Rainer, Thom and Daniel Akin. Vibrant Church. Nashville:LifeWay Press. 2008 160pp.
When this book first crossed my desk I decided to drop what I was currently reading and take on this book. It seemed to deal with where my church is right now and as a church consultant, I use several books and resources by Thom Rainer and LifeWay (where he is the president).
The book is really a group study guide. It is about 1/4 learning activities and includes the teachers guide at the back of each chapter. I know this saves money, but it really seems to damage some of the "mystique" of a group session when all the participants can see how much of the group study lesson plan the leader uses.
As for content, I think the book could have some great usefulness to my church as we are facing some changes, but it doesn't appear to be the kind of study that will we widely used among churches.
The writers' agendas are more obvious than in most books. While they demonstrate a good bit of scholarship at certain points (historical documents and word derivations, for example) the discussions fall short at many points. They don't deal with the vast differences in many Southern Baptist churches to whom this is really written. This is especially true in the areas of pastor, elders, and women in ministry.
It looks like the book was written with churches in the deep South in mind. These might be churches that have a long history of SBC polity but have lost an understanding of why they do what they do. Perhaps the authors are also thinking of churches that have been swayed by contemporary practices with examining the theological underpinnings. The result is, I wouldn't recommend this to just any church.
As I said before, I may use it in my own church, if the current leadership desires. It can be helpful, but only as a starting point for discussion.
