Review of “Hitting the Bullseye”
This was another book towards the Doctor of Ministry degree class that I am taking at Denver Seminary. The class is on “How the Nature of the Church Affects Strategies for Ministry.” This book is written by the professor of the class, Paul Borden. It is a great look into leading a transition process in a congregation. The points are excellent and true to congregational life. It deals with the skill of leadership and the structure of a congregation. Some of the material does not apply to churches of Christ because of the lack of a pastor system or a system of having a mentor helping a variety of congregations, but some of the insights are practical and helpful in leading a congregation to grow. I did prefer “Direct Hit” better because it seemed to have more of a broad base for helping a congregation, where this book traces the process of turning around some Baptist congregations in the West. It mostly tells the story with application. Also, some of the material is given in the “Direct Hit” book as well. Maybe read “Direct Hit” first and if you like that book, read this one for some extra hints that will help.
Related posts:
- Review of “Managing the Congregation”
- Review “Review of “Effectiveness by Numbers”
- Review of “Firestorm”
- Review of “How the Mighty Fall”
- Review of “The Missional Leader”
About The Author
I will post the longer review later.
But in the comment section.
Main Idea of the Text:
The book is a recounting of the story of transformation in the American Baptist Association with an emphasis on the various steps and attitudes that can help other congregations grow.
The Three Top Ideas of Greatest Benefit:
1. The explanation and clarification of the role of the shepherd was an insightful commentary on the misuse of this Biblical metaphor. People have pictured the shepherd as someone whose primary purpose in the church is to care for the sheep. There is also the role of using the sheep to accomplish some purpose. Too often shepherds are pictured as the “babysitters” of immature church members.
2. Another top idea is the phrase “fruitfulness is as important as faithfulness.” Too often congregations “spin the wheel” in the name of faithfulness. As long as there is some activity, it is judged as good, but the problem is that it is not very productive. It would be better to kill the unfruitful program so that the man power could be used for more productive tasks.
3. The third great idea is concerning the nature of bureaucracy in a congregation. Congregations allow anyone to voice a concern or objection as well as level the playing field so that no one has too much influence. This often causes the weakest and most immature members to have too much influence in a congregation. This creates unhealthy churches.
The Three Ideas of Major disagreement:
1. The book does not carry over into a context within the churches of Christ. There is no way in most congregations that the minister would be allowed the type of leadership that the pastor is given in this Baptist association. Some of the advice would not be helpful.
2. Also, in the churches of Christ, there are no structured judicatories. Mostly the minister is “on his own” in dealing with congregational problems. The elders are placed in a position to hopefully help a minister develop and grow but often elders do not have the ability to provide mentoring for a minister.
3. One final point about difference, the author mentions changing the structure in a congregation. Within churches of Christ, there is a divine blueprint for the structure, so to try to change it people would feel that one is changing a divine command.
The Recommendation of the Book:
I would not recommend this book because of the different structures and processes for change that are advocated. There are too many differences to overcome within the churches of Christ context for this book to be overly helpful. Some of the material is excellent but some of it does not apply for ministers in churches of Christ.