Leading Beyond the Walls: Developing Congregations with a Heart for the Unchurched

by Adam Hamilton

Good pastoral leadership is not a "by the numbers" proposition. It is a matter of heart and soul, of devoting the whole self to the vision God gives for the congregation in which one serves. Yet neither is it purely intuitive; it requires hard, careful thinking about the directions and details of the path down which God calls. When Adam Hamilton became pastor of the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection, its membership consisted of himself and his family. Ten years later the church averages between five and six thousand worshipers per weekend. Throughout this remarkable period, Hamilton learned many serious lessons about both the broad visions and the specific details of pastoral leadership. Bringing a depth of analytical skills often lacking in visionary leaders, in this book he goes beyond simply telling the story of Church of the Resurrection. He shares the questions that he learned to ask about the largely unchurched population to which Church of the Resurrection has reached out. Further, he demonstrates what he learned by listening to the answers to these questions, and how doing so has made possible a number of strategically crucial decisions the church has made. One of those crucial decisions was to make more traditional forms of worship and praise the center of the congregation's life. The result is that the example of Church of the Resurrection offers pastors and church leaders (especially those in mainline denominations) the realization that they need not completely change their liturgical and theological identity in order to reach out to the unchurched. Drawing on his own experience, as well as the detailed research on the characteristics of highly successful congregations he undertook during a sabbatical leave, Hamilton offers pastors and other church leaders solid, substantive thinking on steps that congregations can take to become centers of vibrant outreach and mission.

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Adobe Ebook 9780687026753
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Genres: Leadership, Religion, Church, Christianity

192 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Rev. Adam Hamilton is the founding pastor of the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas. He grew up in the Kansas City area. He earned a B.A. degree in Pastoral Ministry from Oral Roberts University and a Master of Divinity Degree from Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University.

The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection has grown from four people in 1990 to more than 16,000 adult members with an average weekly worship attendance of more than 8,600 in 2011. The church was listed as the most influential mainline church in America in a 2005 survey of American pastors.

Adam has been married 30 years to LaVon. They have two grown daughters.

Reviews

[Rob Markley · Rating 4 out of 5]

The value of this is that it comes from a very different style of church - a hugely successful, yet conservative and traditional denomination. Has lots of ideas to provoke thought as to how it might translate into other circumstances

[Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the monthly "learning" book that our District Leadership Team is all reading together for July. I am in charge of guiding our discussion so I try and get the books read a little ahead of time so that there is a little time for the information to ruminate in my mind.

Rev. Adam Hamilton is considered to be United Methodist royalty. Okay, no one would officially use that term, but honestly, that's how he is viewed. He planted a led a church that started in 1990 with 4 people and now averages over 18,000 weekly. There is no doubt that he has experience and wisdom.

That said, I felt that quite a bit of his suggestions regarding outreach and reaching those outside the church seemed pretty dated. For example, he highly praised direct mailings as being one of the best ways to reach people - especially singles and young adults. Now, it should be noted that this book was released in 2002, so I suppose that 12 years ago, that might have been the best option. (It begs the question from me as to why we are using material that is 12 years old to try and help train leaders to be more relevant to their communities.) I do appreciate that there is a lot that he talks about that maintains relevancy regardless of time/society.

This book was definitely written for pastors. As someone in a leadership position (but not a pastor) I felt that there was a lot that was not really meant for me/not as helpful for me.

He does offer a lot of really helpful insight into Biblical leadership and I really appreciated his chapter "Three Questions You Must Answer." The writing style is engaging and easy to follow. He addresses a lot of topics and I appreciated that he didn't shy away from less-glamorous topics because he recognized the importance of them. Overall, I would just rather read something that he has written in the last two or three years as I feel that he would have even more to offer.


Rating: 3.5 stars (of 5)

[Joey Reed · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book helped me to understand that pastoring a church and leading a church have a lot in common but are essentially two different things.

Good pastoral leadership is not a "by the numbers" proposition. It is a matter of heart and soul, of devoting the whole self to the vision God gives for the congregation in which one serves. Yet neither is it purely intuitive; it requires hard, careful thinking about the directions and details of the path down which God calls. When Adam Hamilton became pastor of the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection, its membership consisted of himself and his family. Ten years later the church averages between five and six thousand worshipers per weekend. Throughout this remarkable period, Hamilton learned many serious lessons about both the broad visions and the specific details of pastoral leadership.

[Raymond · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essentially reading for any Pastor

This book has been a breath of fresh air into my leadership thinking and leadership planning, with much applicable to my current situation in ministry and life.

Thank you Adam.

[Sarah]

Excellent book on how to Lead. All of the examples are about a large church or planting a church, but many principles are practical in all contexts.

[Jtp · Rating 3 out of 5]

written with an intended audience of pastors....but there's stuff here for all church members/faithful....Hamilton never fails to inspire and challenge....

[Roxanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent book about how to start a church, maintain the church, get people to come and what type of pastor to be.