Rainer delivers again: Reviewing Thom Rainer’s Anatomy of a Revived Church
This past Wednesday, I received a copy of Thom Rainer’s latest book, Anatomy of a Revived Church (order your own copy from Amazon). I was looking forward to reading this book since I heard this past fall that it would be released. Simply put, I am a huge fan of Thom Rainer, and particularly of his work in equipping pastors and churches for revitalization. With numerous titles addressing key facets of church revitalization, I have come to expect great things from Rainer. Anatomy does not disappoint.
In the book, Rainer observes seven key traits of churches which have experienced revitalization, turning from the brink of death to renewed effectiveness and growth. After reading the book, it is tempting to describe these seven traits as common sense, but as Rainer points out throughout the book, the problem is often not knowing what needs to be done. Indeed, perhaps the most sobering revelation of the entire book is that, “If given a choice between life and death, most people and leaders choose death if life requires substantive changes” (pg 13).
This observation, of course, is not original to Rainer. In fact, it was first made by Alan Deutschman in his article and subsequent book, both of which were titled Change or Die. The novelty is in the fact that Rainer has brought the same tendency of individuals and leaders in secular organizations to bear on churches.
I also appreciated the observation of one woman that Rainer quoted: “When our church started focusing on others instead of ourselves, the turnaround had already begun” (pg 129). This declaration is of profound importance in church revitalization because, so often, we equate statistical growth with health and vitality. In fact, statistical growth is one possible result of a church’s health and vitality, but it is not the only possible result. Neither is it guaranteed. And sometimes, it is delayed.
Indeed, in my own experience leading a church undergoing revitalization, our decision to prioritize others and engage the community preceded sustained statistical growth by several years, and even today, we have not experienced the sort of explosive growth that many equate with church health. Rather, we have found that, regardless of what the statistics seem to indicate, it is this change in focus which is the essence of revitalization. The implication of that statement, though, is that we may be revitalized without ever experiencing the sort of growth that denominational officials and others are looking for.
In the end, Rainer’s Anatomy of a Revived Church is not as extensive or intensive as some of his other works in the area of church revitalization (e.g., Breakout Churches). Even so, at just 139 pages in length, this book is quick to digest, and virtually every page includes some practical insight for pastors and other leaders of churches in need of revitalization.