Customer Reviews

Ten Stupid Things That Keep Churches from Growing: How Leaders Can Overcome Costly Mistakes

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So I am sure your first question is are there really only ten? If anything I bet Surratt really listed 10 big categories with tons of stupid ideas and mistakes that every church does. As a Campus Minister in campus ministry some of these mistakes are not so applicable yet still many are all too familiar. About a month ago Geoff Surratt offered a free copy of his most recent book "Ten Stupid Things That Keep Churches from Growing" to the first 10 people responded. Whenever I see something free offered I always jump at it. I will read a book that has nothing to do with anything I care about and review it if it is free. Though I do not work for a church per se this book was still applicable in campus ministry to really have myself and our staff ask if there is anything we are doing to hinder the opportunity for growth.

The book breaks down 10 core areas where people in ministry hinder growth. Surratt refers to them as stupid because once you read his thoughts its easy to laugh how stupid they yet convicting at the same time when I see how I have done and still do some of these things in my area of ministry. The ten things that Surratt lists are



Leaders do it all
Establishing Wrong role for the pastor's family
Second rate worship experiences
Low quality children's ministry
Promoting talent over integrity
Clinging to bad location
Copying another Successful Church
Favor discipline over Reconciliation
Mixing ministry and Business
Letting committees steer the ship


Right off the bat I knew I would like this book when Geoff mentioned his love for diet coke. The stupid mistake that hit home with me the most was my control issue. The idea that I can lead everything and at a better level than others. As I type this it sounds ridiculous but it is so true. As I read the chapter on leaders doing it all I felt like a mirror was being held up to my face. Geoff really hit it home with me when he explained that the role of the leader is to equip those around us to do works of service (Ephesians 4). Doesn't sound too profound does it? When it became an "aha moment" to me was when he explained that when a leader does it all he is not just doing his biblical role because he or she is taking all the works of service. This has been a major humbling for me as I look at how I direct CCF. Humbling yes indeed but even more freeing than humbling.

Another strength of the books was Geoff's use of input from other great visionaries such as Perry Noble, Craig Groeschel, Mark Batterson and many others. This input through interviews at the end of each chapter was also very valuable. What makes this book different from many others is that it is not a blue print to be another Seacoast Church (where Geoff pastors). I feel like a lot of the time books on church planting and "success" are all about imitation. The most encouraging moment to me was when Geoff explained that without God's power and presence that no church has a chance at growth. Geoff even makes it clear that it is not about imitating other churches rather leading and how God has created you and your church to be under a God given vision not a Bill Hybells or Rick Warren vision. The good and the bad news is that this book does not tell you what to do rather gives you questions (at the end of each chapter) to examine your area of ministry and discuss as a staff. I am thankful for a book that does not give answers rather leaves you examining the way you lead your ministry and sends you to God for a clearer vision and the way to go about it.
http://michaelmears.com/2009/05/05/10-stupid-things-churches-do-geoff-surratt/

I have recently finished reading Ten Stupid Things That Keep Churches From Growing by Geoff Surratt. I have been a diligent reader this year in the areas of church growth, leadership development, parenting and marriage. I will have to say that this book is in my top two books I have read in the area of church growth. I would compare this book to It by Craig Groeschel. Let me tell you why; Geoff has a great sense of humor and it is evident throughout the book. I really like his sense of humor and it reminds me of Craig's writing.

Geoff does an amazing job with his resources and research. You can tell that he has done a ton of research on this subject and he has the references throughout the book to back it up. At the end of each chapter he does a great job at introducing other successful pastors in the ministry and asks them a series of questions in relation to the subject written in each chapter.

My suggestion is for every church leader to read this book and even go through it as a staff. The insight you will get from this book will help you to make great decisions in the future and minimize mistakes in the future.

At the end of each chapter he also has a series of questions to ask yourself and even discuss with other leaders in your church. I really think Geoff has done an amazing job in writing this book. I am a huge fan and can't wait to read more of his stuff.

Great job Geoff!!

"Ten Stupid Things" is a great book that WILL help pastors recognize and avoid pitfalls that will keep their churches from growing. This is great, but since I am not a Sr. Pastor I was a little skeptical about the book's relevance to my life and walk. As a volunteer worship leader, though, I quickly learned that I was making some stupid mistakes

About halfway through the first chapter I realized that this book would be one that I would keep within arms reach, like a handbook for not being stupid in ministry. I have already used some of Geoff's advice to improve our weekend service experience.

Don't be stupid. Get this book and buy an extra copy for somebody who you love. (and who knows you well enough to know that you aren't calling them stupid) You will laugh, as Geoff is a very witty writer, but you will also be challenged and you will take a look at how you do ministry.

I figured I was going to have trouble with this book when I read the following phrase in the introduction, "Growing churches are the hope of the world." Before reading Ten Stupid Things I was unfamiliar with the author and his South Carolina church. I decided to go ahead and read the book although I had reservations with this opening philosophy.

In the epilogue Geoff Surratt restates the concept as he is wrapping things up, "The local church is the hope of the world and as pastors, we are the hope of the local church." Really? Seriously? I've spent a number of years in the full-time ministry myself and I certainly wouldn't put that responsibility, weight or prominence on our shoulders. I tend to think we are often more of the problem than the solution. Geoff is certainly coming from a different worldview than I am; the success he is experiencing at multiplying church campuses at Seacoast is certainly impressive. But I'm not convinced that his answers equate to a healthy, vibrant, capital C, Church.

The ten stupid things that Geoff lists as keeping churches from growing are these:

* Trying to do it all
* Establishing the Wrong Role for the Pastor's Family
* Providing a Second-Rate Worship Experience
* Settling for Low Quality Children's Ministry
* Promoting Talent over Integrity
* Clinging to a Bad Location
* Copying Another Successful Church
* Favoring Discipline over Reconciliation
* Mixing Ministry and Business
* Letting Committees Steer the Ship

As one friend commented, "Now that I've read the Table of Contents I don't need to actually read the book." And for the most part, that's true. There isn't a whole lot of new information here in terms of church growth material. Most of it is common sense. Geoff does flesh out the concepts in an engaging and often humorous way, chronicling his own journey as a pastor which includes 10 years of serving on a church staff, a couple of years as a senior pastor of a small church, and then the last 13 years serving on staff in a megachurch with multiple campuses. He expounds on each of these points from a place of experience and is honest about his own failures. He also brings in other successful pastors at the end of each chapter to interview them on their experience with the stupid thing.

I can't imagine there is much of an audience for this book though, other than the pastors and leaders of churches who are motivated by more growth. Who knows, maybe there is a lot of them. Since Geoff helps lead one of these rapidly expanding, multi-campus sites, I'm sure he has their attention. But Geoff himself states, "In spite of the megachurch movement of the last twenty years, more and more Americans are walking away from church and away from a relationship with Jesus." So why has he written a book that basically suggests that having larger churches and successful pastors is the answer? Some of the pastors of these enormous congregations are struggling with the reality that size hasn't equaled discipleship. Attendance numbers and giving figures don't equate to spiritual growth. When I asked him this question yesterday during the blog tour his answer was basically that we need to motivate people to do more, to be more missional. But in my book, attaching our spiritual health to activity is counterproductive, at least it has been for me.

I'm sure Geoff Surratt is a great pastor. It is obvious he has a good heart and wants to see other pastors succeed. I'm just not sure that he is offering the right answers in his book.

When I received my copy of, Ten Stupid Things that Keep Churches from Growing: How Leaders Can Overcome Costly Mistakes by Geoff Surratt, I was not sure what to think. However, as a brand new church planter I soon found a book that will be a key resource over the years to come. This is not a book of theory, but a guide full of practical "how to" advice. It is advice that covers everything from the role of the senior pastor's family to how to handle discipline in the congregation or with staff.

Each chapter ends with the key insight of a pastor that has successfully lived out the experience of that particular chapter and then followed by the "IQ Test". The "IQ Test" questions allow the book to become a workbook to provide a platform for discussion and discovery between the pastor and leadership team.

Surratt keeps a balance throughout the book by often reminding the reader that ministry is more than completing steps 1,2,3 etc, but it is a call that must have the anointing and direction of God. His sense of humor is an added bonus.

This book can be a useful resource for all pastors no matter what stage they are in ministry. But for a new or future church planter, it should be required reading.

Jon Stallings, Senior Pastor, Redeemer's Way Foursquare Church

Clearly, there are more than 10, but some of these befall even those churches committed to the biblical authority in the church and a pursuit of God's glory above all else. My 3 favorite chapters were on "Promoting Talent over Integrity," "Letting Committees Steer the Ship," and "Copying Another Successful Church," and the author doesn't even suggest imitation of his church! I liked the interview component concluding each chapter wherein he shares insights of those with firsthand experience of the 10. There is much in the book with which I disagree, but I do feel at least a little more prepared to avoid that which is stupid, through I make no guarantees.

Geoff Surratt's "Ten Stupid Things That Keep Churches From Growing" is an entertaining and informative read. Like I noted in the title, I am not a pastor (but I have been an active church member nearly all of my life), but I still found the book quite enjoyable.

Surratt's 10 things are:


* Trying to do it all
* Establishing the Wrong Role for the Pastor's Family
* Providing a Second-Rate Worship Experience
* Settling for Low Quality Children's Ministry
* Promoting Talent over Integrity
* Clinging to a Bad Location
* Copying Another Successful Church
* Favoring Discipline over Reconciliation
* Mixing Ministry and Business
* Letting Committees Steer the Ship

Surratt does come at things from a non-denominational perspective so some of these items were not particularly applicable to my Missouri Synod Lutheran church, but most were. I was able to note that our church does most of these things well, including just moving out of a bad location (too small) and not letting the pastors do it all.

Surratt fills his chapter with real-life examples of what not to do, including lots of his own (self-described) stupid mistakes. At the end of every chapter he interviews another successful pastor about the issues he just wrote about and gets a slightly different perspective. Surratt's humor carries the book and saves this from being a drudge of a to-do list and makes it a joy. For example (from location 1968 in the Kindle edition) where he is commenting on his lack of ability to counsel parishioners with their personal problems: "My natural response when people tell me their personal problems is, 'Wow, what are you going to do about that?' You'd be surprised at how few people find solace or direction in that kind of advice."

It's not all fun and games though. Surratt has some especially profound thoughts on seeing church as a family (kind of choked me up as I was listening to it using the Kindle text-to-speech mode while walking the dog - enough so that I read it to my wife when I got back from the walk).

Good, informative read. Deceptively light-hearted - you'll laugh and you'll think at the same time.

There are plenty of stupid things that church leaders can do, and Geoff Surratt does his best to remind them of this in this book. Each chapter ends with a set of questions called an "IQ Test", so that the church's whole leadership team can sit around and use them to explain to the pastor in detail just how stupid he or she is.

The ten stupid things, each of which occupies a chapter in the book, are: trying to do it all, establishing the wrong role for the pastor's family, providing a second-rate worship experience, settling for low quality in children's ministry, promoting talent over integrity, clinging to a bad location, copying another successful church, favouring discipline over reconciliation, mixing ministry and business, and letting committees steer the ship.

There are no prizes for having done all ten stupid things, perhaps because there would be too many winners. This is a light-hearted book with plenty of underlying serious wisdom. Not everybody will resonate with the author's style of humour, although I personally laughed and laughed as I read. I found the book to be both helpful and easy to read.

This book dares to go where most ministers and pastors would not. The most important thing is that the author puts a handle on the luggage we carry. Perhaps by putting handles on our junk we can move it out of the way. Perhaps this will give ministers a vocabulary to open discussion on topics we need to move through? I wish this work was longer, so it pegs out at four stars for not being a little deeper. It dares to bring into public discussion things that usually are only complained about behind closed doors. Very bold.

Everyone makes mistakes. If you aren't making mistakes, you aren't taking risks, and you aren't growing. But there is no reason to make a mistake more than once.

Ten Stupid Things is a book that helps pinpoint the things that hamper pastors and churches and remove them so that churches can grow.

Here are the topics:

* Trying to do it all
* Establishing the wrong role for the pastor's family
* Providing a second-rate worship experience
* Settling for low quality in children's ministry
* Promoting talent over integrity
* Clinging to a bad location
* Copying another successful church
* Favoring discipline over reconciliation
* Mixing ministry and business
* Letting committees steer the ship

What I like about this book is that it isn't just one person's observations. Each chapter highlights a respected pastor who has made that mistake and survived. Not only do you get the teaching, but also an interview with someone who has survived.

Every mistake has its own place, and none of them are above the others. Yet, we are encouraged because if you are making mistakes, it means you are growing, changing, and taking risks. If you find yourself among these pages, be encouraged. You are in good company. Now you get to change.