On this Rock by Alex Harris and Chrissy Remsberg

'If you are giddily delighted in Jesus but bewildered as to why the church is struggling, On This Rock will help frame the start of some good reflection born out of the lived experience of very different Christian leaders'

 

On this Rock - Simple lessons and achievable habits for church growth
By Alex Harris and Chrissy Remsberg
FirestartersUK
First review by Kezia Robinson
Second review by Dave Criddle
Third review by Nick Allan

 

 
On This Rock is a little book that packs a punch. It’s born out of the experience of growing churches and anchors itself in scripture. It seeks to be a useful guide for developing healthy habits for church growth.

The book aims to identify seven common attributes of church communities who have seen conversion/new growth in recent times. It names the holy habits the authors have noticed, grounds them in scripture and seeks to prompt the reader with questions and practical suggestions for possible next steps. Each of the seven principles that are named, are then brought to life with a story from one of the church contexts that has experienced this kind of growth.
 
Most current leaders of churches will have the lived experience that conversion growth is hard. The fact that there are communities testifying to just such a picture is, in itself, encouraging and, for interested leaders wanting to pause and notice in their own context how to develop health and a missional passion, this is a great way to start.
 
The size of the book is both its biggest asset and its challenge. It isn’t a tome needing lots of time investment from already stretched leaders. It is small and to the point, giving food for further thought and practice. It’s a great starting point for those needing to reset or start to enthuse their church team towards a healthy missional tone.
 
The anxiety of our faith landscape though, also means anxiety can drive us to search for the quick fix and the short solution. The book’s brevity might feed that. It’s not meant to. The seven highlighted principles, if really taken seriously, rest on leaders having a posture of openness to God and a willingness to have no doubt that Jesus will build his church. The book, if used well, would initiate real reflection on practice, both for the individual disciple and for the way we structure our communities.
 
Helpfully, the book doesn’t presume a particular type of Christian community. It only highlights the common faith practices. The stories used are from all types of church structure stretching from DMM models to the inherited. This allows us to listen to the principles from a real breadth of contexts. Helpful, too, is the fact that the book comes out of our Baptist family, you don’t have to translate the principals and stories from another church tradition into ours. That is a welcome factor of the book.
 
Personally, I find this kind of resource most useful when put to use practically and in groups where people are committed to accountable learning. It’s not going to have a massive effect as a quick read. If you are, like many of us though, giddily delighted in Jesus but bewildered as to why the church is struggling, On This Rock will help frame the start of some good reflection born out of the lived experience of very different Christian leaders.
 

Kezia Robinson is a Regional Minister with the Yorkshire Baptist Association who offers support for church revitalisation and mission partnership

 

---

'What you’ll find when you open up this little book is dynamite'

Review by Dave Criddle

Reading through On This Rock, I found myself transported to the different rooms in different churches where I have attended a ‘Firestarter’ event. This book perfectly captures the heart of that movement within our Baptist Union, a movement full of hope and the conviction that Jesus really is building His church and invites us to join Him in that. 

What you’ll find when you open up this little book is dynamite. And for me there are three big reasons for that.

The first is that it focuses on principles, not programmes. It is not a list of instructions and a promise that if you follow them your church will grow. No, Chrissy and Alex’s book is deeper and more honest than that. Instead, it gets under the skin of the principles that seem always to be at work in Baptist churches where Kingdom growth is the rule not the exception. You will know far better than Alex, Chrissy or any of those who share their stories in the book how the principles could play out where you lead, so they aren’t prescriptive on that. But they are extremely—sometimes uncomfortably!—clear on the principles, and we need that kind of clarity. 

The second is that those principles are grounded as they are interspersed with inspiring stories from the churches whose growth first inspired the Firestarter movement and have led to this book. These are ordinary churches, with ordinary leaders, but the stories they tell are anything but ordinary. Very different from one another in size and style, but grounded in Jesus and sold out for His mission, they tell very different stories.

But really they just tell one story again and again: Jesus is building His church, and we get to be part of that. In His incarnation Jesus ‘fleshed out’ for us what obedience to the Father looked like, inspiring us with an example to follow. In these stories, something similar happens, as the principles discussed become fleshed out in real life and give the confidence that we could do something similar. 

The third reason I recommend this book to you is something that struck me as I re-read it. Nothing suggested in it has to cost money at all. Every single one of the seven principles can be taken and implemented completely for free. They might have a spiritual cost or a leadership cost, but none of them requires a financial cost. For most of us, that is a game changer! It could very well be that the cost of the book (a whopping £4) is the most expensive thing about it… 

The book is also well-written, enjoyable to read, and short! All of those make it not just useful, but a pleasure to use. 

Each principle comes with some questions to ask as leaders and leadership teams, and this is where things get real. I was not just transported back to the inspiring Firestarter events as I read. I was also taken to leadership meetings and church membership meetings. I was led back to moments when I dodged it or fudged it as a leader, instead of leaning heavily into Jesus through the kinds of things encouraged in this book. I’m left wondering how different things would have been had I led differently, but also left with the conviction and tools not to make those mistakes again. So if you get this book (and I really think you should) I urge you not to skip these sections. Spend time with them. Invest in them. Carve out space in your leadership meetings to read and reflect together, and then lead in new ways as a result. 

Who is On This Rock for? I have been part of the leadership team of a larger Baptist church for quite a number of years, but now find myself on the cusp of planting and pioneering in a setting which is much less established. And, unusually, I find this book just as relevant and helpful whichever of those contexts I think about. Because the principles are true no matter the size and shape, and because the work of translating into different contexts is left for the reader, I can’t imagine anyone reading it and thinking it simply doesn’t apply to them. 

So this is not a book just for small churches, or large churches. It isn’t just for growing churches, or churches in decline. It isn’t only for churches with ministers, or churches that are lay-led. It is not just for church plants, or for established churches. It is simply for churches and leaders that have a desire to see God’s Kingdom purposes at work and on the move. 

And I believe that describes most of us! 
 

Dave Criddle was a pastor at Gold Hill Baptist Church for 10 years before leaving for a new adventure in late 2022. 

 

---

'Leaders will be both encouraged and challenged'
Review by Nick Allan

This is a simple short work by two Baptist missional leaders. Together they oversaw significant missional growth and contextual ministry to the unchurched, at The Beacon Church in Stafford, UK. It is a summation of seven universal principles observed in a range of growing British Baptist churches in recent years, and is written “to help ordinary churches to help other people meet Jesus.”

Through clearly expressed principles and a variety of captivating case studies, we hear the concern to see the local church and its leaders take seriously the decline of the church in our time, God’s missional imperative and the empowerment of God's people.

The book outlines the seven common principles which emerged after careful observations and coaching of a variety of growing churches:

• Intensity of prayer and fasting
• Gospel simply told
• Let your evangelists be heard
• Clarity and agreement (in vision and values)
• The people you have are enough
• Take real risks
• Reorganise more often than you think

Each chapter tells a story of different Baptist contexts experiencing significant conversion growth, and asks the important question: ‘why?’ It repeatedly draws out the role of ordinary people partnering in faith with an extraordinary God.

The testimonies will inspire every church leader, but most importantly the authors share key principles and provoke reflection as to how they could be applied in the reader’s context. Each chapter ends with aids to practical application and next steps.

Leaders will be both encouraged and challenged. The tone is set by the first observation, to which the authors offer a good theological grounding. "In all the churches where we've seen significant growth through conversions, they have outrageously prioritised prayer" plus, "we have recognised that this intensity of prayer and fasting is leader-led."

In today’s UK context, the book’s significance probably lies in the empowerment of ordinary believers and small churches towards making disciples. The final chapter proposes that our future growth may lie in embracing a "theology of the small" while anticipating an exponential impact for the kingdom of God.
 

Nick Allan is the minister of The Well Sheffield which has planted two worshipping churches in recent years. He is the author of The XYZ of Discipleship: Understanding and Reaching Generations Y & Z, published 2020

 

Order copies of On this Rock here