12.09.2004
Nice Try
Well, as I said in an earlier post, sometimes you just have to try out a book you've never heard of (or something along those lines). Well, there is good reason I have never heard of "Survival Tactics in the Parish" by Lyle Schaller. My first hint that this might be a questionable purchase was that it is from a Methodist publisher. Now this doesn't necessarily disqualify a book, although it should raise some flags, but this guy has written books with some other interesting titles that should raise some more. Add to that the fact that he is usually touted as an expert in "church-growth" and you have a recipe for disaster.
The opening pages of the book let me know fairly quickly that this book was not for me. It has a discussion from a fake pastor's conference with men and women "pastors" sharing their pastorate history. I kept telling my wife that I was going to keep pushing through it and try and glean something from the book, there has to be something good in it. Long and short of it is: I didn't make it much farther before I felt a gag reflex coming on that forced me to put the book down forever. At least I only paid 1 cent for it! Mr Schaller sounds like he would be a good fit over at Willow Creek.
Well, as I said in an earlier post, sometimes you just have to try out a book you've never heard of (or something along those lines). Well, there is good reason I have never heard of "Survival Tactics in the Parish" by Lyle Schaller. My first hint that this might be a questionable purchase was that it is from a Methodist publisher. Now this doesn't necessarily disqualify a book, although it should raise some flags, but this guy has written books with some other interesting titles that should raise some more. Add to that the fact that he is usually touted as an expert in "church-growth" and you have a recipe for disaster.
The opening pages of the book let me know fairly quickly that this book was not for me. It has a discussion from a fake pastor's conference with men and women "pastors" sharing their pastorate history. I kept telling my wife that I was going to keep pushing through it and try and glean something from the book, there has to be something good in it. Long and short of it is: I didn't make it much farther before I felt a gag reflex coming on that forced me to put the book down forever. At least I only paid 1 cent for it! Mr Schaller sounds like he would be a good fit over at Willow Creek.
