[.ca] Willow Creek Seeker Services: Evaluating a New Way of ... (ISBN 0801052742)

A very informative book:
Beginning in the 1970s, pastor Bill Hybels, and a group of excited young believers began for a new way to "do church." Focusing on the church's duty to evangelize unbelievers, Hybels studied what kept people out of church and what would bring them into church, and they reformatted their church service for these "unchurched Harrys." And now, more than twenty years later, the Hybels' church, Willow Creek, is one of the most influential churches in Evangelical circles and beyond. In 1983, sociologist Dr. Gregory Pritchard examined Willow Creek, how they operate and why, and what they do that is good and what they do that is not so good. This is a very good book. The first section is a sympathetic look at Willow Creek, which is sure to please supporters and inform those unfamiliar with the Willow Creek way of doing things. The Second section is a critical look at Willow Creek, examining what some of the unintended consequences of the Willow Creek way are. As the author is at pains to point out, every church's modus operandi is bound to have positive consequences and negative unintended consequence, with Willow Creek being no different. If you are interested in an evenhanded analysis of Willow Creek, then I highly recommend this book to you. Having read it, I now understand a great deal more about this phenomenon.

A Very Balanced Read, Check it Out:
Of this book, John Armstrong writes, "Before you move your church in the "seeker" direction, be sure to read Pritchard's amazingly fair and truthful analysis. The first two-thirds will tell you what is happening - how and why. The last third will raise all the right questions for those who have a serious theology of the church. Get this book into the hands of everyone you know who is attracted to this philosophy as soon as possible. It might well be used to open eyes before your church is moved in a whole new direction and few bother to ask where they are really going."