Transforming Church in rural America by Shannon O'Dell Book Review

Transforming Church in Rural America by Shannon O'Dell is a great book for a pastor or leader who wants to grow their church.  Who doesn't want this?

I found this book informational mostly because I really don't know anything about the inner workings of a church.  I could also clearly see some of the things he referred to being problems in my own church.  I chuckle each time I leave my own sanctuary with its dedicated pews and brass plaques on everything from the Chandeliers to the stained glass windows.  I could only imagine the fight over removing some of these things.  Our church building dates back to the 1800's and even though it burned to the ground once it was rebuilt and dedicated to the original families that built building one.  Oh yes, what a fight that would be.

While I don't lead a church I can see where the information presented could be used in other work related areas and plan to use it with my own teams in the future.  This also gave me some ideas to get more involved in the church and offer my talents to helping build the team.

This book also made me reflect on church splits.  What caused them and where the two sides are now.  So as a non-Pastor I found this book brought me a lot of insight and wisdom I do plan to pass my copy onto my Pastor.  I don't hold out much hope for removing the brass plaques though.