Evaluating the Church Growth Movement: 5 Views

Counterpoints

by Gary McIntosh, Paul Engle

What exactly is the Church Growth movement? This timely volume in the Counterpoints series addresses the history of the movement that has become such an enormous shaping force on the Western church today, and it explores--in a roundtable forum of leading voices--five main perspectives on the classic Church Growth Each view is first presented by its proponent, then critiqued by the co-contributors. The interactive and fair-minded format allows the reader to consider the strengths and weaknesses of each view and draw informed, personal conclusions. Evaluating the Church Growth Movement concludes with reflections by three seasoned pastors who have grappled with the practical implications of Church Growth. The Counterpoints series presents a comparison and critique of scholarly views on topics important to Christians that are both fair-minded and respectful of the biblical text. Each volume is a one-stop reference that allows readers to evaluate the different positions on a specific issue and form their own, educated opinion.

Genres: Ecclesiology, Christian, Church, Theology

Paperback

First published October 1, 2004

Reviews

[C.T. Eldridge · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book gives a thorough examination of the church growth movement just after the turn of the millennium. I emphasize the timing of when the book was published, because (in my view) the book is now quite dated. If the same book were written today, I think the critiques and those chosen to make the critiques would be very different. Nevertheless, it was for me interesting and to a degree helpful to see how the writers were evaluating the movement at the time.

The book is very thorough even bordering on redundant at times. There probably could’ve just been three maybe four perspectives shared, and that would’ve covered the relevant issues. At times, it was hard to distinguish one author’s view from another’s, so why have so many?

Notably absent is any critique of the homogeneous unit principle. This absence is what I think makes the book most dated. None of the authors question HUP or share concerns about the ethnocentric and monocultural churches that it creates. Michael Emerson’s book “Divided by Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America” had only recently been published when this “Five Views” book came out, and these authors theologically formative years were well behind them when “Divided by Faith” changed evangelical consciousness. So you can expect zero engagement with the nature and consequences of HUP in this book.

[Jeremy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Helpful read for understanding missiological movements and theological evaluation etc.

[Brandon Current · Rating 2 out of 5]

Don't Read. This book focuses more on the history and development of the specific "Church Growth" movement, not a debate about theological implications of various church growth strategies and emphasis in general. Much of it is spent on debating what the original leaders of the movement intended rather than what our attitude towards growth and outreach strategies should be. There were some helpful discussions, particularly from the last two views, but all in all, not a very useful book to anyone other than church historians.

[Jon Sherwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book forcing me (and I would presume many others) to take a look at why some of our foundational assumptions are there toward our understanding of church growth ... for we are to evangelize the world in our generation! (aren't we?) ...