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| Who Stole My Church?: What to Do When the Church You Love Tries to Enter the 21st Century | 
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Avg. Customer Rating:  (based on 31 reviews)
Sales Rank: 6836
Category: Book
Author: Gordon Macdonald
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Studio: Thomas Nelson
Manufacturer: Thomas Nelson
Label: Thomas Nelson
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 272
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.1 x 1
ISBN: 078522601X
Dewey Decimal Number: 262.0017
EAN: 9780785226017
ASIN: 078522601X
Publication Date: January 8, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Has your Church been Hijacked? Millions of people in their fifties, sixties, and seventies feel their churches have been hijacked by church-growth movements characterized by loud praise bands, constant PowerPoint presentations, and cavernous megachurches devoid of any personal touch. They are bewildered by the changes, and are dropping out after thirty, forty, or fifty years in a congregation. It's a crisis! In this fictional story, pastor and author Gordon MacDonald uses topical examples and all-too-familiar characters to reassure readers that it is possible to embrace change, and to demonstrate how that change can actually be a positive influence in their church. The church, he says, has always been in a state of change; it has been changing for the last two thousand years. It is time to embrace that change and use it further the Kingdom of God
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| Customer Reviews: Read 26 more reviews...
 Great info but too narrow-minded December 22, 2008
I thouroughly enjoyed the book and found it interesting. It's easy reading, but with lots and lots of footnotes for both justification and for further reasding. The book contains lots of great history that is pertinent to how the church evolved into the church that exists today in many forms. If you're interested in the once and continuing reformation of the church, this is a book for you. The author raises great and valid questions about infant baptism, the office of clergy, and church architecture, among many other things. My primary objection is that the author seems to be on a fundamentalist streak of some sort, implying that the church must be as it once was in the very beginning. The implicity argument of the author is that if a church is diffrent than the first century church, that it's not as it should be. While the author has some great ideas and good points, he seems to be stuck in the first century and stuck in one was of doing church or being church. Overall though, I'd buy the book again just for the information and provocative suggestions that have a lot of integrity.
 good dealer November 17, 2008
Product was in perfect condition and delivered in a timely manner. I highly recommend this dealer
A sensitive and well written appeal for change November 17, 2008
I could not put this book down and I am sharing it with the older members of our church who are working through just how things have changed. Although it is a novelization, I thought I recognized so many of the characters in the book and the tough times and triumphs of the fictional church. It is a sensitive and loving guide for those over 50 on how our churches must change in order to survive. It is also a wonderful witness to who the church really belongs to and what its real mission is.
There are many guides to change but this is one of the most insightful on how change impacts the lives of people of faith.
Pastor Gordon Tries to Keep The Older Generation Onboard November 10, 2008
This is a fictional story where the author writes himself into the story as the pastor of a church struggling with change. The older members don't like all the powerpoints and the loud praise music with the same words and phrases robotically repeated. They don't appreciate the organ being turned off and put out of the way. They miss hearing the old hymns. They want to know "Who Stole My Church?"
Pastor MacDonald convenes a Discovery Group with many of these older members. He discusses church history, the history of change within Christianity, and the need to modernize and update the way ministries are carried out.
Gordon also does a good job of developing the characters around the table. John is a quiet, mysterious, long time church member with an explosive temper. Russ is a businessman estranged from his son. Win, Yvonne, and Lillian are some of the more outspoken members of the group. Clayton is dating someone, but is still grieving the loss of his wife.
A fine job, and Macdonald brings the point home with clarity: The church belongs to God, and we need to reach out across generational lines and come together.
Great book about changes in the church today October 17, 2008
The author, a pastor with 40 years of experience writes as if dealing with a small committee of people who are concerned with the changes taking place as the church tries to reach out to be more contemporary. With humor, but with compassion, he addresses the fears and concerns of his parishoners when the verities they have clung to about worship style, music, priorities etc are challenged. The characters he posits are much like those I've encountered in my church experience. I can hear my own complaints about change echoed in the words of his characters. It is a thought provoking and well written book.
Ruth Smith - Elder, Presbyterian church.
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