Book Review: "Focus" (Willowcreek Study)
Hi All,
Recently completed the book "Focus" by Greg Hawkins and Cally Parkinson of Willowcreek. The sub-title of the book is "The Top Ten Things People Want and Need from You and Your Church". The book is the third in a series based on the Reveal study.
The Reveal research is based on responses from hundreds of churches and many thousands of church members. When Willowcreek 'revealed' their initial findings from the first book, entitled (surprise!) "Reveal", it created quite a stir. The reason for this is that Willowcreek made some changes to their philosophy of ministry, to a slightly more traditional approach, as a result of what they learned in the first Reveal study. Some people were very quick to attack them and use the results of the study as proof that Willowcreek had been wrong all along with their seeker approach. From my perspective, I see it that times and people and culture have changed and Willowcreek was pursuing its usual course of excellence by trying to find the very best way to do ministry in the current culture.
I've read all three books, Reveal, Follow Me, and now "Focus". Each have been helpful at increasing my understanding of some aspects of disciple making in the local church. The findings in the "Focus" book were helpful from the perspective of what people both need and want from the local church, but especially from the senior pastor.
I found the most interesting chapter to be "What do people want - and need from the Senior Pastor?" They listed six common expectations which people have of senior pastors:
Of these six, the one which was valued the most as a "driver of satisfaction" of the senior pastor was Preaching & Vision Casting at 51%. External Focus didn't event register on the list, and the lowest factor which did register was, surprisingly, Pastoral Care. That is, Pastoral Care & External Focus were not even significant factors in helping people to feel satisfied or happy with their senior pastor.
When they asked the question, "What do people NEED from the Senior Pastor?" (Not just what do they WANT), the answer chosen was Spiritual Challenge. In fact, Spiritual Challenge was significantly higher for every Christian at every stage of Christian growth. A couple of interesting conclusions from Willowcreek's study were that "Spiritual challenge is the senior pastor's most significant driver of spiritual growth" and also that, "Pastoral care does not contribute to spiritual growth".
In terms of what people are looking for when the pastor is preaching, the primary answer is "Spiritual Challenge". Spiritual Challenge, according to their study includes the following three elements:
The best advice from the book was found in the final chapter, p. 87, with this statement:
"As church leaders, we need to give people a place to belong and a pathway that guides them on their journey toward intimacy with Christ."
This statement deserves an entire blog commentary by itself. But for now, let me just say that if we as church leaders can help people to belong, and give them a pathway for spiritual growth toward Christ, we will be experiencing success in our mission to make disciples.
The book is helpful; I just wanted to hit a few of the highlights here that impressed me. Trust you will find it useful to your ministry.
In Christ's service,
Dr. Bill Miller
HighPowerResources.com
Power Tools for Pastors
Ministry Software for Churches
Recently completed the book "Focus" by Greg Hawkins and Cally Parkinson of Willowcreek. The sub-title of the book is "The Top Ten Things People Want and Need from You and Your Church". The book is the third in a series based on the Reveal study.
The Reveal research is based on responses from hundreds of churches and many thousands of church members. When Willowcreek 'revealed' their initial findings from the first book, entitled (surprise!) "Reveal", it created quite a stir. The reason for this is that Willowcreek made some changes to their philosophy of ministry, to a slightly more traditional approach, as a result of what they learned in the first Reveal study. Some people were very quick to attack them and use the results of the study as proof that Willowcreek had been wrong all along with their seeker approach. From my perspective, I see it that times and people and culture have changed and Willowcreek was pursuing its usual course of excellence by trying to find the very best way to do ministry in the current culture.
I've read all three books, Reveal, Follow Me, and now "Focus". Each have been helpful at increasing my understanding of some aspects of disciple making in the local church. The findings in the "Focus" book were helpful from the perspective of what people both need and want from the local church, but especially from the senior pastor.
I found the most interesting chapter to be "What do people want - and need from the Senior Pastor?" They listed six common expectations which people have of senior pastors:
- Serving Advocacy
- Spiritual Challenge
- Pastoral Care
- External Focus
- Preaching & Vision Casting
- Unity & Stability
Of these six, the one which was valued the most as a "driver of satisfaction" of the senior pastor was Preaching & Vision Casting at 51%. External Focus didn't event register on the list, and the lowest factor which did register was, surprisingly, Pastoral Care. That is, Pastoral Care & External Focus were not even significant factors in helping people to feel satisfied or happy with their senior pastor.
When they asked the question, "What do people NEED from the Senior Pastor?" (Not just what do they WANT), the answer chosen was Spiritual Challenge. In fact, Spiritual Challenge was significantly higher for every Christian at every stage of Christian growth. A couple of interesting conclusions from Willowcreek's study were that "Spiritual challenge is the senior pastor's most significant driver of spiritual growth" and also that, "Pastoral care does not contribute to spiritual growth".
In terms of what people are looking for when the pastor is preaching, the primary answer is "Spiritual Challenge". Spiritual Challenge, according to their study includes the following three elements:
- BIBLE: provides sound doctrine rooted in biblical accuracy
- MODELS: and reinforces how to grow spiritually
- CHALLENGES: me to grow and take next steps
The best advice from the book was found in the final chapter, p. 87, with this statement:
"As church leaders, we need to give people a place to belong and a pathway that guides them on their journey toward intimacy with Christ."
This statement deserves an entire blog commentary by itself. But for now, let me just say that if we as church leaders can help people to belong, and give them a pathway for spiritual growth toward Christ, we will be experiencing success in our mission to make disciples.
The book is helpful; I just wanted to hit a few of the highlights here that impressed me. Trust you will find it useful to your ministry.
In Christ's service,
Dr. Bill Miller
HighPowerResources.com
Power Tools for Pastors
Ministry Software for Churches
posted by Dr. Bill at
8:03 AM
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