In the introduction to Church Unique, I shared my passion that  instead of  leading a great model, “I would rather work behind the scenes as a model maker. My greatest joy is seeing a leader for the first time articulate a stunningly unique model of ministry for his or her church.”As this month marks my eleventh year as a full-time coach/consultant and the fourth birthday of Church Unique, this passion has never been stronger. So I am teeing up a few special posts on ChurchUnique.

I am still moved when I read a review that captures the heart behind the book and the pulse that keeps its ideas alive. It encourages me that the concepts resonate with all kinds of church thinkers and ministry leaders. And I imagine the “aha” synapses firing as leaders see the better future for their church.

Therefore, I am grateful for pastor and blogger, Andy Kinsey’s and his thoughtful review on the blog, Notes on Practical Divinity. His understanding of these days as church-history-crossroads  is well-stated:

“with the rise of congregational studies, and the increased focus on church practices, organizational theory, spiritual formation, and the growth of emergence and missional in the church’s consciousness, there is something unique happening at this moment in history… Church Unique is part of a much larger movement, one that is coming to terms with a rapidly changing, postmodern culture on the one hand and the fragments of a vibrant post-Christendom culture on the other”

There is something unique happening indeed!

Here are a few highlights from the review.  If you have already discovered your church unique, I hope these nuggets inspire you to stay the course.  If you have not, I hope these pique your curiosity to learn more.

Church Unique: How Missional Leaders Cast Vision, Capture Culture and Create Movement:

• prompts deeper questions into why the church does what it does

• guides leaders into how they may understand their church’s own particular ‘microculture’ and discover ways to minister at the same time to the church’s surrounding ‘macroculture’

• highlights the pitfalls of church growth strategies that move into uncritically adopting assumptions that are harmful and not truly ‘purposeful’ of local church culture and custom

• functions as a manual to discover, the ‘Kingdom Concept’ that drives the church to realize Christ’s Great Commission and Commandment, while helping leaders cast the vision uniquely given by God’s Spirit

• brings out the specific ways churches may work to bring into alignment the various parts of their histories, cultures, and ministries

How has Church Unique influenced you as a model maker? I would love to hear your story!