Rating: 
Summary: Excellent book on the Unchurched
Review: The uniqueness of this book's subject is what makes it stand out. Normally the book will be written on the ethos of the unchurched and how we should be attracting them to church. This book takes the same stand but its resources are the "formerly unchurched". That is, to survey those that came back and to write case studies from their viewpoints and not based on our pre-conceived ideas.This was an excellent book with plenty of lists and charts. It is obvious that this style of writting is by a Dean of a Bible College. No fluff here and maybe a bit too up-tight. The emphasis is placed on the preaching, doctrine and certitude that the unchurched are looking for. As the author stated that the doctrine was not what they loking for but rather in the certitude and the confidance that there are absolutes that matters most. The purpose of the book is to identify this people group from a different slant and then to evangelize, evangelize and evangelize again but in a much more effective manner thatn ever before. I found the following definition worth the price of the book: "We defined an effective evangelistic churchto be a church that has at least 26 conversion in the past year and a conversion ratio (Membership/annual conversion) of less than 20:1. The conversion ratio attempts to discern how many church members it takes to reach one person for Christ in a year. The national norm for churches in America is 85:1). Less than 4% of churches in America meet both criteria" The only downside of the book is that it did not include Pentecostal or Charismatic churches in the surveys that are replete throughout the book.
Rating:
Summary: Wow! A Breath of Fresh Air...
Review: Thom Rainer has done an excellent job in bringing us insights about the unchurched. No more seminars to attend. No need to squabble about this idea or this trend. No trying to change everything every week to please the folks who responded to the latest trends survey. People want warmth, friendliness, biblical preaching, and commitment. Rainer has the facts and stories to back it up. Wow! Rainer's book is worth reading if you're a pastor or church leader. He does repeat himself a little bit here and there, but he sheds a lot of light on the modern church. Paul Heier, author of Leading Out of Love
Rating:
Summary: Wow! A Breath of Fresh Air...
Review: Thom Rainer has done an excellent job in bringing us insights about the unchurched. No more seminars to attend. No need to squabble about this idea or this trend. No trying to change everything every week to please the folks who responded to the latest trends survey. People want warmth, friendliness, biblical preaching, and commitment. Rainer has the facts and stories to back it up. Wow! Rainer's book is worth reading if you're a pastor or church leader. He does repeat himself a little bit here and there, but he sheds a lot of light on the modern church. Paul Heier, author of Leading Out of Love
Rating: 
Summary: Dr. Doug
Review: Thom Rainer is president of Rainer Group Church Consulting as well as founding dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism and Church Growth at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. As such, we would expect him to have many interesting insights into church growth. He does not disappoint. In Surprising Insights From The Unchurched Rainer presents the results of a fascinating study he performed over two years. He decided that perhaps the best way of learning what principles of church growth work best would be to interview people who had only recently become Christians and begun to attend church on a regular basis. He and his team spent thousands of hours interviewing 353 of these people. And the results, as is obvious from the title of the book, are quite surprising. In the second half of the book, the focus turns to pastors of successful evangelical churches and seeks to understand what they do to bring success to their churches. The interviews performed by Rainer were focused on members of "effective evangelistic churches." Rainer defines these as churches with at least twenty-six conversions per year and a conversion ratio (membership/annual conversion) of less than 20:1. The average ratio in American churches is approximately 85:1. The two criteria eliminate 96% of churches. This leaves the elite 4% as the focus of the study. Through about 125 pages, Rainer reveals the results of his study. He begins by shattering myths about the unchurched. For example, his study found that the name of the church had almost no influence on the unchurched as they chose a church to attend. The pastor does not need to be a dynamic and charismatic leader for the church to reach the unchurched, and deep and complex Biblical truths do not turn the unchurched away. These insights seem to fly in the face of many principles associated the church growth movement. The factors that led people to choose a church were primarily the pastor and his preaching followed closely by solid, Biblical doctrine. Those two factors rated far ahead of any others. Once again, those would seem to contradict much of the church growth movement. Doctrine is so important that Rainer devotes an entire chapter to it. The second part of the book is devoted to insights gleaned from approximately 100 ministers who pastor effective evangelistic churches. The insights gained from these pastors are also fascinating. Perhaps the most interesting element of this section of the book is "Fifteen Lessons from the Leaders Whose Churches Reach the Unchurched." In this section, Rainer outlines fifteen lessons he learned in interviewing these men. He speaks of authenticity, the imperative of person evangelism, the need to retain strong doctrine and many other critical points. He also devotes attention to their leadership skills and preaching style. If ever I feel I have done injustice to a book in a review of it, this is it. Honestly, there are so many important principles in this book that they simply cannot be narrowed down to a few short paragraphs. This book is a treasure trove of information about the ways the most successful churches reach the unchurched. I unreservedly recommend this above any others regarding church growth.
Rating:
Summary: A Refreshing & Original Look At Church Growth
Review: Thom Rainer is president of Rainer Group Church Consulting as well as founding dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism and Church Growth at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. As such, we would expect him to have many interesting insights into church growth. He does not disappoint. In Surprising Insights From The Unchurched Rainer presents the results of a fascinating study he performed over two years. He decided that perhaps the best way of learning what principles of church growth work best would be to interview people who had only recently become Christians and begun to attend church on a regular basis. He and his team spent thousands of hours interviewing 353 of these people. And the results, as is obvious from the title of the book, are quite surprising. In the second half of the book, the focus turns to pastors of successful evangelical churches and seeks to understand what they do to bring success to their churches. The interviews performed by Rainer were focused on members of "effective evangelistic churches." Rainer defines these as churches with at least twenty-six conversions per year and a conversion ratio (membership/annual conversion) of less than 20:1. The average ratio in American churches is approximately 85:1. The two criteria eliminate 96% of churches. This leaves the elite 4% as the focus of the study. Through about 125 pages, Rainer reveals the results of his study. He begins by shattering myths about the unchurched. For example, his study found that the name of the church had almost no influence on the unchurched as they chose a church to attend. The pastor does not need to be a dynamic and charismatic leader for the church to reach the unchurched, and deep and complex Biblical truths do not turn the unchurched away. These insights seem to fly in the face of many principles associated the church growth movement. The factors that led people to choose a church were primarily the pastor and his preaching followed closely by solid, Biblical doctrine. Those two factors rated far ahead of any others. Once again, those would seem to contradict much of the church growth movement. Doctrine is so important that Rainer devotes an entire chapter to it. The second part of the book is devoted to insights gleaned from approximately 100 ministers who pastor effective evangelistic churches. The insights gained from these pastors are also fascinating. Perhaps the most interesting element of this section of the book is "Fifteen Lessons from the Leaders Whose Churches Reach the Unchurched." In this section, Rainer outlines fifteen lessons he learned in interviewing these men. He speaks of authenticity, the imperative of person evangelism, the need to retain strong doctrine and many other critical points. He also devotes attention to their leadership skills and preaching style. If ever I feel I have done injustice to a book in a review of it, this is it. Honestly, there are so many important principles in this book that they simply cannot be narrowed down to a few short paragraphs. This book is a treasure trove of information about the ways the most successful churches reach the unchurched. I unreservedly recommend this above any others regarding church growth.
Rating:
Summary: Surprising, but not shocking
Review: Thom Rainer of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary has done the church at large a great service in "Surprising Insights from the Unchurched." In what is basically the results and analysis (along with anecdotal evidence) of a survey, Rainer succeeds in identifying the major factors that influence the degree to which a church is likely to grow.
His methodology is both unique and extremely relevent as he surveys over 350 people who have not gone to church regularly for over ten years, then became regular attenders/involved in the ministry of a particular church within the recent past. He later interviews over 100 pastors of rapidly-growing churches. To this reader, an analysis of cold-hard facts based on statistical data and interviews is much preferable to some other books on church growth I've read--many of which offer Biblically-based theory or specific techniques. Rainer's book successfully blends these two.
While Rainer's righting style is machine gun-esque, rapidly firing fact after fact and statistic after statistic at the reader, the anectodal evidence does tend to soften the book, making it readable. However, even if the book read like a dictionary, the information and insights would be well worth the effort. By reading the book, I can readily identify a dozen short-term, long-term, and systematic changes/improvements that can be done to help in attracting more members.
Finally, it should be noted that while reading this book, one can tend to think in terms of "quid pro quo"--if I implement these ideas, then my church WILL grow. Rainer does contend (and I agree) that the ultimate cause of church growth is the Lord. He's the one guiding the process, the effectiveness, and the results. He uses different means and different people, each having different gifts. This book can be read either as a "how to" book or as a description of a series of churches/pastors who have an accurate and accepted knowledge of themselves, their church, and their mission (ie worship and evangelize). Recommended for church leaders and professionals.
Rating:
Summary: Dr. Doug
Review: Written in the wonderful style of his other books, Dr. Rainer has done it again. Every Pastor interested in reaching the unchurched MUST read this book. This is only the second book I have ever read that when I finished it, I went right to the first page and reread it again.
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