Rating: 
Summary: A book to share with every leader in your church
Review: If you are serious about leading a church that dares to reach out to those who have not experienced the freedom of knowing Jesus, this is the book for you. Mittelberg's practical and inisightful views will take away barriers (and excuses) that keep churches from joining God in His evangelistic adventure.Buy enough copies to widely share this book with leaders in your church. There are questions at the end of each chapter to help with individual reflection or group discussion leading to action. I can't wait to see what God will do with churches that choose to take Mittelberg up on his challenge of 10% conversion growth per year. Thanks, Mark, for raising the evangelistic bar for the Church, and for offering a practical way to make it happen.
Rating:
Summary: Culturally relevant and theologically accurate
Review: Mr. Mittelberg's challenge is one that I hope every church leader will take on. It is encouraging, practical and able to be adapted to any church that wants to feel the excitement of seeing friends, family and their community impacted by the love of Jesus through the local church.
Rating:
Summary: Culturally relevant and theologically accurate
Review: Mr. Mittelberg's challenge is one that I hope every church leader will take on. It is encouraging, practical and able to be adapted to any church that wants to feel the excitement of seeing friends, family and their community impacted by the love of Jesus through the local church.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't Bother
Review: Our Pastor had his leadership team read this book, which I did. I was ultimately disappointed in the book. The book was written in the “I did this” format, and for a Christian author to write such a book in such a manner is sad. The only reason the examples given in the book were successful was because God allowed them to be successful. I will give credit where credit is due, the examples are of people (and the author is included in this) who were willing to work for God. When reading the book it was more “I did this” and was centered not on Jesus Christ but on what the author had done. What you will read in this book is not new. There are some good ideas that you could implement in your own church, but these examples are not new nor are the ideas. The whole key to understanding this book is, you have to be willing to give of yourself, you have to minister to those around you in a method that they are comfortable with, and your ministry has to be relevant to those you are providing ministry to. Example, you would not start a “sports ministry” in a community of senior citizens. One other complaint, and this really deals with most “Christian authors” and their “books” – what they sell them for. The list price for Building a Contagious Church is (amount) and to again be candid, as with most “Christian books” that supposedly teach and/or share about God’s ministry – this price is pretty steep. The question is why? If these words are being written for God’s glory and to increase His kingdom – why is the author who is a Christian profiting from these writings and especially if these writings are at the “direction” of the Holy Spirit and were guided by the Holy Spirit (not in the same way as the words given to the authors of the Bible).
Rating:
Summary: Buy The Book Used ... Nothing New
Review: Our Pastor had his leadership team read this book, which I did. I was ultimately disappointed in the book. The book was written in the “I did this” format, and for a Christian author to write such a book in such a manner is sad. The only reason the examples given in the book were successful was because God allowed them to be successful. I will give credit where credit is due, the examples are of people (and the author is included in this) who were willing to work for God. When reading the book it was more “I did this” and was centered not on Jesus Christ but on what the author had done. What you will read in this book is not new. There are some good ideas that you could implement in your own church, but these examples are not new nor are the ideas. The whole key to understanding this book is, you have to be willing to give of yourself, you have to minister to those around you in a method that they are comfortable with, and your ministry has to be relevant to those you are providing ministry to. Example, you would not start a “sports ministry” in a community of senior citizens. One other complaint, and this really deals with most “Christian authors” and their “books” – what they sell them for. The list price for Building a Contagious Church is (amount) and to again be candid, as with most “Christian books” that supposedly teach and/or share about God’s ministry – this price is pretty steep. The question is why? If these words are being written for God’s glory and to increase His kingdom – why is the author who is a Christian profiting from these writings and especially if these writings are at the “direction” of the Holy Spirit and were guided by the Holy Spirit (not in the same way as the words given to the authors of the Bible).
Rating:
Summary: A Book Worth Giving to Others
Review: Over the years I have discovered that there are many kinds of books. Some are not worth reading, some are good for personal enjoyment or learning, and then there are the books that I just have to give to others because I know they will gain as much as I did from reading them! Building a Contagious Church falls squarely in the third category. It is deeply practical, powerfully illustrative and it offers help in the most important task in all the world...telling others about the amazing love of God! This book is a treasure house of teaching on how to move a church from theory into action when it comes to the Great Commission. I have already given copies to all our church leaders who are part of our outreach ministry and I have given away over a dozen copies to friends who are pastors. I think a great book is one you feel you must give to your friends. In light of that test, Building a Contagious Church is one of the best books I have read in a long time.
Rating:
Summary: Not optional!
Review: Some books are optional--books you would like to read sometime and perhaps have your leaders read as well. Other books move immediately to the top of the priority list--where there's no time to wait--this is that book! I've been involved in intensive ministry situations for almost 15 years and wish that I had had this book available BEFORE I started. This will be a defining resource for every leadership team in every church and ministry around the world to read and process. Too many Churches are purposeless and going through the motions without making the life-changing eternal impact that they really desire. Mittelberg's book provides clarifies the values, provides transferrable principles, includes helpful diagrams and provides a resource appendix which network the reader and ministries with one another in a way that is unprecedented. A quick scan of the four pages of endorsements by such leaders as: Luis Palau, Rick Warren, Joe Stowell, Robert Coleman, John Maxwell, Becky Pippert, Paul Cedar and others is an indicator that for every person who attends a church--this book is...not an option--it's a requirement!
Rating: 
Summary: Good at Heart
Review: The authors deliver a good example of how Willow Creek has become a Contagious church. Willow Creek does many great things for the Kingdom of God, this book is not the best work they have ever published. While well intentioned, this book does a good job of presenting a model that would take most modern churches years to see implement. I know of a few examples of Churches who implemented this model and met it with limited success, and others who thrived on using this model. What I really appreciated about this work was how the author took ideas from many churches and incorporated them into his work. This was a very strong component of this book. Take for example, Mosaic Church in Los Angeles, the church that is 50 years ahead of everyone else, how they do a night where any questions can be asked, and how that particular service is held in a nightclub in Los Angeles. Thanks again to the author for incorporating many other models and programs into this book. This book is a great resource for many ideas. It delivers well on that front.
Rating:
Summary: Good at Heart
Review: The authors deliver a good example of how Willow Creek has become a Contagious church. Willow Creek does many great things for the Kingdom of God, this book is not the best work they have ever published. While well intentioned, this book does a good job of presenting a model that would take most modern churches years to see implement. I know of a few examples of Churches who implemented this model and met it with limited success, and others who thrived on using this model. What I really appreciated about this work was how the author took ideas from many churches and incorporated them into his work. This was a very strong component of this book. Take for example, Mosaic Church in Los Angeles, the church that is 50 years ahead of everyone else, how they do a night where any questions can be asked, and how that particular service is held in a nightclub in Los Angeles. Thanks again to the author for incorporating many other models and programs into this book. This book is a great resource for many ideas. It delivers well on that front.
Rating:
Summary: Don't Bother
Review: This book contains some good ideas for reaching out to people around us but is flawed at it's core. I am disappointed that it contains nothing on how to build people to maturity so that they are equipped to do the actual work of the ministry. Yes, outreach and evangelism are important but so is equipping the saints, glorifying God through worship, giving, serving etc. This books leaves me flat on a number of fronts....... I cannot recommend it. Lets stick to the word of God and stop running to every new fad that comes down the pike. If you want to ruin your church make sure that you follow his advice to have some "blessed subtractions"(page 128). Also, if you don't agree with this concept you need to be confronted for your sinful attitude(page 129). This makes me very nervous. And to top it off if you really want to make this concept work you have to tinker with your worship service to make it man centered so that the "seekers" will like the music, preaching, style, etc. Nowhere in the book does the author ever ask what does God think about any of this? It's all about pleasing man. He does use a lot of bible passages but mostly out of context. The bible teaches that we can join God in His grand redemptive plan or we can sit on the sidelines. Lets join Him in His work done His way.
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