Customer Reviews

Strategically Small Church, The: Intimate, Nimble, Authentic, and Effective

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is written for the "rest of us" who don't attend or lead a Mega-Church-which seem to be the only ones that get press now a days. OBrien does a fantastic job of describing how the central aspects to small churches can be assets as long as they are intentionally integrated into all areas of the mission and being of a small(er)church. I serve a church of almost 300 members-which by the way is NOT small by most standards-but found the book to be exactly what I needed to read! I read some highlights to my Session last night and highly recommend it to others out there who want their church to become more confident without buying into all the bells and whistles of every latest fad and marketing program that comes through the mail or email. I just hope he writes another book about how to manage spiritual development over the life-span of a smaller church.

Perhaps it's because I grew up in a small church, but this book was extremely relevant and helpful to me. It is well written and only took me a couple days to actually read through it.
The author covers the positives and negatives of being a small church, and encourages more focus on God's leading rather than "current trends" in the congregation.
The author also includes notes and interviews with church leaders across America who have small churches and what they have been doing. He challenges us to re-think a "successful" church, that it's not about Numbers but about Spritiual Growth.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone in small churches especially, as it encouraged me from my dissapointments and negativity, to remember that God is working everywhere in a way we don't always have to understand.

This is one of the finest books on the small church you'll ever read. It is a great mix of encouragement and practical application. I loved the section on how small churches empower the laity for effective service. The part about how a smaller budget is actually more efficient was also an eye opener.

There are many people in the world today, especially in America, who believe that bigger is better. In fact, bigger often equates to being the most successful. If you wanted to sell something, would you rather have that something sold in a store like Walmart, or in some mom and pop store on main street in small town USA?


But bigger is not always better, nor is it more successful when it comes to the church in Christianity and that is the premise of Brandon J. O'Brien's book The Strategically Small Church. What Mr. O'Brien does is show how smaller churches are not only biblical, but are better suited more times than not than large churches to minister to the needs of the people around them. This is not to say that the larger churches, or mega-churches do not have a place, but simply put, there are more smaller churches than larger ones.


Mr. O'Brien starts off his book by pointing out that the size of the church should not be an indicator of a ministry's success, then proceeds to show how several large churches have seen that downgrading in size has actually been a benefit to their ministries. Mr. O'Brien then goes on to point out the benefits of a smaller church: becoming inter-generational, becoming a training church, being a nimble church and becoming an equipping church to name a few.


The Strategically Small Church is a well written and well researched book, and Mr. O'Brien knows his subject well, but I have to admit that this was a book that took some time for me to read in that I am not a church leader nor a pastor. However, I did learn quite a bit from this book about more of the inner workings of these positions.


If you are a pastor, or a church leader, then this book should be one that you read. For the rest of us, if you are interested in how the church works, then read it. If not, then this isn't the book for you.


Please note that Bethany House Publishers has provided me a complimentary copy of this book for my review; however, the opinions are my own. I have not been required to publish a positive review.

This relatively short (171 pages) read isn't another "How to Quadruple Your Church's Membership in 30 Days" manual, nor is it about breaking your large congregation of 1500+ down into "baby churches". Instead author Brandon J. O'Brien encourages leaders and laypersons of smaller congregations to realize their unique potential as a smaller, family focused, mission-driven community.

My Opinion:

I found The Strategically Small Church to be very insightful, challenging, and thought-provoking. As a member of a little congregation (less than 50 people), I admit to occasionally (ok, more than occasionally) thinking up ways to transform our tiny "chicken nugget" of a congregation into a mega-church "Whopper". However by the end of the book, both my perspective and desires had changed.

The little church can make a huge difference in their community. They just have to be willing to "rethink what it means to be successful." (No super-sizing necessary.)

The Strategically Small Church provides vital information to today's churches, both large and small. Pastors and leaders from around the world would be wise to glean as much as possible from its pages.


*Disclosure: I received a free copy of The Strategically Small Church from Bethany House Publishers in exchange for this review. No additional compensation was provided and the thoughts/views expressed are my own.*

The idea is not to think "small" but think while you're a part of a close knit, small congregation.

`The Strategically Small Church' is not a manual on how to "purposely" make your church even smaller. Instead, Brandon J. O'Brien suggests we think outside of our traditional boxes. For instance, many pastors today are tending to think of the church as a place to draw consumers. What that usually entails are gimmicks designed to draw in various categories of people just to build up the physical numbers within the church. This is not to be so. We are all a part of the kingdom and should just be on a mission to win souls for God. Not people to the church.

O'Brien realizes that this may offend some people who are a part or who lead the mega churches. This is truly not his intent. There are humble pastors to be found in every church from big to small. Smaller churches, however have the advantage of family, they are missions driven, and have opportunities to link up with other churches for the greater good of the kingdom. Chapters included are:

1. See for Yourself: Reimagining Ministry Success

2. Downward Mobility: Four ministries Shrink for the Kingdom's sake

3. Keeping it Real: The Authentic church

4. Keeping it Lean: The Nimble Church

5. The Work of the People: The Equipping Church

6. New Focus on the Family: The Intergenerational Church

7. Filling the Leadership Gap: The Training Church

8. Catch the Vision

In a nutshell, the book encourages laymen, pastors, and leaders to think of downsizing as an opportunity for greater outreach. This book will heal those souls who feel they have to have a large church in order to implement programs and be seen on television, yet the small churches such as those who meet in their homes and other places have no mortgages to pay on a church building, overhead, or have to hire cleaning services. The focus of the `strategically small church' is the people.

Mr. Brandon J. O'Brien has written a wonderfully concise yet powerful book that challenges our existing paradigm concerning the idea of a "successful church". The main idea in O'Brien's powerful book is that bigger is not necessarily better. He describes the distinct advantages that small churches have over large ones. Pastors of small churches need to quit wringing their hands over the fact that they have a small church. Instead, they need to harness and channel the gifts that each church member brings to the table.

To push a church to conform to some ideal of church growth does a disservice to them and to the kingdom of God. God has called each church to a specific mission in their respective communities. Church effectiveness is not necessarily reached by being large. As O'Brien says, small churches can be intimate, nimble, authentic and effective.

I would recommend that every Christian read this book, but perhaps it would be even more important that every pastor of a small church read it. Hopefully these pastors can gain a better appreciation for the gifts that do exist in their church and make better use of them. We need to start where we are and do what God has called us to do.

For more than thirty years the American Church has been fascinated by bigness. We have listened to mega church leaders tell us how to grow larger and, thus implied, more successful churches. We have become infatuated by the high profile pastors and their "how-to-do-it" principles of ministering to each segment of society. And in spite of that attention, more than ninety percent of our churches have less than one hundred people in attendance. Is bigness the goal for which we strive?
Brandon J. O'Brien has given us reasons to affirm churches that are smaller in size. Rather than define smallness by numbers, he refers to it being more a state of mind. Smallness does not necessarily mean mediocrity. He does not say that small churches are naturally healthy churches. While acknowledging that the use of the word "strategic" does not mean that the church sets out to be small, the author indicates that for many, smallness is to be celebrated. There are thousands of small church pastors who are discouraged over the fact that their church is not one of the larger ones. Instead of allowing smallness to become a burden, it might be viewed as a blessing.
There are some incredible strategic advantages to being a small church. The small church can be more intimate than one with hundreds of people. The small church can be able to focus its ministry on a few things rather than trying to minister to all the needs of the community. Their leanness helps them target their ministry opportunities. The small church also has an authenticity brought about by a family atmosphere that communicates to folks that they are "real." And the small church is more effective in producing disciples that become Spiritual leaders.
These are messages that small churches and their pastors need to hear. The small church is uniquely equipped to minister to one another within the congregation and, outside the congregation, to their communities in ways that the mega church is unable. While the book wasn't written for any particular denomination, it contains principles that any church can build upon. It ought to challenge church leaders to recognize the strategic strengths of the small church and quit wasting energy on trying to duplicate the ministries of the large church. It is a book that has challenged me to rethink my views of what a successful ministry can be. I recommend that it become required reading for church leaders (if that is possible).

This book is both encouraging and practical for those in small church ministry. O'Brien offers a new imagination for small church leaders. He shows that small churches are just as much a part of God's mission as large churches and have the potential to be more effective in our rapidly changing cultural climate. This book helped me see the importance of small churches in a new way.

My local church has 10 people and we often experience the guilt of small-church-syndrome. It's nice to know that like 90% of churches in the United States of America have less than 500 people.

I have this hidden (okay, I just made it public) dream to plant a church that plants other churches...and this book gives me (and others like me) a definition of success that doesn't require a 7,000 person congregration to be successful.

A refreshing voice highlighting the benefits of strategical smallness in a world obsessed with bigness. And overall, a really, really good read.