Customer Reviews

Movements That Change the World

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The Forgotten Ways surveyed church history, systems theory, and the practices of adaptive leadership in the context of recovering a missional ecclesiology and missional practice. Movements That Change the World eschews the systems perspective for a social-historical survey of missional movements that have changed their world. It also incorporates some organizational theory, in particular the adaptive leadership perspective.

Addison is working at integration of theory and practice and does an admirable job. Overall his work is both inspiring and convicting: we in the west are in deep trouble and the maps we used in the recent past do not show us the way forward. Will we relearn dependence on the Holy Spirit in this liminal place?

Steve is intent on driving home his message: our task is to make disciples and to transform our world. And that is done primarily by means of living, vibrant and dedicated individuals who are part of dynamic movements. While Steve comes close to denigrating theological education, he never quite tips over that edge, but instead simply points to the data: an educated and professional clergy has always limited the expansion of the church. Dynamic movements, Hirsch or Roxburgh would remind us, always surf the edge of chaos. The balance between design and emergence, Word and Spirit, is not achieved in classrooms but by risky adventurers who are out there on the edge following the cloud.

Steve describes five common features of vibrant moves of God, and these also comprise the five chapters of the book: a white hot faith; commitment to a cause; contagious relationships; rapid mobilization; and adaptive methods. In contrast to modern trust in technology, reason and sociology, it is not money, great plans and strategies, large numbers, or academic qualifications that will ensure the spread of the gospel and the transformation of the places we live. Rather it is radical dependence on the Spirit, radical commitment to Jesus and a passion for his kingdom that will produce expansion.
Steve notes numerous individuals and groups which exemplified these traits. These include the Moravians under Zinzendorf, St Patrick, Floyd McClung and the Dilaram House movement, Wesley and the Methodists, William Carey, Tim Keller, Ralph Moore, persecuted but thriving believers in Communist China, and many others.

I was struck again by the parallel between LTGs, Zinzendorf's bands, and the triads being employed by groups like Life on the Vine. FORGE Canada will also use triads to anchor discipleship and formation on mission. There is no better way to grow people than putting them face to face.

The last third of the book engaged me the most. It consists of two sections: Rapid Mobilization and Adaptive Methods. Steve opens with a quote from a contractor who is less interested in the buildings than in building builders. This kind of vision and passion is the sort that forms dynamic movements.

Steve relates a conversation with Des Nixon, who added an extension on his home. "I don't build buildings, Steve.. I build builders." Des has a kingdom vision and a plan to multiply himself. Steve follows this conversation with a look at the Methodist circuit riders and the explosive growth of the movement in the United States up to 1850. Then he summarizes some of the work of Roland Allen in The Spontaneous Expansion of the Church (a primary missions document and if you haven't read it, find it).

Roland Allen describes seven ways to inhibit growth and expansion.
1. when paid foreign professionals are primarily responsible to spread the gospel, causing the gospel to be seen as a foreign intrusion
2. when the church is dependent on foreign funds and leadership. "How can a man propagate a religion which he cannot support and which he cannot expect those whom he addresses to support?"
3. when the spread of the gospel is controlled out of fear of error, and both error and godly zeal are suppressed
4.when it is believed that the church is to be founded , educated, equipped, and established in the doctrine, ethics and organization before it is to expand
5. when emerging leaders are restricted from ministering until they are fully trained and so learn the lesson of inactivity and dependency
6. when conversion is seen as the result of clever argument rather than the power of Christ
7. when professional clergy control the ministry and discourage the spontaneous zeal of non-professionals. They may protect the new believers from charlatans (Acts 8:9-24) but they also block unconventional leaders like Peter the fisherman.

This section closes with a look at Ralph Moore and the Hope Chapel movement. I love this, "we're not smart, we're relentless." I was also caught by the simple little formula employed in the mini churches of Hope Chapel while reviewing bible material, echoing the Great Commandment:

What did you learn (head)
What did God say to you (heart)
What will you do (hands)

The final section, Adaptive Methods, opens with this great quote from Eric Hoffer (I had previously attributed to Al Rogers, so who knows?)

In times of drastic change, it is the learners
who inherit the future.
The learned find themselves well equipped
to live in a world that no longer exists.

Why are adaptive methods so important? Steve writes,
"A key to the success of Pentecostalism has been its ability to bring together super-naturalism and pragmatism in a curiously compatible marriage. The intense religious experiences that vie rise to new movements would remain fleeting unless they are embodied in some form of human organization. This presents every new movement with a dilemma - how to give the "charismatic moment" expression in social forms without extinguishing it." (107)

This is the problem addressed in part by Howard Synder in The Problem of Wineskins, and later by Charles Hummel in Fire in the Fireplace. It is the ongoing tension between design and emergence, Word and Spirit. Steve points out that sustaining a dynamic movement requires that we live in the tension between passion and discipline. A little later he notes that the decline of movements is often due to the "failure of success." It simply becomes too costly - too risky - for some organizations to adapt. There is too much to protect - position, rank, authority, etc.

Steve closes the chapter with a note on the Adaptive Methods of Jesus.

In the conclusion (121ff) Steve relates a meeting with Oscar Muriu, pastor of the Nairobi Chapel in Kenya. This man was so successful at raising up and equipping new leaders that he faced a problem: his church of four thousand was filled with leaders. He knew that they would become bored and frustrated unless something happened, so he divided his church of four thousand into five churches, and sent many of the best interns out as church planters. He sent experienced elders, most of them in their thirties, to support the church planters. This was the birth of a church planting movement that now has more than 25 congregations eight years later.

Steve asked Oscar how he figured this out. Oscar's reply: "You don't have to be clever. I just copy. I look at Scripture and ask, `What did Jesus do?'" Then he made a statement that Steve won't forget: "Steve, I don't plant churches. I grow sons." And some of his best "sons" are daughters - about half his interns are women.

The author, Steve Addison, is passionate about movements. Addison has been a student of movements for more than a decade - and it shows in this book.

Addison approaches Christianity as a movement, not a static religion. He uses a wide variety of sources - historical, contemporary, sociological, and the life of Jesus Himself - to develop 5 pillars that movements rest on:

1. White Hot Faith - movements begin with men and women who encounter the living God and surrender in loving obedience to his call.

2. Commitment To A Cause - movements require a high degree of commitment from themselves and from one another.

3. Contagious Relationships - movements spread rapidly, through preexisting networks of relationships.

4. Rapid Mobilization - movements grow leaders from the people reached - usually unpolished, non-funded, or centrally-controlled.

5. Adaptive Methods - movements keep the heart of the Gospel but adapt the forms to fit the context.

Each chapter explores one of these characteristics. The stories are fascinating. Addison includes historical examples from Saint Patrick, John Wesley, Zinzenforf and the Moravians, Azusa Street, Francis Asbury, and William Carey. Contemporary examples include, Ralph Moore, Neil Cole, Floyd McClung, Sydney's Anglican diocese, Chinese church planters, and "Des the builder." Addison also takes a close look at how Jesus modeled and lived out each of the 5 characteristics of movements, after all, He started the largest movement in history.

One last note, the bibliography in the back of the book is hugely helpful for anyone wanting to study deeper about movements. Addison divides the resources into sections on biblical/missiological, historical, sociological, organizational, and contemporary.

Easy to read and with a brilliant mix of researched "meat" and inspirational stories, Movements That Change The World will have broad appeal.

I give this book a "highly recommended" not just for the rich story-telling and inspiration. It puts the spotlight in the right place by examining the core of what the church really is: something that is powerfully and organically alive; something that loses its very essence when it is no longer a Spirit-led movement.

The book is filled with stories that keep the pages turning with a message that is both simple and profound: the church--in it's essence--is a movement: "Jesus did not come to found a religious organization. He came to found a missionary movement that would spread to the ends of the earth."

The author offers five characteristics of missionary movements and illustrates each of these points with wonderful story-telling. He brings to life Wesley and Methodism, Patrick and the Celtic missionary movement, the Moravians, as well as many other known and not-so-known movements and movement-starters. From these stories he brings clarity to the five characteristics of movements that the book focuses on: white-hot faith, commitment to a cause, contagious relationships, rapid mobilization, and adaptive methods.

This is a book for today, for those who long to see the church unleashed.

"The church, in its very essence, is a missionary / missional movement with a mandate to take the good news of Jesus to the world." (p 30).

In Movements that Change the World, Steve Addison identifies five characteristics of missionary movements. I read this entire book on a flight returning from a week in Northern India training leaders of a church planting movement. They've planted 1300 churches last year and have a goal of 100,000 churches in Asia by the year 2030!

As I read and understood these five characteristics, I reflected on how they are exhibited in India and I longed to see them evident in North America. This book has inspired me by both its examples and its practicality. In coaching church planters in the U.S., I intend to challenge them to consider how they can adopt theses principles in their ministry context.

It's through examining the activities of men like Wesley, Asbury, Patrick, and Carey -- and also Keller, Roberts, Driscoll, Moore and Cole -- who followed Jesus in their generation that Addison provides both inspiration and demonstration of white hot faith, commitment to a cause, contagious relationships, rapid mobilization, and adaptive methods. This book is a must read for anyone who is serious about fulfilling the mission of Jesus!

One of the best questions that Addison asks is toward the end: "Are our methods so simple that the newest believer is employing them?" He adds, "That's how movements multiply disciples, groups, and communities of faith. They democratize their methods and allow every follower of Jesus to participate." (p 112)

This book will inspire you to join the movement that Jesus started in the first century, and will give you practical insights into how to accelerate that movement right where you are!

_______________ "Movements change people, and changed people change the world!" (p28) _______________

In an age where it seems everyone is trying to set themself up as a new "holy man or woman", Steve refreshingly doesn't try to be a guru. Instead, he tells stories about how God has worked in the past and identifies themes that are common to many "missionary movements" that have changed the world. He then encourages the reader to pursue after God themselves--until HE speaks, until HE acts, until HE uses them in exactly the ways he wants to in their world.

Highly recommended as a "sequel" to Wayne Jacobsen's "He Loves Me". [1] Wayne's work establishes a foundation of God's relationship with us. And once we have this kind of loving relationship, we are then in a position where God can speak to us, God can use us. Then the material in this work makes sense.

[1] [...]

Church planting is one thing but church planting movements are another. This book by Steve Addison puts together the question of movements and weds them to church planting by enumerating and developing five major characteristics of movements. But Addison first whets our appetite for understanding movements with a history of Patrick of Ireland and an introduction stating why they matter.

The five major chapters are as follows: 1) White-hot faith; 2) Commitment to a cause; 3) Contagious relationships; 4) Rapid mobilization and 5) Adaptive methods. Addison develops each of these characteristics of dynamic movements with powerful illustrations of how this works out in real life.

The chart of unsustainable and sustainable church planting strategies on pages 112-3 is alone worth the price of this easily read book.

Could I recommend that every church planter and church planter coach work through this short but extremely helpful explanation of dynamic movements that multiply churches. I will be using it and recommending it in my training of church planters.

Steve Addison has written a new book, "Movements that change the world," which will be available shortly [...]He was kind enough to send a pre-release copy to us for review.

The book is an excellent popular introduction to the concept of movements. Each chapter features several stories, with in particular a look at the life of Jesus in the context of the concept being presented.

Chapter One features an excellent overview of movements and a good if brief introduction to Patrick and the Celts, a classic case of a movement that changed the world (and one dear to my heart). I found myself in agreement with the five characteristics of a movement (although I felt one--Openness--was missing).

Chapter Two begins with a poignant testimony, then moves into defining what movements are. I appreciated the illustrations of membership vs. participation, and the focus on leadership vs. control.

Chapter Three examines the role of `white-hot faith'--surrender through a spiritual crisis and the discipline of discipleship--and its role in movements in Protestant history.

Chapter Four examines a classic movement--the Methodists--to emphasize the need to not just get people fired up about a passionate cause, but also to organize them. It focuses on three factors in a movement that enable strong commitment: unique identity, alignment, and medium tension. These principles are similar to the ideas of the plausible promise and shared values that we have discussed here.

Chapter Five examines the connectedness and relational nature of movements. It has good brief introductions to the ideas of weak connections, open membership, and six-degrees connectedness.

Chapter Six is all about how leaders build leaders. It focuses primarily on basic principles of recruitment and training, and highlights Roland Allen's principles for avoiding dependency.

Chapter Seven's title focuses on being adaptive--an idea that is all too often overlooked in missions. "Adaptive methods are just like soccer. They're simple, easy to learn, fun, contagious, adaptable, transferable and low cost." However, the chapter is likewise focused primarily on adapting by abandoning ideas that lead to church stagnation, and adopting ideas that lead to church growth (e.g. "fully fund every church plant" vs. "train church planters to raise funds or become tentmakers").

Chapter Eight ends with a stirring call to action, and as always the endnotes provide a wealth of resources to examine.

Steve's book is a well-written look at movements. If you're interested in what large movements of people look like and some overarching principles for their formation, On Movements is definitely worth a look. Tribes, by Seth Godin, is a very general inspirational introduction to the idea; Steve's book would be a very good sequel to it, to apply the concepts in a church-planting setting.

There are lots of books which discuss church history. There are also plenty of books which discuss missions, spiritual biographies, the Christian life, and the task of the church. This book features all these topics in a brief (140 pages) but comprehensive format.

It does so to drive home the message that the work of the church is to make disciples and to transform our world. And that is done primarily by means of living, vibrant and dedicated movements. The expansion of the church is not achieved by dull institutions and sterile routines, but by dynamic moves of God.

This book records many of the inspiring past and present moves of God, and reminds us of what Jesus came to do, and what he expects us to do. As church planter Addison says, Jesus did not come to establish a religion or set up an institution, but to motivate and inspire men to continue in the task of reaching everyone with the good news.

He offers a number of examples from missionary endeavours and church history of how dedicated followers of Jesus who were intent on moving with God, instead of building kingdoms for themselves, radically impacted their world.

Those who are familiar with the story of the church's expansion and of church history will find many familiar stories here. But it is good to be reminded afresh of how God works, and what he expects of his people. What we find here are five common features of vibrant moves of God.

These are: a white hot faith; commitment to a cause; contagious relationships; rapid mobilisation; and adaptive methods. These characteristics are seldom missing when one studies the great movements of Christian activity both past and present.

Addison reminds us that these qualities are what drive the church forward. It is not money, great plans and strategies, large numbers, or academic qualifications that will ensure that the job is done. It is these five characteristics which time and again have been so prominently displayed in the great works of God.

Along the way Addison features numerous individuals and groups which exemplified these traits. These include the Moravians under Zinzendorf, St Patrick, Floyd McClung and the Dilaram House movement, Wesley and the Methodists, a former professional wrestler who now plants churches in Sydney, William Carey, Tim Keller's ministry in contemporary New York, persecuted but thriving believers in Communist China, and many others.

The book closes with a reminder of what things were like when Jesus was last with his disciples. In the upper room with the 120 Jesus told them of their one task: to make disciples of all nations. The command to go was all they had at their disposal.

He did not leave the with a large bank account, instruction manuals, flow charts, church growth conferences or three-year plans. He left them with his own example, and he left them with the Holy Spirit. And with those gifts from the risen Christ they went on to turn their world upside down.

And we are still feeling the impact of that powerful move of God some 2000 years later. We all need to be refreshed and revitalised as to what our real calling is all about. This book reminds us that God is always willing to move and move mightily if we are willing to let him call the shots and be our guide.

All this is not to denigrate theological training, fund-raising, strategy sessions and brainstorming. But it is to remind us that the real work of the gospel can never be reduced to mere man-made techniques, marketing and expertise. When and where these five characteristics are found, the exciting and innovative moves of God will be sure to spring forth.

Addison is to be congratulated for rewarming our hearts and revitalising our minds and spirits about what needs to be done, and how it should be done. We all need to be inspired and re-inspired as to why we are here, and what our Christian calling entails. This short volume helps to do just that.

"This book is for anyone who wants to follow Jesus and change the world," according to the back cover. A movement is an informal grouping of people and organisations pursuing a common cause, characterised by discontent, vision and action. Movements change people, and changed people change the world. Christianity is a movement of movements.

There is no simple formula for creating a movement, but in this book Steve tells the story of several movements and identifies several key characteristics common to them. White hot faith serves as the starting point. Those who start or join a movement show a high level of commitment to a cause. The movement grows through contagious relationships. The movement experiences rapid mobilisation. The purposes of the movement are served by adaptive methods.

Steve writes in a concise, well-researched manner. If you are just interested in running a church in a conventional manner, this book is probably not for you; but if you are interested in catching the wind of the Spirit and doing something radical and new, then you might find inspiration here. The book has an associated blog ([...]), which is well worth following for an Australian perspective on Christian movements.

I have had an interest in "movements" for some time. The biggest reason is that i am interested in starting one. Well, that sounds a little grandiose, so let me say, I am interested in being one more person who facilitates a movement that produces a new kind of leadership.

So I study movements. I have read some real helpful, popular level treatments of movements.

The Starfish and the Spider by Brafman and Beckstrom
The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell.
Tribes by Seth Godin.
And I am reading some more technical stuff as well.

A new book I read in one sitting is a great introduction to movements and specificallly, Chrsitian movements.

Movements That Change the World by Steve Addison. It is 130 pages of concise, illustrative, motivational teaching on the nature of Christian movements.

If you are a Christian leader, get this book immediately. If you are, in any way, involved in church planting, evangelism, cross-cultural work - ditto. Block about two to three hours to read it. Then, sit down and start thinking about your organization and ministry in light of this book.

This book is basic and insightful. That is its strength. It focuses on the Five Core Principles that Addison identified as essential for movements, and illustrates them nicely. It is biblicaly based, especially looking at Jesus and the Gospels and then illustrated with some of the great movemetns in the history of the church AND, current historical examples. He also provides "just enough" sociological explanation of movements, to understand their nature and power.

After two introducory chapters, one on St. Patrick of Ireland as a case study, and then a short chapter on why movements matter, the heart of the book focuses on the five main principles found in movements,with a chapter devoted to each one. He uses Count Zinzendorf and the Moravians, Wesley, Asbury and the Methodists as significant examples of these principles.

1. White hot faith - the need for personal, transformative encounter
2. Commitment to a cause - high energy and devotion to the "vision" and "ideals" of the movement.
3. Contagious relationships - (a really great chapter with good sociology in this one that makes a ton of sense)
4. Rapid mobilization - helps you understand how grass roots movements proliferate.
5. Adaptive methods - probably the weakest of the chapters, mainly illustrative without as much instruction.

I won't go into what he says in each of these chapters, but each chapter is highly accessible.

The great follow through challenge will be for leaders and readers to assess their own organizations in light of these principles, and then the even bigger challenge will be how to "infuse" these principles back into the organization if they are lacking. But it can be done and it is the reason why Addision has written his book. He wants us to become "movement practitioners."

Brian K.Rice
Leadership ConneXtions International
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