Book review: "Church Unique", Will Mancini

This book was originally brought to my attention by Matt Hosier's blog and I'm very grateful that he did so.

If you're a church leader, no matter how large or small your flock might be, then give this book a strong consider for your to-buy list (I know, I know, my own to-buy list is eternally 50-plus, no matter how many I buy, beg, borrow or steal*, so I know what it's like whenever another leader recommends further material!) (*except the steal part. Honest.)

Will Mancini has a clear, deep-seated passion to see church leaders around the world press further into God's purposes for them, for those in their care, and for the communities around them. I'm always wary of books that appear to enjoy "corporate"-speak, and have pretty diagrams and flow-charts that visualise the "process" discussed and so on. This is the glorious church of Jesus Christ, and I'd hate for us to reduce His bride down to number-crunching and conveyor-belt systems that enable "growth". So, having said that, I trust you'll take my word for it that this is not one of those books. It is possible that upon a quick glance or a scan "Church Unique" can come across as such, but spend time digesting it and you'll see Mancini has the right heart for Scripture-based, Spirit-soaked dependence whilst still being deliberate for the kingdom.

So, what's so special about this book? I won't list all its features and points - this is a review not a rewrite! - but, in a nutshell, Mancini's message is this:

• Every church has a unique call by God.
• Vision-casting formulae cannot be lifted from one "successful" church and transferred to your own.
• We need to discover how to enable growth and health uniquely for ourselves.
  

A brief rundown of how Mancini helps us do so is thus:

• Discover your "Kingdom Concept": if we take a close look at the resources God's given us (always unique), combine them with the local need(s) (always unique), and filter them through what it is that most prayerfully stirs our leaders' hearts (always unique), we find our specific calling. Mancini says, "Whoever you are and wherever God has placed you, therein is uniqueness. Whoever co-labours with you, in front of you, behind you, all around you, therein is uniqueness." So true.
  
• Once discovered (over a decent period of time; it doesn't take a 2 hour meeting!), Mancini then leads us through how to ensure the vision is pursued: decent collaboration (team development, outside counsel, etc), articulating the vision through mission, values, strategy, and measures (he articulates these in a new way; read it to find out!), and the need for excellent communication and use of language.

And THAT's the slightest of overviews, so it skips all the meat, but I trust at the very least it captures the essence of the book.

Being deliberate in leading our churches is essential: take a closer look at Rev 19.7-8. Familiar verses to most, but as well as a glorious picture of a day to come, don't they also tell us of an intentional attitude? That we clothe ourselves, not wait to be clothed? We've got some work to do...

My own heart has always been that we learn increasingly how to be church, not how to do it. That's been the apostle Paul's message throughout his letters, and it compels me to pursue how we see that unfold for ourselves today. "Church Unique" is a book that helps us on our way.

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Naked tweeters

After the social networking outages this week, it appears the light has been shed on how much emphasis people place on internet "relationships"...

Read this CNN article on folks' responses: Twitter blackout panic

One girl's reaction was "I was pretty upset... It feels like a lifeline for me ..." Another said, "I did absolutely nothing. It's like my heart was gone."

Now, I've swum over to Twitter to reduce my online time, setting my Tweets to appear on Facebook automatically (a few seconds on Twitter saves me minutes or hours on FB; I tend to only go there for a message or an odd Scrabble move now, and it's done me the world of good...) And I'm determined to ensure I allow my posts/tweets to His advantage as well: by using such sites to actually network and to post Truth amongst my random movie references, it can be used for good and not for otherwise (I'm with John Piper on this)

For some, however, perhaps this past week would be a bit of a wake-up call, don't you think? Or perhaps not...
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How to ensure that "Every day's an adventure" with Him...

The reality of praying for our "daily bread"? Both immensely challenging and humbling.

(credos to Josh Harris for sharing)

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New Beacon Website!

Our new website for The Beacon Church is now alive and kicking on the interweb!

Big thanks to Tom Gillett from The City Church, Canterbury for all his hard work, patience and honesty as the site developed. He da man.

Click on the pic to check the site out...

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MJ tribute par excellence

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The ultimate prize

Everyone loves a prize. A child's reward for taking part in something - or for good behaviour - lights up their eyes like the wattage has just been cranked up to 11. And millions buy National Lottery tickets each week for the chance to live their dream(s). But how about competing for "salvation"?

Kanal T, a Turkish TV channel, are about to commence on a new gameshow that offers salvation to 10 atheists, each of whom meet a Muslim imam, a Catholic priest, a Jewish rabbi and a Buddhist monk - who themselves will attempt to persuade these atheists to convert to their particular religion. The reward for any that do will be a visit to that religion's holy site(s).

"Contestants will be judged by a panel of eight theologians and religious experts prior to going on the show to make sure their lack of faith is genuine," says the blurb. So why would they want to take part in the first place? Because they're hoping to find there is a God after all? For starters, that would prove to me that everyone has a desire deep within them - even if it's suppressed to the max - to search for God. And the whole concept has the potential to be staged and false in the first place. I'd wonder how genuine any 'conversions' would be. Why not seek out your local religious leaders in the first place? Oh, it's because you might get a free holiday out of it, that's right...

But you know what? Something else strikes me. Everything in this world is about receiving because of what we do. The kid being rewarded for good behaviour; the certificate for passing an exam or a course; the pay-rise for working well. And yet the Gospel - that Jesus paid the price which we in our selfish, lost position never could, and lives again that we might be freed from sin and from death - is all about a little word called 'grace'. That little word - a nuclear bomb of 5 letters - explodes all notions of self-worth or achievement. Nothing you or I can do will change how God saves us. No matter how hard I strive to do good works, or to please Him, or to get His attention; nor how little I think about Him during my day, or how much I let Him down. Nothing changes His love for me. Nothing warrants my salvation. Nothing builds up 'credit', or puts me ahead of anyone else. He did it for free. He did it for me. Because He loves me.

That's the ultimate prize.

(You can read about the gameshow in more detail here)
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