Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #77853 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 128 pages

Synopsis
Change agents are pioneers, entrepreneurs, innovators. They can be difficult, annoying, and demanding. But their calling is demanding too: to take a vision and wrench it into reality. When Steve Chalke was asked to be the senior minister of a dying inner-city church, he knew what he wanted: to make it into a Christian equivalent of a first-century synagogue. A place where the community gathered, not just to pray and hear sermons, but to be educated, entertained, and find help. Making it all happen was the harder part. In Change Agents, the author shares twenty-five lessons he learned during this work. He had to teach himself to respond, not react; say no more than yes, give up being everyonea??s friend, and accept that any success was only a short respite between two crises. Employing wry humor, personal examples, and a large helping of practical advice, Steve Chalke reminds us our enterprise, not our caution, with the Word of God is whata??s rewarded. Christ waits and watches for us to take risks and create change in the church, the community, and the world at large.

Customer Reviews

25 hard-earned lessons in the art of getting things done
In this book Steve Chalke steers a path away from the controversy of his last book and into fairly safe territory - that of the difficulties in running a church or other Christian project in the 21st century. The book features 25 principles that Steve has learned in his years as a pastor and leader of organisations including Oasis, offered in short chunks, usually 3-4 pages each. The principles include things such as "vision and frustration are the same thing" and "success is three days between two crises" and are illustrated by events in Steve's life from which he has learned.

This was a surprisingly introspective book and showed very clearly the difficulties of living a life in the spotlight with the criticism and hurtful comments that seem to go hand-in-hand with sticking one's head above the parapet. I had wondered if this would be another American-style self help book but it wasn't that, it read rather more like reflective memoirs of the challenges in running a ministry in today's world. Many of Steve's insights were very helpful, he quotes other writers and notable people such as Martin Luther King, Winston Churchill and more and the book is easy to read with Steve's engaging and confiding style to the fore. I would have appreciated perhaps some more depth and exploration of the principles he offers but it was a helpful and enjoyable book.