BECOMING A CONTAGIOUS CHURCH
Increasing your church’s evangelistic temperature
By Mark Mittelberg. Zondervan. 206 pages. £8.99
ISBN 978-0-310-27919-8
Why are washing powder adverts compelling? The computer animation shows all the dirt effortlessly removed when you use the new improved formula. You want cleaner clothes, don’t you? And just look how happy and bright these people look after using it!
This book is rather similar. After all, who doesn’t want their church to be more evangelistic? In nine easy-to-read chapters the author lays out the ‘six stage plan’ a church leader can take to unleash an array of new opportunities. Much of what Mittelberg says is entirely true: you need leadership, you need to be organised, you need to have flexibility, you need to engage all members, not just an elite corps, and above all you need to lead by good example. He is also clear that the core message of the gospel must not be compromised (there is a good explanation of substitutionary atonement!) and that prayer is needed at every stage.
