Church Ministry

A book of general interest which calls the church to a careful review of its mandate is Gene A. Getz, Sharpening the Focus of the Church (Chicago: Moody Press, 1974, 280). Getz urges us to look at the church through three lenses—Scripture, history, and culture—to arrive at an understanding of its nature and function, to develop a contemporary church strategy, and to orient its leadership. This is a useful, highly readable book which calls attention to the church in its North American setting.

In 1947 Alexander R. Hay published The New Testament Order for Church and Missionary (Audubon, NJ: NT Missionary Union, 4th ed., n.d.). This book has been widely used as a missionary training manual. The usefulness of this book is its thorough attention to the biblical data, which is then cast into a programmatic scheme for church planting. Its weakness is that it assumes all churches to be organized in the same manner without regard to cultural milieu. There is value in {31} such a book only if it is counter-balanced by authors who approach the same questions from other viewpoints.

We are indebted to Lawrence O. Richards, a prolific evangelical writer, for a very stimulating book, A New Face for the Church (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1970, 288 pp.). The character and tone of this book is best summarized by the terse comment on the fly-leaf of the cover: “If your mind is closed to change, if you feel the church must go on as it is, then Mr. Richard’s look into the future is not for you.” The problem of change in the church is always a difficult one because it means that comfortable, time-honored assumptions and patterns will be left behind. Richards will probably jolt you; he may anger you, but he will also stretch your thinking. We recommend this book for good, provocative reading; even though we may not choose to follow it, it is sure to enlarge our minds.

Two particularly valuable books which qualify as “must” reading for every perceptive church member are Howard A....