Books To Read To Help You Understand Why We Do Church The Way We Do It

1) Inside the Mind of Unchurched Harry and Mary by Lee Strobel - Great book on what those outside the church think about those inside the church. It is a little dated. It was written in 1993, but it is still a great book.

2) Simple Church by Thom Rainer - This book is the result of a research project that shows that the churches with the simplest approaches to ministry are the most effective in reaching and growing people. A key idea that it teaches is that in church life - less is more.

3) 7 Practices of Effective Ministry by Andy Stanley and Lane Jones - Great book on the strategy of church. By the way, most churches don't have a strategy to accomplish anything. Most only have a vague idea of what they want to accomplish.

4) Can We Do That? by Andy Stanley and Ed Young - These two pastors talk about the innovative approaches that their churches use to reach people and grow people. It begins to help you think outside the box that most churches are locked in to.

5) The Bible (especially the Book of Acts)by Jesus - There is nothing like a fresh reading through the Bible to point you outward to the fields that are white unto harvest. Nowadays it seems like many pastors (and churches) just want to blame those in the fields for not being spiritual enough to come to church. I think we missed the part about going to get them.