Book Review: Sticky Church
If there is one thing that modern day churches truly SUCK at, it’s being sticky. Sure, many have great preachers and teachers, awesome music or artistic elements, and even cool youth and children’s programs.
But would most people who attend those churches stay in those churches if didn’t have those things? As Larry Osborne states, “If the back door of the church is left wide open, it doesn’t matter how many people are coxed to come in the front door – or the side door, for that matter.”
In other words, are our modern, hip, missional, emergent, progressive, contemporary, even traditional or blended churches sticky?
Sticky Church, by Larry Osborne is an answer to that question. And a great resource for solving the larger problems most of our churches have: the back doors are WIDE OPEN! We’re losing as many, if not more, people than we gain through the front doors!
Larry Osborne is the Senior Pastor for North Coast Church in northern San Diego County and is widely recognized as one of the most influential and innovative church leaders in America. His take on why we are losing more people out of the back doors of our churches is compelling, damning, convicting, and it truly resonates within me.
If your church is struggling with small groups, Sunday school groups, or lack thereof, Sticky Church should absolutely be the VERY next book you read…immediately. It’s written in a very clear, conversational tone, and Larry’s honest, humble writing style is disarming as well as very enjoyable.
Osborne sights examples of past successes and failures and gives encouragement, as well as several ideas to help any church, of any size, succeed in starting and sustaining sermon-based small groups. It’s not a new concept, but it’s attainable, sustainable, reproducible and most churches would benefit from employing Larry’s ‘best practices’ into their church’s discipleship strategy.
QUOTABLES
- “We’ve often become so focused on reaching people that we’ve forgotten the importance of keeping people.”
- “A great spiritual start is no guarantee for a happy ending.”
- “People who come through the front door of a church through word-of-mouth referrals, have a fundamentally different experience than those who come as the result of a marketing campaign.”
- “Law of Retention: Whatever you [have] to do to reach people, you have to continue to keep them.”
- “Most of our discipleship programs are very linear. Unfortunately, most spiritual growth is not.”
- “Any time a group of friends commit to gather together to share their lives … good stuff happens!”
