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

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Based on interviews with pastors of growing churches, as well as personal experience, this book identifies the most common mistakes pastors make that keep otherwise healthy churches from reaping the harvest God has prepared. Each chapter spotlights a common mistake, gives real-life examples, uses a generous dose of humor, and provides a practical course of action to recover from the error.

The book draws from the experience of Seacoast Church as well as pastors such as Craig Groeschel, Chris Hodges, Perry Nobel, Mark Batterson, Dave Ferguson, Scott Chapman, Dino Rizzo, Ron Hamilton, and Dave Browning,

Church leaders will be encouraged to realize that they are not the only ones who struggle, and that turning their situation around may not be as daunting a task as they think. This is a field guide for the common pastor based on actual churches of all sizes.

From the Publisher

Ten Stupid Things That Keep Churches from Growing Endorsements

In Ten Stupid Things That Keep Churches from Growing, Geoff Surratt brilliantly exposes commonly held beliefs that hold churches back. His practical insights will empower your ministry to push through man-made barriers to reach more people with the gospel.
-- Craig Groeschel, Pastor, of LifeChurch.tv

Most anyone can point out the mistakes pastors make, but only someone with a huge heart for leaders and the local church can offer proven solutions. My friend and advisor Geoff Surratt is just that person. Grab your journal and a fresh pen and get ready to take some notes--this book is like a master's degree in church leadership!
-- Nelson Searcy, Lead Pastor, of The Journey Church

Geoff Surratt has profound insights into the inner workings of the church. And he unpacks them in ways that are both practical and inspirational.
-- Mark Batterson

Geoff Surratt knows what it takes to grow and build a healthy church--he's done it as an integral part of the ministry team at Seacoast Church. Now he pulls back the curtain to let us in on the painful lessons he learned along the way and shows us how to avoid making the same missteps. It's a helpful read that just might save your church, your ministry, or your marriage.
-- Larry Osborne, North Coast Church, Vista, California

Geoff Surratt is the peanut butter and jelly for every piece of bread in today's church. He sees things others tend to miss and knows how to frame things in a way that will lift up and encourage those who listen to him.
-- Dino Rizzo, Pastor, of Healing Place Church

A veteran pastor once instructed me, "Take God seriously. Just don't take yourself seriously." Geoff strikes that balance with wit and wisdom. Any growth-oriented pastor will benefit from this book and probably will get a few belly laughs out of it too! The laughter helps the medicine go down.
-- David Browning

Ten Stupid Things That keep Churches from Growing is a must read for pastors and staff if you want your church to grow. This book is very practical--a great read and a useful reference for leaders in ministry. I love the chapter on promoting talent over integrity. It is so easy to try to fast-track leaders and not safeguard your ministry for continued growth. Thanks, Geoff! This is a great book.
-- Dave Ferguson, Lead Pastor, Cummunity Christian Church

Ten Stupid Things is an idiot's guide to church and ministry--and that's a good thing! Surratt's passionate style, pithy writing, and examples help us to think about our own situation with fresh eyes.
--Ed Stetzer, Author, of "Comeback Churches"

"Ten Stupid Things That Keep Churches from Growing will teach you things you will never learn in seminary but every pastor needs to know. Geoff Surratt brings a fresh, bold, and honest approach to ministry which will help you put the joy back in ministry. You'll get more than a lesson here - you'll get real life experiences from successful churches all across the country.
-- Chris Hodges, Senior Pastor, Church of the Highlands Church of the Highlands, Birmingham, Alabama

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Zondervan (May 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0310285305
• ISBN-13: 978-0310285304
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #17,030 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Blog Review, May 5, 2009

By	Michael Mears "Michaelmears.com" (Tallahassee, FL USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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/

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Who Are You Calling Stupid?, August 18, 2009

By	Chad Estes (Boise, Idaho, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Encouragement in a List, June 13, 2009

By	K. Martinez "Kim Martinez" (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.