Customer Reviews

Transitioning

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Southerland drove out the original congregation of three hundred, kept their property and facilities, changed their church into his creation, filled it with neophytes, and became their king. This book is a near perfect expose of the methods of the utterly corrupt Church Growth Movement. There are three ways to deal with an errant preacher like Southerland; get them on board, fight them, or run them off (Transitioning - p 71). They are truly "leaders from Hell" (Transitioning - p 115)

If The Purpose Driven Church is the "what" and "why" of the church growth movement and all things Purpose Driven, Transitioning represents the "how." "If the thought of switching from a traditional church to a purpose-driven church leaves you with mingled feelings of excitement and fear, good! It means that, as a pastor, you know the incalculable worth of aligning your church with God's vision...Transitioning is written for you." (From the back cover). We also learn from the cover that the book will help a pastor and congregation navigate change and attain rewards that far exceed the risk. Essentially, this book is a how-to guide for changing an existing church from program-driven to purpose-driven. It is written by Dan Southerland, but endorsed by Rick Warren who says that Southerland's church is "one of the most exciting and encouraging examples of transitioning from being program driven to purpose driven." (From the foreward)

I always take the time to read the author's bio that is generally on the back cover of a book as it usually outlines the author's credentials, providing the reader with some confidence that the author is worth learning from. As if to emphasize the concerns of those who believe that the church growth movement is driven by pragmatism, the author's bio says "Dan Southerland is the pastor/teacher at Flamingo Road Church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida - a purpose-driven, contemporary congregation that has grown from 300 in 1989 to over 2,300 today and launched seventeen other churches." The author's sole credential is that he has made the Purpose Driven principles work by seeing the requisite numerical growth.

I have little doubt that this book can help many churches move from being "program-driven" (which is synonymous with "traditional") to purpose-driven. There is a logical model to follow, there are plenty of practical examples, and many blanks to fill in as part of the workbook section in the back. Those who believe that Purpose Driven churches are the wave of the future, will find much here to praise and imitate. Those who believe Purpose Driven churches are tearing the Christian world to pieces will similarly find plenty to support their belief. I am no lover of Purpose Driven principles, so allow me to point out some of my foremost concerns with the book.

First, the principles within this book are steeped in pragmatism. What works is elevated far above what Scripture teaches. If it works, in the author's view, it must be good. This is, of course, consistent with The Purpose Driven Church which is modeled as much on Peter Drucker as on the Bible.

Second, the author misuses Scripture. In a vain attempt to lend Scriptural credence to the book, the author bases the process of transition on the model of Nehemiah, who led the Israelites in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. Many of these parallels are forced and the Scripture simply does not support the conclusions. For example, when discussing the reality and inevitability of opposition, Southerland writes about Sanballat and his opposition to Nehemiah's work (see Nehemiah chapters 2 and 4). Of course there is vast difference between opposition raised by a hostile unbeliever and a concerned believer! Southerland, though, groups all those who oppose change as Sanballats.

Third, the author does away with biblical models of leadership. One of the necessary steps in moving to a Purpose Driven church is to make the church staff led instead of committee/deacon led. Rather than having a plurality of elders, a church should have a vision team which is composed of dreamers and power brokers, so that the church becomes led by those who dream big and those who have the money and power within the church.

Fourth, the churches the author proposes are custom-built to appeal to a very limited element of society. It is not mere chance that the author's church had the average age of attender fall nearly 20 years over his transition period. The church was custom made to appeal to a certain element of society at the expense of others. Who is building and planting churches designed to appeal to the elderly?

Fifth, there is little consideration given to whether this transition is right or biblical. We are to blindly accept that it is the way to do church and to begin the process, regardless of what other church members may desire. The first step in transition is creating a vision. This teaching about vision is something that is in-line with the teachings of Schuller, Warren, Wilkinson, Blackaby and the New Age - we are to dream a big dream, call it vision, and raise that up as our standard. Decisions are made and programs are accepted or rejected based on their conformity to this vision. Yet this vision is created by a man. He may ascribe it to God and it may be biblical, but it needs to be regarded as a lower standard than the Word of God!

Sixth, the method is brutal in its dealing with opposition. There is no latitude given for those who oppose the change, even if they object on biblical grounds. Criticism is viewed as inevitable and unfortunate, but ultimately an attack on God Himself. The pastor is cautioned to remain on track with the change and not allow opposers to derail the process.

Those are a few of my concerns. Ultimately, if you are committed to being Purpose Driven, this book may help you avoid making some costly mistakes in transitioning your church, but I would urge you to spend some time studying the biblical concerns of the opponents of this movement. Determine for yourself if this movement is pleasing to God and if it really does represent the way God would have us "do church." For those who are opposed to the movement this book has little value. It does provide an interesting case study of the Purpose Driven Church in action but it will merely add fuel to your fire. There must be some better way to spend your money.

I wish I could rate it lower than a 1. It's far worse and more blatant than Rick Warren's Purpose Driven Church.

I found it interesting to note that he teaches you how to get rid of dissenters before he teaches you how to listen to legitimate complaints. After seeing their fellow church members kicked out, how will people with 'legitimate concerns' be willing to come forward?

The church growth apostasy (yes, APOSTASY) is taking over all denominations. I have seen it in Evangelical Covenant (rampant there) and being pushed on the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (you can see it all over their website in their 'igniting congregations campaign') Mennonites, Baptists, and the list is endless.

The older saints who just want the pure word of God, realizing that adding all the trappings to it is just distracting from the truth, are called 'sanballats' (leaders from hell). What a respectful way to treat fellow believers who may very well have legitimate concerns.

Take a stand against this apostasy. It will come to your church.

Are pastors so desperate for "success" as defined by this author they implement (what amounts to) power grab strategies. The author starts from an assumption that "church growth" can only be acheived through adopting the "purpose driven" format which is also assumed to be THE way to reach the "unchurched". According to the book, the pastor first needs to convince the congregation they've "lost their vision". The pastor casts a new vision which includes the implementation of the "purpose driven" format and attempts to sell it to the congregation. In order to make this work, old leadership must be dissolved and a new vision/transition team installed. Church members who reject or question this "transition" are seen as "whiners and complainers". A whole chapter is devoted to dealing with the opposition. The author tells pastors to know who the "power brokers" are in the congregation and get their support up front, otherwise you will have to "fight them" or "run them off". Southerland tells pastors to be willing to lose a significant portion of the congregation to this transition as some are "vision immune" (they can't catch the vision).

Why are churches and pastors eager to latch onto this gimmicky and commercialized way of doing church? The methods promoted in "Transitioning" are, in my opinion manipulative, contrived and unChristlike.

I am a memeber of a church that has just gone through a terrible time because of this book. Our pastor has been using it for almost three years and only told a handful of other people. It has caused many people to leave which is exactly what it predicts. This book advocates using people to get what you want.
The philosophy in this book is dangerous and based on worldly principles. Any pastor who is thinking of using this book should think twice. Our church went from a vital, growing church with a strong voice in our community to one with almost cult-like characteristics. We as Christians need to remember that we do not operate by the world's standards. Growth is not marked by what the world thinks of us but by how God sees us. There is so much division in my old church now as a direct result of the ideas in this book. Chirst told us that people would know we were His disiciples by our love for each other. Praise HIS name!!

WARNING/WARNING/WARNING
This book is totally destroying our church along with distorted teaching from Experiencing God. This out with the old and in with the new methodology is leaving destruction of biblical truth in its wake as it seeks the Pragmatic (Who cares about the doctrine as long as it produces results/success) The result in our church is "biblically bankrupt" people who are totally dependent upon divine "vision" from our staff (Powers that be)
A group of believers in God's word and the completed work of Christ on the Cross is going to stand for truth this next Sunday in our church and refute this twisted teaching.

Perhaps we should look at the author's agenda and this will give us true insight about what this book is really all about.

Southerland said, "When you first come to a church, especially right out of seminary, most of your members are older than you are, and they have all been there longer than you have. But if you stay at a church long enough, you get to a place where you are older than they are and have been there longer than they have been."
When he started at FRC, Southerland said, he was 33 years old. At that time, the median age of the congregation was 51 years old. Eleven years later, the median age is 33 years old, and he has been there longer than 90 percent of the congregation.

"That's called power and authority to lead change," Southerland said. "You don't get that by moving from church to church. You get that by going somewhere and staying where you are."

Where is Christ's Power and Authority in all of this you ask? I fear many in our church will find this out the hard way if they continue to follow this ideology.

Mark<

How can the author propose such pure sinful processes for taking over a church? How can anyone who used the tactics in this book ever take communion again. This is the most disgusting book I have ever read.

This is a "how to" book for church leaders intent on becoming a Contemporary Church. From a Fundamentalist perspective, it is a means of changing the message and method of local church ministry so as to become more attractive to people by using marketing techniques more appropriate for the supermarket. If you want to build a ministry that is short on message and long on appeal to worldly people, then this is the book for you. If you care about the message that people really need to hear, more than appeasing their status quo, this book will serve as a warning of what not to allow in your church under any guise.

During the first 15 years of his pastorate, Rick Warren saw Saddleback Community Church grow from one family (meeting in a home) to a weekly attendance of 10,000, while planting 26 other churches. In 1995 he completed THE PURPOSE DRIVEN CHURCH (Zondervan Publishing House), a handbook that offered churches a process for turning from being driven by tradition, finances, programs, personalities, events, seekers, & buildings. In their place he suggested being driven by the five purposes of Christ for the New Testament Church. TRANSITIONING, by Dan Southerland, combines the story of Nehemiah's rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem, with his own experiences moving his congregation (Flamingo Road Church) from a tradition bound church to a purpose-driven one. Dan offers a plan for transition while warning of some of the pitfalls to avoid along the way. In my opinion, THE PURPOSE DRIVEN CHURCH & TRANSITIONING should be companion pieces for the pastor, board, or concerned constituent who wants to see God make a dynamic change in the direction/ministry of their church. You will probably not buy in to everything that either author says. But, you will secure a foundation for the process.

I bought this book as a resource for work with my church's Master Plan Committee. The book references Nehemiah's story, although I cannot tell if the transitioning methods were derived from Nehemiah. The preparing for vision section was helpful and useful. The definition of purpose section was thin. There was little on development or articulation of core values. Some of the implementation sections seemed Machiavellian in style. Probably a good resource on implementing when you are sure of what God wants the church to do. The book is an engaging read. It is highly quotable.