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Reviewed by Rev. Patricia Farris, Senior Minister, Santa Monica First United Methodist Church Bursting the Bubble: Rethinking Conventional Wisdom about Church Leadership Abingdon Press, 2008 $16.00… $11.20… 30% off until May 1 Almost fifteen years ago, as a newly-appointed district superintendent, I visited with each of the pastors in my district. Their bookshelves all displayed the work of the then current gurus of church diagnosis, analysis, and prescription. Finding ourselves in a new “strange land,” the uncharted territory of change, there was something ranging from curiosity to desperation in the search for answers and for direction. What was this strange new church world we found ourselves in? Why were the old tried-and-true formulas no longer working? Was the glass half-empty or half-full? And what were we to do? Who were we to be? How were we to lead? The intervening years have produced countless subsequent books, theories and prognoses. Pastors are looking to Jesus as CEO, or to the Bible for models of leadership, or to business models for church-friendly approaches. Mega-church pastors and church consultants are offering myriad training options. There is no less curiosity about all this now as then, but no less desperation either. The few “success” stories seem to be the exceptions that prove the rule. While providing glimpses of inspiration, they can also become channels of envy and guilt. Why success there and not here? Why growth there and not here? What am I doing wrong? Dan R. Dick, Research Coordinator at The General Board of Discipleship of The United Methodist Church, pushes past easy solutions and popular wisdom approaches. Echoing the words of his Hebrew Scripture professor, saying, “you may think you know a lot about the Hebrew Scriptures—but hear this—everything you know is wrong,” Dick examines accepted conventional wisdom about church leadership and what he calls the “mass of misinformation” about the future of the church and its leaders. He does so with wit and with humor to burst the bubble and move to a deeper place of grounding and purpose. Dick examines several popularly accepted explanations of decline and its remedy, such as “the end of Christendom,” generational theory, postmodernism, bigger-is-better, and charismatic, celebrity pastors. No reader will escape this book without experiencing several self-revealing experiences of “gotcha.” The chapter entitled “Vampire Christianity” is alone worth the price of the book. Laughing at ourselves and our vain, often desperate attempts, to mimic popular business methods brings clarity and the beginning of wisdom. Wherever the search for simplistic remedies has led, Dick responds with common sense, wisdom, and sound theological reflection. There is comfort to be found in Dick’s affirmation of God’s abiding intent to use ordinary people and congregations of all sizes, ages, locations and traditions to bring light and life into the world. He refocuses attention to the goals of changed hearts, transformed lives, and people joining together to be the hearts, hands, eyes, and voice of Christ in service to others. In the end, Dick’s aim is not to poke fun or belittle the attempts of faithful pastors and laity to serve the present age. It is to bring the church back to basics with a renewed sense of adequacy and energy for the task. Know thyself, focus, take the next step, Dick advises. You already have your own answers, and by God’s grace and guidance, each will find what is needed to serve, and to serve well.<>
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