Behold, I Do a New Thing: Transforming Communities of Faith

by C. Kirk Hadaway

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• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0829814302
• ISBN13: 9780829814309
• Release Date: September 2001
• Publisher: Pilgrim Press
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 2.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.1" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

The best book I've read on Transformational Ministry

Is your church struggling? Then read this book. C. Kirk Hadaway is an intelligient and faithful Christian who has studied churches for over 20 years. He correctly points out that most congregations in decline hope to change their fate by calling a "new, dynamic" pastor. He argues this is the wrong place to start. Instead, he urges congregations to ask FIRST the questions "What is the church?" and "What business are we in?" It is only when a congregation discovers/rediscovers the identity and the purpose that God has given them, that they can be transformed, and transforming. This book is not naive, nor does it offer quick fixes. What is does provide is practical advice as to how a church can become an incarnational community, versus being merely a club, company, or a group of followers. Great book, very thought provoking.

Helpful, especially the analysis of "goal displacement"

Hadaway is one of a number of people working towards renewal of the mainline denominations. In the first chapter he identifies the problem of goal displacement -- "a process by which the primary mission of an organization is replaced by operative goals that have little, if anything, to do with the organization's original reason for being." Hadaway suggests that this has happened in our churches: "Many churches which began as life-saving clubs for their community slowly become more like clans, gangs, or social clubs through goal displacement. They forget why they exist and what they are for." He calls for radical transformation. "Churches should ask themselves, 'What business are we in?' And once they (re)discover their business, they should stick to it." The rest of the book is devoted to offering tools, models, and suggestions for how to reclaim a transformational vision in the local church.