Book Review 1: Change Your Church for Good by: Brad Powell.

This review is for: Change Your Church for Good by Brad Powell.




Change Your Church for Good by Brad Powell, is a book written for church leaders and pastors interested in church revitalization. It is a very well-written and logically presented book. Powell seems to be a very organized writer and structures the book into five parts: The first describes (quite accuratley) the state of the North American Church. The second part describes the type of leaders needed to facilitate the change that is needed, the third part describes mission and vision casting, the fourth part is the execution and the fifth is a sort of epilogue.

One thing here is certain, This book was not written for me. I'm in my mid twenties, I'm part of what's called the “emerging generations”, this book is clearly written to pastors and leaders from the Baby boomer and Gen-X generations. I say that , mainly because of the tone of the book. Powell comes across as downright arrogant in certain sections. This, however is where I must confess my own bias. I recently read another book that was written along the same lines but to my generation. Dan Kimball's “They Like Jesus But Not The Church” says many of the same things that Powell is saying but he comes across much more humble (almost annoyingly in some sections) than Powell. Please do not misunderstand me I'm not saying that Powell and baby boomers are arrogant, but the language used is highly propositional and can come across that way to post-modern enculturated kids like me.

One last point. At one place in the book, Powell make the comment: “Everything rises and falls on leadership” I cannot stress enough how much I disagree with this statement. Everything rises and falls on Jesus, and the Gospel. My only real issue with the book is that it reads like a business plan. Much of the advice can easily be transplanted to the business world. The church is not a business, everything rises and falls on the head of the church: Jesus Christ.

Final Word: This is a great book if you are 40 or over and a church leader or pastor of a church that needs revitalization. If you're younger than that, it's good, but you'll get more out of Kimball's book.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com <http://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 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”