Small church buildings dotting the countryside are home to ministries that often struggle with limited attendance, no money, and little expectation that change can revitalize their future. In Transforming Church in Rural America, Pastor Shannon O'Dell shares a powerful vision of relevance, possibility, and excellence for these small churches, or for any ministry that is stuck in a rural state of mind. The book reveals: how to generate growth through transformed lives; ways to create active evangelism in your community; no-cost solutions for staffing challenges, enhancing the worship experience, and inspiring volunteers. Focusing on vision, attitude, leadership, and innovation, you can learn the practical strategies and biblical guidance that helped to grow a church of 31 into a multi-campus church of several thousand, with a national and global outreach. Discover effective structure and ways to cast God-given vision so others can follow and make an impact. Experience the blueprint for transforming into effective, dynamic, and thriving churches - no matter where the location or how small it may be. What Church Leaders are saying . . . I'm captivated by Shannon's story, challenged by his witness, and moved by his resolve. As I read, I found myself turning the pages quickly and anticipating what was coming next. Shannon sounds a clear call for leaders of the church in rural America - but the principles translate to any leader trying to move a congregation toward life change in communities of all sizes. This is a rare book . . . one that I'll be buying several copies of to hand out to encourage pastors every chance I get. Tim Stevens, Executive Pastor at Granger Community Church Shannon O'Dell's passions for the rural church in America is contagious. The vision to see the small church reach multitudes through partnerships with other churches is a move of God, and Transforming Church in Rural America, is right on the wave of God's plan. Craig Groeschel, Senior Pastor of LifeChurch.tv The lies about churches in the boonies echo loudly throughout the landscape of our culture. And too often, leaders believe them thinking success is reserved for places with big populations and bigger budgets. But in Transforming Church in Rural America, Shannon O'Dell confronts some of the most powerful and prominent of these lies head on . . . No matter what size church you are a part of, this book will challenge your traditional thinking, force you to look beyond the status quo and enable you to grasp a bigger vision of what God has in store for you ministry and your leadership. Ed Young, Pastor, Fellowship Church
Transforming Church in Rural America
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From Publishers Weekly
O'Dell, a pastor, explains how he led a small rural Arkansas church from a handful of members to a multi-site church of thousands. A unique feature of the book is inclusion of photos and perky illustrations and rich graphics to move readers through important points. O'Dell's is a fresh, no-holds-barred voice in Christian nonfiction, and he makes the case for a strong connection between marriage and ministry: "Now this book is primarily about growing the rural church, and I feel that having a red-hot marriage and a functional family is an extremely important element of that." He advocates V.A.L.U.E.: vision, attitude, leadership, understanding, enduring excellence. For all the crisp selling and innovation in the book itself, it doesn't break all the rules. Instead, it uses some of the tired phrases found in many books on church growth; and, for all the good pictures and talk of transformation of lives, the majority of the photos are of buildings and illustrations for the pastor's sermons.
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(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
About the Author
Shannon O'Dell passionately seeks to inspire his growing multicampus church to give God only the very best. Innovative, inspiring, and committed to reaching out to struggling churches in rural areas around the country and the world, he has served as senior pastor for Brand New Church in the small community of Bergman, AR for over six years. He is a former youth pastor of First Southern Baptist Church in Del City, OK. He is married to wife Cindy, and the couple have four children.
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More About the Author
I love Jesus Christ, my HOT wife, 4 beautiful kids, sharing God's Word with passion and hunting. I believe every church submitted to God's Power can and will grow! Find out more about me at breakingalltherurals.com or brandnewchurch.com.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
By TJ Scott
Format:Paperback
I just finished "Transforming Church in Rural America" and I feel like I've had a shot in the arm. This book was just what the Dr ordered for my life and ministry at this time.
I serve in a church under a pastor that is all about breaking all the stereotypes and "rules" that man has put on the rural church, so the breaking away from the "rurals," as Shannon calls it, has already been done here. In my situation, this re-affirms to me how to support his leadership and keep the rest of our volunteer lay-ministry staff on track.
Shannon doesn't merely teach you in this book how grow a big church in a small community. He doesn't give you step by step, "here's how you do exactly what we are doing." Those kind of books are on my bookshelf - unread. I've grown tired of those. Instead, Shannon shares how to hear from God, how to stick to His vision, how to pursue the vision, and how to maintain it.
This book will show you, not only through experience, but from scriptural examples as well, how to tranform a church in a rural community to leave the stale "we've done it this way before" model and move forward with a model of vision that sees that God has a plan for every community, every church, and ever person.
This book is not for the pastor who is too afraid to hear from God and move forward. This book is not for the lay ministers who are building their resumes serving under pastors like that. It is for visionaries and those who support a visionary.
I serve in a church under a pastor that is all about breaking all the stereotypes and "rules" that man has put on the rural church, so the breaking away from the "rurals," as Shannon calls it, has already been done here. In my situation, this re-affirms to me how to support his leadership and keep the rest of our volunteer lay-ministry staff on track.
Shannon doesn't merely teach you in this book how grow a big church in a small community. He doesn't give you step by step, "here's how you do exactly what we are doing." Those kind of books are on my bookshelf - unread. I've grown tired of those. Instead, Shannon shares how to hear from God, how to stick to His vision, how to pursue the vision, and how to maintain it.
This book will show you, not only through experience, but from scriptural examples as well, how to tranform a church in a rural community to leave the stale "we've done it this way before" model and move forward with a model of vision that sees that God has a plan for every community, every church, and ever person.
This book is not for the pastor who is too afraid to hear from God and move forward. This book is not for the lay ministers who are building their resumes serving under pastors like that. It is for visionaries and those who support a visionary.
16 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Shannon O'Dell reluctantly left a large multi-pastor church to lead a small rural church in a town with a population of less than 100. He now has a passion for rural ministry, which led him to write this book. He raises some good points, like that a pastor who leaves as a missionary to Africa gets prayer and financial support and a commissioning service as he leaves while a pastor who leaves a big church to go minister in the sticks gets questioned about the financial wisdom of it and gets laughed at. Throughout the book, he provides personal anecdotes, Bible verses, and best practices as he offers guidance to rural pastors (though he gets a bit list- and acronym-happy in places).
As for me, I love rural churches. As much as I love my decidedly not rural church now, it's a comfortable fit whenever I return to the little Baptist church where our wedding was held and where I was baptized. That's why I was interested in reading this. I found myself nodding in affirmation at points and furrowing my brow in others.
I think this could be worth reading for nothing but his family-focused advice to those in ministry. He stresses the importance of marriage and of a family vision. The best line of the book was "...a red-hot marriage and a functional family is the most powerful evangelistic tool in rural America" (or anywhere, I would add). Other spots were solid too, and I plan to send this book to the pastor who married us as an encouragement to him.
I found three bothersome spots, though:
1. One section frustrated me so much that I had to put down the book and walk away for a bit. It was only page 24, and it may have affected my view of him through the rest of the book. He says on the bottom of that page,
"In the spring of 2001, I sensed God's call to lead a church. The voice of God's Spirit was clear, and, to be honest, it made sense. I was starting to age out of youth ministry and (like multitudes of youth pastors before me) the next professional step was to seek an associate or senior pastor position."
Grrr. For an author who is seeking to guide others in breaking broken ministry rules, right here he ascribes to the one that is high on my list of stupid, unbiblical rules. Youth ministers don't have to be young and hip. They just have to love Jesus and be willing to partner with parents to disciple the next generation. In Psalm 78 and other passages throughout Scripture, it is clear that teaching the next generation is never something that we "age out of." Are we willing to accept that our youngest (children and youth) be taught by the least experienced who are just there to gain street cred before moving to something bigger and better? That's not a rule I think we ought to embrace as a church.
2. I know that "relevant" is a hot word in ministry right now, and that isn't always a bad thing. However when he says, "Whatever we do, it needs to be relevant; it needs to be transforming; it needs to make a difference in the community," it puts the impetus on us. The Gospel - God! - is relevant in our lives, is the author of transformation, and never fails to make a difference. I don't think, based on other things O'Dell says, that he preaches a Gospel+______ sort of message (i.e. that he thinks the Gospel is insufficient without extra adornment), but his choice of words doesn't always communicate that.
3. At one point, he talks about engaging the would-be leaders in rural congregations so that leadership can develop from within. I was on board with that. Then he contradicts himself with these condescending words:
"Please understand: it is really not about the ten families that have been there forever. It is about the families that will never experience a relevant gospel and never meet the living God unless someone with vision shows up and starts preaching the gospel with their words and the life. Yeah, most rural churches say they want to grow, and they think they want to grow, but they really don't. They don't want a real pastor - a true and dedicated shepherd to lead them into new fields of harvest - they want somebody to pacify them, tell them what they already know, and keep things the way they are."
I was a Ministry Associate for Youth and Music Ministry at my rural church, and the folks I did ministry with wanted somebody to be humble and show them respect before anything else, much like Christ's attitude as described in Philippians 2. I didn't see that as a primary focus of O'Dell's guidance or attitude.
(According to FTC guidelines, here's my disclosure: this book was provided for my review from New Leaf Press. They didn't require or request a positive review or anything other than an honest and thorough review.)
As for me, I love rural churches. As much as I love my decidedly not rural church now, it's a comfortable fit whenever I return to the little Baptist church where our wedding was held and where I was baptized. That's why I was interested in reading this. I found myself nodding in affirmation at points and furrowing my brow in others.
I think this could be worth reading for nothing but his family-focused advice to those in ministry. He stresses the importance of marriage and of a family vision. The best line of the book was "...a red-hot marriage and a functional family is the most powerful evangelistic tool in rural America" (or anywhere, I would add). Other spots were solid too, and I plan to send this book to the pastor who married us as an encouragement to him.
I found three bothersome spots, though:
1. One section frustrated me so much that I had to put down the book and walk away for a bit. It was only page 24, and it may have affected my view of him through the rest of the book. He says on the bottom of that page,
"In the spring of 2001, I sensed God's call to lead a church. The voice of God's Spirit was clear, and, to be honest, it made sense. I was starting to age out of youth ministry and (like multitudes of youth pastors before me) the next professional step was to seek an associate or senior pastor position."
Grrr. For an author who is seeking to guide others in breaking broken ministry rules, right here he ascribes to the one that is high on my list of stupid, unbiblical rules. Youth ministers don't have to be young and hip. They just have to love Jesus and be willing to partner with parents to disciple the next generation. In Psalm 78 and other passages throughout Scripture, it is clear that teaching the next generation is never something that we "age out of." Are we willing to accept that our youngest (children and youth) be taught by the least experienced who are just there to gain street cred before moving to something bigger and better? That's not a rule I think we ought to embrace as a church.
2. I know that "relevant" is a hot word in ministry right now, and that isn't always a bad thing. However when he says, "Whatever we do, it needs to be relevant; it needs to be transforming; it needs to make a difference in the community," it puts the impetus on us. The Gospel - God! - is relevant in our lives, is the author of transformation, and never fails to make a difference. I don't think, based on other things O'Dell says, that he preaches a Gospel+______ sort of message (i.e. that he thinks the Gospel is insufficient without extra adornment), but his choice of words doesn't always communicate that.
3. At one point, he talks about engaging the would-be leaders in rural congregations so that leadership can develop from within. I was on board with that. Then he contradicts himself with these condescending words:
"Please understand: it is really not about the ten families that have been there forever. It is about the families that will never experience a relevant gospel and never meet the living God unless someone with vision shows up and starts preaching the gospel with their words and the life. Yeah, most rural churches say they want to grow, and they think they want to grow, but they really don't. They don't want a real pastor - a true and dedicated shepherd to lead them into new fields of harvest - they want somebody to pacify them, tell them what they already know, and keep things the way they are."
I was a Ministry Associate for Youth and Music Ministry at my rural church, and the folks I did ministry with wanted somebody to be humble and show them respect before anything else, much like Christ's attitude as described in Philippians 2. I didn't see that as a primary focus of O'Dell's guidance or attitude.
(According to FTC guidelines, here's my disclosure: this book was provided for my review from New Leaf Press. They didn't require or request a positive review or anything other than an honest and thorough review.)
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
In Transforming Church in Rural America by Shannon O'Dell you will see the story of a youth pastor of a large congregation that was called to pastor a small church in rural America. I was excited to read this book as I thought it would bring great insight into what God is doing in Rural America. I walked away from this book disappointed that instead of bringing insight I only saw a man with a vision for building up his own church.
On a positive note: I commend O'Dell for leaving a larger church in order to follow God's call on his life to pastor to a smaller congregation and having a great vision to grow that church. That and the fact that he does seem to have a real heart for people and gives some great ideas for "modernizing" the Rural church.
I can't help but talk about the negative issues though. The book focuses on a model of ministry that we see in Urban areas with multi-site campuses and satellites in light of the challenges that rural areas face. O'Dell believes God's vision for Rural America involves his church becoming an all encompassing satellite church able to meet the needs of any struggling Rural church across America. I was really disappointed to see that this book was more of a promotional material for his church instead of a model for effective ministry that a struggling church could use to reach their communities for Christ.
I think a focus on Rural America as being a potential unreached people and how to reach them is long overdue, but this book misses the mark completely.
((((Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."))))
On a positive note: I commend O'Dell for leaving a larger church in order to follow God's call on his life to pastor to a smaller congregation and having a great vision to grow that church. That and the fact that he does seem to have a real heart for people and gives some great ideas for "modernizing" the Rural church.
I can't help but talk about the negative issues though. The book focuses on a model of ministry that we see in Urban areas with multi-site campuses and satellites in light of the challenges that rural areas face. O'Dell believes God's vision for Rural America involves his church becoming an all encompassing satellite church able to meet the needs of any struggling Rural church across America. I was really disappointed to see that this book was more of a promotional material for his church instead of a model for effective ministry that a struggling church could use to reach their communities for Christ.
I think a focus on Rural America as being a potential unreached people and how to reach them is long overdue, but this book misses the mark completely.
((((Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."))))
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Great and Much Needed Book
Shannon O'Dell hit the nail on he head. From the misconceptions of "church success" to the lack of vision in our rural churches is nothing short of the reality I have seen in the... Read more
Published 12 days ago by Alex
4.0 out of 5 stars
Transforming Church In Rural America
Great, inspirational, challenging. The greatest concept in the book is "God didn't invite us to this, He Called us to this. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Ronnie Collins
5.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing!
Every rural pastor needs to read this book! Shannon does a great job encouraging vision and discouraging excuses. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Harry Colegrove
5.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing book for any small rural or semi-rural church who has been...
You really need to read this book that is written by a practitioner, complete with the heartaches and rewards to doing what God wants, and not what man thinks. A must read.
Published 2 months ago by GoodbyeObama
5.0 out of 5 stars
Surprising
I received this book as a gift, but it sat collecting dust for some time, particularly because the back cover/summary didn't get me interested. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Matt McComber
1.0 out of 5 stars
How to Destroy a Rural Church and a Community
This book is nothing more than a guide of how to destory a community and a rural congregation. It is my-way-or-the-highway. Read more
Published 3 months ago by SouthSide Member
2.0 out of 5 stars
Transformation, in more ways than one
My thoughts on this book may not be popular review . In all honesty, I had a hard time reading this book. I did not agree with much of the ideas expressed. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Sally Kent
4.0 out of 5 stars
Inspiring Story
This is a great story of one pastor's experience in reviving a church in rural America. I would have liked to have seen more helpful steps in what could be accomplished in rural... Read more
Published 8 months ago by RuralPastor
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Catalyst for Fresh Ideas
"Transforming Church in Rural America" is part autobiography, part advice, written to encourage and inspire pastors of churches in small towns. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Janet Reeves
3.0 out of 5 stars
One church's journey from near death to vibrant life
Transforming Church in Rural America is the story of how one rural congregation in Kansas went from near death to vibrant life. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Joe P. McAdams
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