Over the last couple of weeks I’ve been reading Who Stole My Church by Gordon MacDonald. Travelling back from the Digital Children conference at Cliff College I had a chance to finish it on the train. The concept of the book is a story, a narrative of an imaginary church in a New England town which examines issues and tensions that are experienced as a church goes on a journey of change.
During the narrative we see the Pastor of the Church meeting with a group of older people for a “Discovery Group” exploring their concerns and frustrations with change ranging from worship, name of the church, prayer, mission and more. Through the story I could recognise many of the characters in the people I have met in the four churches I have worked in. It reminded me of the fables that Patrick Lencioni has so brilliantly written.
I borrowed this book from my library but enjoyed it so much that I’ve added it to my wish list. It is a book that I would come back to several times to think how am I sharing vision, how am I enabling people to fill ownership of decisions, and some really interesting thoughts on how to bring different generations together in church something that I will reflect on more here on the blog in the coming days.