Ron Shapiro is an Expert Negotiator, Sports Agent, Attorney, Educator, Civic Leader, and Best-Selling Author. He is one of the nation’s leading authorities on negotiation and the founder and chairman of the Shapiro Negotiations Institute. Shapiro has negotiated the contracts of more Hall of Famers than any other agent/attorney, including Brooks Robinson, Jim Palmer, Cal Ripken, Jr., Kirby Puckett and Eddie Murray. In addition to his latest book, Perfecting Your Pitch, he has written numerous bestsellers, including The Power of Nice, Bullies, Tyrants & Impossible People, and Dare to Prepare.
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Thank you Ed for sharing your insights into the Church Growth Movement. I have my reservations with Church Growth models because it has done more damage than good in the Body of Christ. Over the years, western churches are more focused on results, formulas and processes with little or no emphasis on membership and church discipline. Pastors and vocational leaders are burnt out because they're overworked.
I do believe that the Church Growth model is a catalyst to two destructive groups: The New Apostolic Reformation and the Emerging Church. Both groups overlap and have a very loose definition. They're both focus on contemporary worship, expansion of church brand (franchising), and mobilizing volunteering members as 'leaders' to grow their ministry. Little focus on biblical study, apologetics and genuine missional work with no agenda besides preaching of the gospel.
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Thank you for sharing such a good article. It is a great lesson I learned from this article. I am one of the leaders in Emmanuel united church of Ethiopia (A denomination with more-than 780 local churches through out the country). I am preparing a presentation on succession planning for local church leaders. It will help me for preparation If you send me more resources and recommend me books to read on the topic. I hope we may collaborate in advancing leadership capacity of our church. God Bless You and Your Ministry.