B.H. Carroll’s Pastoral Theology
Southwestern Journal of Theology
Volume 58, No. 2 – Spring 2016
Managing Editor: W. Madison Grace II
By Aubrey Malphurs and Gordon E. Penfold. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2014. 288 pages. Hardcover, $19.99.
Aubrey Malphurs is Senior Professor of Educational Ministries and Leadership and Pastoral Ministry at Dallas Theological Seminary. He is the founder and president of the Malphurs Group and is a trainer and consultant to churches, denominations, and ministry organizations throughout North America and Europe. Gordon Penfold currently is lead pastor of First Baptist Church in Holyoke, Colorado. He is the director of Fresh Start Ministries, which focuses on bringing health and vitality to plateaued, declining, and conflicted congregations.
Re:Vision is a book of pastoral theology that focuses on practical aspects of leadership and is intended to renew local churches. While David Platt’s Radical Together: Unleashing the People of God for the Purpose of God(Multnomah Books: 2011) asks the church to unite around a gospel-centered vision, the authors of this work, in the wake of the majority of individual churches in a state of plateau or decline, provide a rationale to call pastors to re-envision (revitalize) their churches.
The book is divided into three parts. The first part prepares readers by introducing them to the need of having a vision for the future of their church. The authors examine the current state of pastoral leadership and articulate what reenvisioning pastoral leadership should look like. Placing the Bible at the center of this process allows leadership to examine themselves in their own personal design by God, the direction that the church is currently headed and possible plans for the future. The leader’s temperament and character are vital for the carrying out the church’s vision. The process of discovery is evaluated in part two. This process articulates the results of what the authors have found to be common critical and successful characteristics found with re-envisioning pastors. They encourage the pastor to examine whether he is indeed a re-envisioning pastor or not. If he is not a re-envisioning pastor, he is then asked to reflect if he can become one, or if he should even attempt to try based upon his unique gifting and talents. The final section of the book tells how one should embrace being a re-envisioning pastor and cast a clear and compelling vision for the church. Leadership is exemplified by the ability to influence and impact the church’s unique DNA that has provided its culture. Bringing in a coach or mentor allows the re-envisioning pastor the opportunity to obtain great leverage by learning from another. The book closes by showing how all these lessons can be applied. A wide assortment of appendixes gives the readers a starting point for beginning the process within their local churches.
The authors’ key idea in the work is that visionary leadership is a key to healthy churches in general and specifically in re-envisioning churches. Leadership is all about influence. They recognize that vision most often is effectively cast by leaders that have a strong propensity to move the status quo forward in two key areas: by capturing the hearts and minds of people through defining and articulating a clear and exciting picture of God’s future for the church, and by focusing on creating a culture that wants to move towards and accomplish this vision.
The theological and biblical basis for doing so is both solid and secure. God’s desire for the nation of Israel and His people was that they would always follow God. Throughout history God provided leaders with His specific vision to deliver to the people to help accomplish their great task. With the establishment of the New Testament church, the call was now placed upon the church leaders to spread the gospel throughout the world.
The authors achieved their objective in providing a resource to aid and transform local churches by offering practical criteria and approaches for moving from lifelessness toward vitality and flourishing.
The strength of this effort is that it articulates a simple, coherent, and unified approach for church leaders to use both (a) to encourage people in leadership and (b) to enable strategic planning for the future. A possible caution for readers of this work is that it may be appear to some readers to be too reductionistic.
This book is targeted at pastors, elders, deacons, and lay leaders. It is easy to read. There is appropriate biblical connection to the topics woven throughout the book.
I encourage pastors and lay leaders to pick up this book and read it. The church is the embassy of the kingdom of God and must carry on this work as ambassadors of our King, Jesus Christ. The most important work of evangelizing the world and making disciples requires us to re-envision the current state of the church and lead it so that a lost and hurting world comes into contact and establishes a relationship with our King.
