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Church History for Modern Ministry: Why Our Past Matters for Everything We Do
With all the pressing demands of modern ministry, why make time to learn church history? Is it relevant to worship and ministry today? Pastor Dayton Hartman argues that church history is not old news, but a vital component of a healthy ministry.
In Church History for Modern Ministry, Hartman explores the importance of church history and shows how an understanding of our past can help us address contemporary issues. The faithfulness, discipleship, and perseverance of the early church can help today's church stand firm in times of change.
In Church History for Modern Ministry, Hartman explores the importance of church history and shows how an understanding of our past can help us address contemporary issues. The faithfulness, discipleship, and perseverance of the early church can help today's church stand firm in times of change.
112 pages, Paperback
Published February 17, 2016
13 people are currently reading
166 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
August 14, 2022
I found out halfway through this short book that his target audience is pastors. So that narrows its applicability. If you’re a pastor and have never considered the importance of church history, this is a helpful introductory resource. If you’re looking for something more than that, look somewhere else.
August 27, 2022
Read for my upcoming church history course. Quick and helpful read.
October 27, 2018
This short book can be useful to pastors, church planters, and those aspiring the call to gospel ministry. Church leaders who read this as a team could be encouraged and inspired by those who have gone before them. Hartman’s thesis is simple: ministers should know church history of the past in order to gain insight for their present ministry with kingdom hope for the future.
Strengths
1) references key figures for future study.
2) the chapter on culture is good.
3) short, simple, and digestive in form.
4) application questions for each chapter.
5) Clearly written.
Weaknesses
1) Hartman can be funny. But sometimes he tries to be too funny. To be fair, this is subjective on my part.
2) Hartman can seem a little pushy or can be overly zealous with regard to his thesis. But perhaps a lot of his personality is coming out in these moments. This is why I give it 4 stars.
Overall, this is a good and useful book.
Strengths
1) references key figures for future study.
2) the chapter on culture is good.
3) short, simple, and digestive in form.
4) application questions for each chapter.
5) Clearly written.
Weaknesses
1) Hartman can be funny. But sometimes he tries to be too funny. To be fair, this is subjective on my part.
2) Hartman can seem a little pushy or can be overly zealous with regard to his thesis. But perhaps a lot of his personality is coming out in these moments. This is why I give it 4 stars.
Overall, this is a good and useful book.
November 20, 2025
Great introduction for the need to understand and study church history. This book discusses the benefits of studying church history and gives helpful insight on certain movements within church history while also providing introductory characters to dive deeper into on your own personal time. The end of the chapters were the best with the personal challenges and recommended readings. Alas, had to give it 4 stars. Docked it a star because it was so obviously written to pastors that a non-pastor would not feel like a target audience when reading it. Still superb, and a hurdle that people could get past. But I wish it wasn’t so blatantly obvious the book was written to a <1% of people in the world.
April 23, 2018
This is a short and helpful book. This is a brief introduction to some of the key figures and movements throughout church history, but there is tremendous value in the recommended reading at the end of each chapter and at the end of the book. While this book is not a thorough analysis of church history, it does make a case for how church history can and should be used in the life of the local church. This is a great introductory read for anyone who is hoping to get started as a student of church history and especially for pastors hoping to use the blessing of church history in their ministries.
November 19, 2025
Great introduction for bringing the history of the church to bear on the contemporary church and how we minister the Word.
The Church needs to know that their faith does not exist in a vacuum. No, ours is a catholic, apostolic, and orthodox faith (Not a Roman faith, but a catholic faith - in that, it is the one true people of God bearing witness to the same drama and doctrines of the Gospel at many times and in many places). Very practical tips on how to begin integrating the history of the Church in our churches today.
Lord, make us one with all Your people who are truly Yours.
The Church needs to know that their faith does not exist in a vacuum. No, ours is a catholic, apostolic, and orthodox faith (Not a Roman faith, but a catholic faith - in that, it is the one true people of God bearing witness to the same drama and doctrines of the Gospel at many times and in many places). Very practical tips on how to begin integrating the history of the Church in our churches today.
Lord, make us one with all Your people who are truly Yours.
January 19, 2021
This book makes a relatively brief but solid case for ministry leaders to have a basic understanding of church history, and gives lots of resources so it’s accessible to those with both passing and deep interest. The Church is so often focused on the future, he says, and understanding the past is the key to solid footing in the future so we don’t repeat heresy.
The content is good but this book is even better for its annotated bibliography—I’ve added a lot of books to my TBR!
The content is good but this book is even better for its annotated bibliography—I’ve added a lot of books to my TBR!
February 17, 2025
Excellent read
From a pastor to pastors the author makes a great argument for why pastors need church history both for their lives and their ministries. The book is not merely theoretical but also practical in how to implement historical practices in local churches.
From a pastor to pastors the author makes a great argument for why pastors need church history both for their lives and their ministries. The book is not merely theoretical but also practical in how to implement historical practices in local churches.
August 25, 2021
A really good starting place for pastors interested in exploring church history.
June 28, 2023
Easy to read and practically helpful!
November 25, 2023
A good little book that ultimately falls short of its goals. It’s a good start, but barely scratches the surface.
May 20, 2024
Helpful for those looking to deepen their understanding of the intersection of theology, church history, and modern culture. Full of resources and reading suggestions. I highly recommend!
January 30, 2025
Okay book, not great. Written to pastors about church history. Very short and simplistic, too much so in my opinion.
December 25, 2025
4,5
simple, efficace et riche en détail qui nécessite d'être creusés ensuite.
j'ai trouvé que c'était une bonne introduction !
simple, efficace et riche en détail qui nécessite d'être creusés ensuite.
j'ai trouvé que c'était une bonne introduction !
April 5, 2016
I cannot say enough about the importance of this book for current pastors, lay leaders, future missionaries, and aspiring church planters. Dayton does us a favor by using "Church History for Modern Ministry" as a springboard into a more robust study of church history. I appreciate that Hartman does not try to cover every topic, but instead chooses to highlight across easy to read and accessible chapters the overwhelming importance of church history on how we practice ministry in the year 2016. History does have a way of repeating itself, no matter how much we think we have learned, and our forebears in the faith provide shoulders to stand on that give us a panoramic view of need to look back to move forward. It's this spirit that Dayton captures well throughout the book.
It's rare that appendices in a book are read, but Hartman delivers in Appendix 2 a masterpiece in understanding how to incorporate Creeds, Confessions, and Catechisms into the life of your church. As an aspiring church planter I found this to be extremely helpful in thinking through how we can incorporate ancient, biblically faithful expressions of faith into our church plant.
Also, at the end of the book there is a recommended reading list that is broken down into beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels of material. This is accompanied with a generous bibliography to help pastors, staff, and leaders begin their own journey into church history to mine the depths of Christian witness from ages past to help us faithfully serve the church today.
So why are you still reading? Buy a copy and begin the rewarding work of studying church history so that by God's grace you can be helped in leading your church well!
It's rare that appendices in a book are read, but Hartman delivers in Appendix 2 a masterpiece in understanding how to incorporate Creeds, Confessions, and Catechisms into the life of your church. As an aspiring church planter I found this to be extremely helpful in thinking through how we can incorporate ancient, biblically faithful expressions of faith into our church plant.
Also, at the end of the book there is a recommended reading list that is broken down into beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels of material. This is accompanied with a generous bibliography to help pastors, staff, and leaders begin their own journey into church history to mine the depths of Christian witness from ages past to help us faithfully serve the church today.
So why are you still reading? Buy a copy and begin the rewarding work of studying church history so that by God's grace you can be helped in leading your church well!
March 17, 2016
This excellent little book is a fantastic starting point for getting into Church History - as it looks at why we should be interested in Church History. The Author humbly shares his experiences coming from a background that didn't really consider what "has gone before", we get a Baptist Pastor sharing the blessings that the Holy Spirit can provide today through the work He was involved in throughout the centuries of Church History. This is also a great book for an introduction to the Creeds - in particular Apostles Creed and Nicene Creed.
I was also pleased to see a good set of references, so that this book can be a spring board into further study.
For me, whilst being brought up a Christian, really discovered Church History at about 18 years old - and this book did indeed renew the joy of that discovery :)
My only minor criticism is that I think he emphasises the American side of things a little too much - it would not take much for this to be a book that easily worked throughout the English-speaking world.
I thoroughly enjoyed it. It is an easy read. If you don't know what the Apostles Creed is, or you don't know who Luther or Calvin were, then grab this book and start on an adventure. For me the adventure is still going strong :)
I was also pleased to see a good set of references, so that this book can be a spring board into further study.
For me, whilst being brought up a Christian, really discovered Church History at about 18 years old - and this book did indeed renew the joy of that discovery :)
My only minor criticism is that I think he emphasises the American side of things a little too much - it would not take much for this to be a book that easily worked throughout the English-speaking world.
I thoroughly enjoyed it. It is an easy read. If you don't know what the Apostles Creed is, or you don't know who Luther or Calvin were, then grab this book and start on an adventure. For me the adventure is still going strong :)
October 17, 2021
I was pretty disappointed in this book. I really like what he was trying to do, but it felt really scattered to me. I was expecting more of a book on church history, but it’s really a book on ecclesiology and pastoral ministry that’s veiled in church history. I’m not sure if my expectations were warranted, but I found myself not enjoying the book very much
July 13, 2016
Absolutely fantastic. Well written and extremely crucial information. Won courtesy of Goodreads giveaways.
August 3, 2016
I won this book through Goodreads, I am not a real religious person but still found this book to be very interesting. I would recommend to anyone who may be curious.
April 11, 2017
Protestant Evangelicals have, for generations, minimized the value of Church history. In Church History for Modern Ministry: Why Our Past Matters for Everything We Do, Dr. Dayton Hartman (Ph.D. North-West University, and lead pastor at Redeemer Church in Rocky Mount, NC) seeks to remove the stigma that is associated with Church history by pointing out that the Protestant Evangelical heritage begins before Billy Graham was born.
I found the book layout to be quite intriguing. I reached out to Dr. Hartman to discuss some of the book’s content and he explained, as he does in the book, that the book is not so much academic as it is ministerial. The purpose of the book is to show that Church history is a key component of current Church ministry. Church history can show how God’s people have interacted with the text of Scripture, each other, and the culture at large for the past two-thousand years.
Hartman focuses on these three issues, because of their importance to Protestant evangelicals today. First Harman describes the Protestant position on Creeds and Confessions. Protestants have a strong attachment (rightly so) to the doctrine of sola Scriptura which pushes them (wrongly) away from the creeds and confessions that have been so helpful in instructing the Church and summarizing biblical truths. Studying and reciting these Creeds and Confessions, Hartman argues, will help to guide believers in their orthodoxy. He presents the Creeds as “guardrails” on the highway of theological thinking.
Next, Hartman argues that Protestant evangelicals have done a poor job of discipling one another and studying Church history can help. The first Christians (i.e. the early Church) devoted themselves to discipling one another. Those who immediately followed the earliest Christians continued in this tradition of discipling and would serve as a good example for Christians today.
Then, Hartman turns to the Church’s historic influence on culture and how Christians today can learn from the giants on whose shoulders we stand. Hartman spends two chapters explaining how the early Church influenced culture. The Church, Hartman argues, did this first by speaking the same language as the culture. This means that Scripture should be accessible to those who do not have a theological background. Not to say that the text should be altered to meet the culture, but simply that the text should be understandable. Hartman is essentially asking, if we are not able to communicate with our culture, how will we reach them with the Gospel?
The second way Hartman argues the Church influenced culture was by creating its own culture. Hartman laments that the Church has “Christianized” secular culture rather than creating its own culture that influences secular culture. He provides clear examples, such as Augustine’s City of God and Abraham Kuyper’s time as Prime Minister of the Netherlands, where Christians built up their culture in a distinctly Christian manner rather than simply taking what the culture had provided. In essence, Church history shows us that Christians can create new cultural phenomena, and Bible Man should not be a focus of the Church.
The book was very easy to read and has many helps to guide the reader to understand Hartman’s arguments. I’ll be honest, I had to look up some of the references to contemporary actors, movies, and musicians that Hartman mentions. But that is more an indictment of my social solitude than anything else! (Dr. Hartman, I remember dial-up and I waited a long time for some things to download, but I would never admit that one of those was a “Creed” song!)
Hartman includes definitions and brief biographies of key people he mentions in the text. In addition, the end of each chapter contains a summary of why the previous ideas are important in a ministerial context through a “Dear Pastor” letter. There are also action steps and a series of questions to help the reader think more clearly through how they can apply what. Hartman has written. Each chapter concludes with a recommended reading list including sources ranging from studies of contemporary authors/issues to the Church Fathers.
If you are reading this blog, you already study Church history at some level or have a desire to – Read Dr. Hartman’s book. If you’ve just happened upon the blog, and think that Church history is for those in the “ivory tower” of academia – Read Dr. Hartman’s book. It will challenge your chronological snobbery and, Lord-willing, break you of it so you can enjoy the heritage of the Christian Church.
I found the book layout to be quite intriguing. I reached out to Dr. Hartman to discuss some of the book’s content and he explained, as he does in the book, that the book is not so much academic as it is ministerial. The purpose of the book is to show that Church history is a key component of current Church ministry. Church history can show how God’s people have interacted with the text of Scripture, each other, and the culture at large for the past two-thousand years.
Hartman focuses on these three issues, because of their importance to Protestant evangelicals today. First Harman describes the Protestant position on Creeds and Confessions. Protestants have a strong attachment (rightly so) to the doctrine of sola Scriptura which pushes them (wrongly) away from the creeds and confessions that have been so helpful in instructing the Church and summarizing biblical truths. Studying and reciting these Creeds and Confessions, Hartman argues, will help to guide believers in their orthodoxy. He presents the Creeds as “guardrails” on the highway of theological thinking.
Next, Hartman argues that Protestant evangelicals have done a poor job of discipling one another and studying Church history can help. The first Christians (i.e. the early Church) devoted themselves to discipling one another. Those who immediately followed the earliest Christians continued in this tradition of discipling and would serve as a good example for Christians today.
Then, Hartman turns to the Church’s historic influence on culture and how Christians today can learn from the giants on whose shoulders we stand. Hartman spends two chapters explaining how the early Church influenced culture. The Church, Hartman argues, did this first by speaking the same language as the culture. This means that Scripture should be accessible to those who do not have a theological background. Not to say that the text should be altered to meet the culture, but simply that the text should be understandable. Hartman is essentially asking, if we are not able to communicate with our culture, how will we reach them with the Gospel?
The second way Hartman argues the Church influenced culture was by creating its own culture. Hartman laments that the Church has “Christianized” secular culture rather than creating its own culture that influences secular culture. He provides clear examples, such as Augustine’s City of God and Abraham Kuyper’s time as Prime Minister of the Netherlands, where Christians built up their culture in a distinctly Christian manner rather than simply taking what the culture had provided. In essence, Church history shows us that Christians can create new cultural phenomena, and Bible Man should not be a focus of the Church.
The book was very easy to read and has many helps to guide the reader to understand Hartman’s arguments. I’ll be honest, I had to look up some of the references to contemporary actors, movies, and musicians that Hartman mentions. But that is more an indictment of my social solitude than anything else! (Dr. Hartman, I remember dial-up and I waited a long time for some things to download, but I would never admit that one of those was a “Creed” song!)
Hartman includes definitions and brief biographies of key people he mentions in the text. In addition, the end of each chapter contains a summary of why the previous ideas are important in a ministerial context through a “Dear Pastor” letter. There are also action steps and a series of questions to help the reader think more clearly through how they can apply what. Hartman has written. Each chapter concludes with a recommended reading list including sources ranging from studies of contemporary authors/issues to the Church Fathers.
If you are reading this blog, you already study Church history at some level or have a desire to – Read Dr. Hartman’s book. If you’ve just happened upon the blog, and think that Church history is for those in the “ivory tower” of academia – Read Dr. Hartman’s book. It will challenge your chronological snobbery and, Lord-willing, break you of it so you can enjoy the heritage of the Christian Church.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews