Clark, Nicholas

English

Asbury Theological Seminary

263GREAT COMMISSION RESEARCH JOURNALHenard, Bill. Can These Bones Live? A Practical Guide to Church Revitalization. Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 2015. 240 pp. $14.99.Reviewed by Nicholas Clark. Clark earned bachelors of science degrees in economics and in political science at the University of Southern Indiana, along with a masters of business administration. He also earned a master of divinity from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, where he is pursuing the doc-tor of philosophy degree in evangelism and church growth while serving as a Garrett Fellow. Clark serves as the pastor of Heritage Hills Baptist Church in Santa Claus, Indiana.Bill Henard is the pastor of Porter Memorial Baptist Church in Lexington, Kentucky. He also serves as assistant professor of evangelism at e South-ern Baptist eological Seminary where he earned the doctor of philosophy degree in evangelism and church growth. He also holds the master of divin-ity and doctor of ministry degrees from Southwestern Baptist eological Seminary.Can ese Bones Live? points the reader to eleven reasons why churches need revitalization. Henard identies these reasons by drawing upon decades of practical experience rooted in a clear understanding of the church and the biblical implications of revitalization. While this work is neither a detailed doctrinal analysis of revitalization nor a biblical theology of revital-ization, it certainly points to biblical truth and wisdom of leading the body VOL . 7 • NO. 2 • W I N T ER 2 016 • 2 63–274 BOOK REVIEWS264 BOOK REVIEWSof Christ to renewed life in the Great Commission. e rst two reasons Henard identies provide a basic understanding that a church in need of revitalization oen does not recognize its need for revitalization, and/or the church does not want to grow. Statistics tell a grim story of the church, and Henard aests to the blindness of many such churches. He points to pasto-ral tenure as a primary reason why churches do not recognize the symptoms of a plateaued or declining church. e author suggests that pastors who persevere through the dicult years aer the “honeymoon” are more likely to implement lasting change that would lead to meaningful revitalization. e other barrier to growth is a serious spiritual deciency within the cul-ture of the church. Other reasons why churches need to be revitalized include physical bar-riers (including ministry structures) and pastor/sta mis-hires. Henard spends a great deal of time analyzing physical barriers ranging from build-ings and parking lots to commiee structures and assimilation. e pastor whose giedness and abilities that do not complement the church seems to delay revitalization as well. Henard further points to the church’s t-ness within its community. Churches in need of revitalization do not oen reect the makeup of the community. Inwardly focused churches, Henard says, hasten decline in those churches as well as do a host of external fac-tors. Pastors, however, can overcome such obstacles by remaining faithful to the task. Still more reasons for church revitalization include a lost vision, inadequate ministry structures, loss of impact in the community, and a lack-luster desire to see people converted. Henard unpacks each of these eleven reasons with seasoned wisdom and points the reader to scriptural warrant and practical application.e book culminates with the Change Matrix, which is a tool designed to help pastors lead wisely through the change process while taking into account a number of factors that are impacted by change.While the book is not primarily a doctrinal treatise, Henard spends the rst chapter of the book outlining the necessary biblical-theological prin-ciples by which revitalization occurs. is section will show Henard’s com-mitment to biblical authority and theological orthodoxy. Henard builds a strong biblical case for revitalization while introducing the assumptions that lay the base for the rest of the book. One particularly important concept the author introduces is the parallel of church revitalization and personal, spiritual revitalization. He sternly warns that neglecting spiritual growth, whether it is a church or an individual, will catch up to us (17). e book is designed to serve as a means for a pastor to think through what revitalizing a church entails. Before he discusses the eleven reasons for church revitalization, Henard helps the reader focus on the initial steps of assessing a church for revitalization. Henard’s nonchalant manner exudes in this section as he describes the pastoral search process and subsequent 265GREAT COMMISSION RESEARCH JOURNALinterviews as the “Big Lie” (24). He quickly tries to cut through the pre-tense of the interview and oers meaningful questions for pastors to ask churches that will shed light on crucial revitalization topics. Speaking from his own wisdom, Henard clearly states a helpful path for pastors to follow once they are hired (34). e other section involves assessing the church membership, including how those dierent groups respond to leadership. Henard takes Carl George and Robert Logan’s original berry-bucket theory that segments church membership into those who were members before the pastor is hired and those who become members aer the pastor is hired, and expands on the notion by addressing human sinfulness in church power broker situations (30). Henard identies ve groups of people who hold various levels of power and discusses how best to promote revitalization in each of those groups.Henard’s eleven reasons for why churches fall into decline provide a pathway of valuable analysis for every pastor to consider. Space limitations do not allow this reviewer to extensively critique each one; however, several important points should be made. First, in churches that either do not rec-ognize their decline or in churches that simply do not want to grow, Henard encourages pastors to persevere. He suggests pastors of such churches focus on preaching, evangelizing, pastoring, and praying as a means of moving a congregation toward embracing the need for revitalization (68).Henard’s section on physical barriers to growth, which includes assimila-tion and leadership issues, is straightforward. Some suggestions are com-mon to other writers, while some are more nuanced. e author suggests pastors contend with the scriptural principle of hospitality when evaluating the facilities, so that nothing of man would be a stumbling block to a new believer (92).Henard interacts with a number of voices in the eld of church growth and builds on their particular theses when it comes to issues of revitalization [e.g., vision (159), leadership (122), and organizational structures (183)]. Henard seems to interact thoughtfully with a diverse set of people. He uti-lizes Stetzer and Dodson’s denition of healthy church growth from their work in Comeback Churches, which points to consistent ve year growth, 35:1 member to baptism ratio, and 25 percent conversion growth annu-ally (91). Henard consistently points to the necessity of a strong theology of evangelism and says, “Evangelism is the barometer of our theology” (97).e Change Matrix is a helpful tool for pastors to consider in revital-ization. e nature of the matrix is one of simultaneity and not a consecu-tive process (210). In other words, the four parts (priorities, parameters, players, and process) function in tandem in order to facilitate change in a harmonious manner. Upon looking at the matrix graphic, the purpose is 266 BOOK REVIEWSnot immediately obvious, so it does require reading the nal chapter to see how the matrix can serve as a thoughtful tool for the change agent. Henard reminds the reader that change is never easy, but being wise about it will go far in its implementation (215). Henard loves the traditional church and has a desire to see it recapture its Great Commission mandate. He has provided a tool to help think through the implications of this important process. Henard has spent decades lead-ing churches to revitalization and to regain the love they had at rst (Rev 2:4). I heartily recommend this text for pastors in any context and the acad-emy for training a new generation of pastors.McIntosh, Gary. Donald A. McGavran: A Biography of the Twentieth Century’s Premier Missiolo-gist. Church Leader Insights, 2015. 384 pp. $49.95.Reviewed by Mike Morris, Ida M. Bo­oms Chair of Missions, Associate Dean of Applied Ministry and Mentorship, Southwestern Baptist eological Seminary; B. S. Memphis State University, M.Div. SWBTS, D.Min. and Ph.D. Mid-America Baptist eological Seminary.Gary McIntosh’s long-awaited, denitive biography of Donald McGavran was published at a propitious time (2015, the twenty-h anniversary of McGavran’s death), and the book does not disappoint this reviewer. McIn-tosh is a professor at Talbot School of eology and the lead consultant at the Church Growth Network. Nelson Searcy, lead pastor of e Journey Church and founder of Church Leader Insights, wrote a helpful foreword to the book. Both McIntosh and Searcy are past winners of the Donald A. McGavran Award for Outstanding Leadership in Great Commission Research, and McIntosh is the 2015 winner of the Win Arn Lifetime Achievement Award.Vern Middleton wrote an earlier biography of McGavran, but Middle-ton’s biography only took the reader through 1965, and, of course, much happened in McGavran’s life from 1965 until his death in 1990. McIntosh’s book is thoroughly researched using primary sources such as personal cor-respondence, and it provides a complete picture of the life of the father of the classic Church Growth Movement.Divided into eleven chapters, the book takes the reader on a compre-hensive, chronological journey; the journey pauses at appropriate times to discuss in detail the key people and events in McGavran’s life. From chap-ter one through chapter eleven, McIntosh refers to McGavran as “Donald,” thus giving the reader a warm sense of familiarity with the man who was undoubtedly the greatest missiologist of the twentieth century. Unfor-tunately, although Christianity Today in 2006 ranked McGavran’s Under-standing Church Growth as the second most inuential book that shaped 

Book Review: Can These Bones Live? A Practical Guide to Church Revitalization by Bill Henard

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Book Review: Can These Bones Live? A Practical Guide to Church Revitalization by Bill Henard

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