were predominantly white, some predominantly African-American, and some were multicultural. Very few of the pastors of those churches are famous, and most seemed surprised to discover that their churches ranked well above the average for spiritual growth.
The "Reveal" surveys used by the authors measure the state of respondents' spiritual growth by asking questions relating to spiritual beliefs, attitudes, motivations, behaviours and satisfaction. Based on their responses, the respondents from each church can be divided into four groups: Exploring Christ, Growing in Christ, Close to Christ, and Christ-Centred. Some 250,000 people from more than 1,000 churches have taken the survey, and the results allow the authors to draw some interesting inferences about the catalysts which move people in their spiritual journeys from one group to the next, and about barriers to growth and how to overcome them, and about what steps church leaders can take to help the spiritual growth process.
I recommend that church leaders get a copy of the book and study carefully the various catalysts of spiritual growth at each stage of the journey. The catalysts for growth from "Exploring Christ" to "Growing in Christ" are different from those for growth from "Growing in Christ" to "Close to Christ", and these are different again from those for growth from "Close to Christ" to "Christ-Centred". Apart from these catalysts, the authors identified some actions taken by churches which had markedly higher-than-average results in the surveys:
* Get people moving, by having a clear pathway for people on their spiritual journeys.
* Embed the Bible in everything the church does.
* Create ownership by inspiring people to adopt the vision of the church as part of their identity.
* Pastor the local community by taking responsibility for addressing local community needs.
Interestingly, the churches with the best results in the surveys ranged in size from small to very large. Some were predominantly white, some predominantly African-American, and some were multicultural. Very few of the pastors of those churches are famous, and most seemed surprised to discover that their churches ranked well above the average for spiritual growth.
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
I admire the authors of this book as they are willing to go against the flow. Modern churches and ministries are often focused on attendence, buildings, and cash. This leads to gauging success on how full the building is, the state of the art facilities, and the offering amount. Nothing is farther from the truth as the Bible does not gauge success that way. God says, "Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you...", (Matthew 28:19-20a). Success in God's eyes is equated with the above Great Commission. It includes the balance of winning souls to Christ and discipling them so they will grow in their faith.
In the eyes of the world, Willowcreek Community Church is an tremendously successful. Yet, Greg, one of the authors asked, "Are all the things we do at Willow that these people so generously support really helping them become fully devoted followers of Christ or are we just giving them a nice place to go to church?" The research results to answer that question are as follows...
1.) Increased participation in church activities by themselves barely moved their people to love God and others more.
2.) They had a lot of dissatisfied people.
3.) They had a lot of people so dissatisfied that they were ready to leave.
4.) All the great things they were doing and their people were barely moved.
A survey was done to check out other churches and to get an overall picture of churches in America. This led to a comprehensive approach to re-focus Willow's ministry and assist other churches too.
The book, "Move", is about having an action plan to move people from exploring Christ to growing in Christ, from growing in Christ to close to Christ, and from close to Christ to Christ-centered.
In the eyes of the world, Willowcreek Community Church is an tremendously successful. Yet, Greg, one of the authors asked, "Are all the things we do at Willow that these people so generously support really helping them become fully devoted followers of Christ or are we just giving them a nice place to go to church?" The research results to answer that question are as follows...
1.) Increased participation in church activities by themselves barely moved their people to love God and others more.
2.) They had a lot of dissatisfied people.
3.) They had a lot of people so dissatisfied that they were ready to leave.
4.) All the great things they were doing and their people were barely moved.
A survey was done to check out other churches and to get an overall picture of churches in America. This led to a comprehensive approach to re-focus Willow's ministry and assist other churches too.
The book, "Move", is about having an action plan to move people from exploring Christ to growing in Christ, from growing in Christ to close to Christ, and from close to Christ to Christ-centered.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
This year, when I attended a simulcast of Willow Creek Church's Global Leadership Summitt, I heard the leadership of the church talk about this recent study they had done about spiritual growth, and how the people at Willow Creek wanted to share what they learned about spiritual transformation with leaders everywhere.
Now, they have recently released their gleanings of their study on how people grow spiritually in the new book Move. Move shares about a well thought out, revealing, and somewhat surprising picture of how people grow. One thing the study revealed is descrete describable phases of spiritual development. Another thing that the study revealed were best practices of churches that effectively help people mature in their faith, instead of feeling "stuck" in an immature, stagnant faith journey.
Many churches feel stuck. This fine book will be helpful for many leaders in identifying where their church has stalled, and it will help those leaders to think through how to wisely lead people to take thei next step(s) in their faith. A great purchase for pastors and churches across the country, and well worth the cover price.
Now, they have recently released their gleanings of their study on how people grow spiritually in the new book Move. Move shares about a well thought out, revealing, and somewhat surprising picture of how people grow. One thing the study revealed is descrete describable phases of spiritual development. Another thing that the study revealed were best practices of churches that effectively help people mature in their faith, instead of feeling "stuck" in an immature, stagnant faith journey.
Many churches feel stuck. This fine book will be helpful for many leaders in identifying where their church has stalled, and it will help those leaders to think through how to wisely lead people to take thei next step(s) in their faith. A great purchase for pastors and churches across the country, and well worth the cover price.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Personally rewarding professional development
I got as much personal growth from this book as I got the leadership development that my pastors were looking for. Read more
Published 2 days ago by David Johnson
3.0 out of 5 stars
Mixed Reaction
This book is essentially the result of a series of surveys prompted by Willow Creek's self-evaluation back in 2008 or so. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Philip Thompson
2.0 out of 5 stars
Dull, dull, dull.
While my interest is in spiritual formation within believers, this book left me cold. Its organization was hard-to-follow, and I had a difficult time staying attentive to the... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Roberta M. Thornton
5.0 out of 5 stars
A must read for those who want to change their world for Jesus.
This has vital information that the church needs to hear and act on at the local level to see people grow and reach others with the Gospel.
Published 3 months ago by Gene Mulkey
5.0 out of 5 stars
The facts can wreck your day
"The facts can wreck your day" is a play on words of the first couple of chapters in "Move". This is the most important book I've read on discipleship fostered by community in a... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Russ Emrick
5.0 out of 5 stars
A vital book for those who love their church and its mission
A corollary examination of extensive data and analylsis like that of recent political achievments, this book can tell you where your church members are and how you can assist them... Read more
Published 4 months ago by cmallinfla@aol.com
5.0 out of 5 stars
Putting numbers to the Truths we'd like to ignore
The principles outlined in this book bring to light a lot of the things that church leaders would like to ignore. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Steve K
3.0 out of 5 stars
Statistics Galore!
Move is the third book in the REVEAL research study conducted by Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois. Read more
Published 4 months ago by David
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent!!! Book
This is a phenomenal book that really reveals what we should be spending our time on in the church. A Must Read!!
Published 5 months ago by Aaronc
4.0 out of 5 stars
Insightful and engaging
If you are a ministry leader you are all the time wondering how to best lead people into a deeper commitment with Jesus Christ. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Jonathan
