simple church

I just finished reading a really great book called Simple Church.  It was 252 pages, which didn't strike me as simple but anyways I still appreciated the straightforward concept.    The authors present a full-proof argument that the local church in America has become way too complex.  We have so many ministries, programs and conferences that we keep really busy but miss out on making a difference in our communities through making disciples and seeing the Kingdom of God advanced. 
They define a simple church as a congregation designed around a straightforward and strategic process that moves people through the stages of spiritual growth.  Statistically the church in America is shrinking and becoming more of a social club for Christians than a force in the earth.  The authors defines it as stagnant.  People come into a church get busy attending meetings and they don't mature and grow into fully-devoted followers of Christ who win people to Jesus. 
The authors clearly describe 4 principles (clarity, movement, alignment and focus) that will allow for simplicity and not complexity in our churches.  If a church decides to go simple it will be one of the most painful processes because it will require us to say NO to anything that doesn't fit in with the vision and process but the end result will prove to be worth it all. 
They have done some great research in working with 100's of churches to see what is different between a vibrant church and one that is stagnant.  The tough part about this book is it calls for church leaders to put a bunch of effort in designing a clear process, discovering what we want to see people in our church look like and run away from being programmers.  This book challenged me and I hope if you pick it up and read it too that you will join the simple revolution that is causing churches all across America to stop and think about what impact they want to make in their community.