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| Simple Church: Returning to God's Process for Making Disciples | 
 enlarge | Authors: Thom S. Rainer, Eric Geiger
Publisher: B&H Books
Category: Book
List Price: $19.99
Buy New: $12.79
You Save: $7.20 (36%)
Buy New/Used/Collectible from $11.25
Avg. Customer Rating:  (79 reviews)
Sales Rank: 4112
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 272
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6 x 1.1
ISBN: 0805443908
Dewey Decimal Number: 248
EAN: 9780805443905
ASIN: 0805443908
Publication Date: June 1, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Good Ideas but not a lot of substance April 16, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I thought this book had some great ideas. Churches would do well to follow their advice in the busy world we live in. The only problem is that they could have made it about a quarter the length they did. I have never read such a repetitive book before. They say about 4 interesting things in the book and then repeat them over and over and over and over and over again with basically the same language. It was a very tough read for me because I was fairly bored for most of it. That being said, it's a good book for church leadership to read and discuss.
Becareful April 1, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Some Churches take this simplifying mentality a bit too far and ruin a living body. This book could be the best for some and dangerous for others.
 The book is simple, the plan is simple. March 31, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a good book and a fast read. Not mind-blowing, but certainly eye-opening. If you want to read it even faster; I'll sum it up for you; 1. Over-programmed churches confuse people and eventually all of the programs begin to suffer as they compete for people's mental and calendar space. 2. Successful, growing, churches eliminate all programs expect those that support and feed into their primary (and VERY simple) mission. The only improvement I might make is simplifying this book about simplicity. I imagine the authors could cut about 30 pages and have no problem still getting the message across loud and clear.
 Great premise. Abundant in statistical research. But, compromises the sufficiency of scripture. March 17, 2008
3 out of 8 found this review helpful
Okay, I must admit, I had high expectations for this book. Since I went to Southern and knew the quality work that Rainer has done in the past, I expected no less than the best. Maybe I overshot myself just a tad, because the book wasn't all that great to me.
Sure, the premise is absolutely true. Too many committees, too many programs, too many annual events bog a church down and cause them to lose their gospel focus. But MY reason for simplifying things is different than that of the book.
For the book, it is simply a matter of pragmatism. Do what your church can do best, do it often, and keep that your focus and your church will grow.
For me, I do it because the Bible calls legalism a sin. And most churches treat their committees, events, music, programs, etc as being on par with Scripture and refuse to let them go or change them with the demands of the changing culture or, more important, the demands of the church conforming to the image of Christ. That tight grip on "churchy" things is legalism and that is a sin.
Losing your gospel focus is not just what keeps your church from growing, it is a SIN issue. It is often what causes church discipline problems, church splits, hurt families, etc. Avoiding those problems would be my reasoning for reevaluating the church and cutting off some of the cancerous cells. Having it grow my church is just icing on the cake.
And this is my main problem with Rainer's book. He avoids the obvious theological/biblical evidence why simple churches seem to grow and instead goes the pragmatic route as evidence why it works.
Another, less important issue I have is their fixation on the corporate world. Almost every chapter has a story about a corporation that simplified and refocused their goals. Why? Who cares if it works for them? The church is not a corporation. In fact, here are the Bible's words for the church:
Bride
Body of Christ
Sheep
Gathering
Army
Corporation? Not in the Bible. So why use businesses as examples? All the evidence you ever need is already in the Bible itself. This is called the sufficiency of scripture. I like the examples of the churches that have implemented these principles, but the other examples I could care less about.
You want a model of church simplification that has a theology behind it and takes seriously the sufficiency of scripture? Read Mark Dever's books: 9 Marks of a Healthy Church and The Deliberate Church.
 Every Ministry Leader should read. March 9, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
We read this as Staff and Elders of a 100+ family church, and it helped us enter into new (and old) directions and proceedures. We figured out that we had entirely too much organization and far too many rules.
If you let it, this will revolutionize your view of how to do church.
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