Sometimes a book just takes over your soul and causes you to resonate in places you thought no one else understood. That’s what Shannon O’Dell’s book, Transforming Church in Rural America has done for me. While I have only been the senior pastor of one rural church, in Iowa, I have felt the same things and sought to make the same changes in rural, suburban and urban churches alike.

Shannon’s book will help you – whether you are in a rural church or not – if you pastor one of those “small because we aren’t Biblical” churches. (Yes, I know there are many churches that are small by God’s design. I think this book will help you too!) However, urban and suburban churches will find the following from this book greatly helpful too! Transforming the Church in Rural America is …

• Realistic: Shannon pulls no punches and explains the extreme difficulty of bringing healthy change to a rural church. He explains that “no one told him it was the most difficult job on earth; that friends would become enemies; that the people who left my church were going to be glaring at me in the check-out line of Wal-Mart for the rest of my life; that I was going to be thrown in the pit; that a red hot marriage was a must for being an effective rural pastor; and that Scripture never gives us qualifications for the office, but it gives us tons of Scriptures for the home.”

• Visionary: I almost fell out of my chair laughing as I read: “If rural Americans ran their farms and ranches the way most of them run their churches, the whole country would starve in short order.” Small church pastors can understand this sentiment in urban and suburban settings as well! Focusing on vision as the primary goal of rural ministry, O’Dell lays out 6 defining factors: Vision is the desire, the direction, is defining, is dynamic, is in the Deity and is God-Driven. Making this personal, Shannon spells out clear ways to infuse the life of the pastor and people with the vision of God!

• Exemplary: Ever since John Maxwell popularized the saying, “Everything rises and falls on leadership,” we have come to understand that you have to show it in order to get people to go for it! Transforming Church in Rural America focuses the laser on O’Dell’s key leadership principle: “Leadership is … resisting the urge to SETTLE. Leadership emerges when someone has had enough, when they say change must take place, and when they’re willing to stand up and be used by God to make a difference.” Then he takes us to our homes and shows how leadership is visible before you have an office in the church.

• Foundational: Perhaps the key to Brand New Church’s success is the principle of Understanding: Standing Under a Rock-Solid Structure. Understanding “means to place yourself underneath an appropriate authority in an appropriate way.” O’Dell develops this in three spheres: Standing under God, standing under Scripture and standing under a Shepherd (Pastor). Fleshing this out in his typical style, Shannon starts with this question: “If we take God’s Word seriously in almost every other area of our personal and corporate lives, why in the world wouldn't we look to God’s Word to understand His intended leadership structure for the Church? Hmmm.”  

• Practical: What I love about this book is it’s practicality. One example sticks out. In his chapter on “Enduring Excellence: Well Done without Much,” O’Dell shows how to have excellence in mission and aesthetics. Reminding us that “the church is exploding in parts of the world where physical buildings are non-existent,” Shannon says, “finding ways to make things excellent and still cut costs is so easy, unless you are too lazy to stretch yourself.” (Did I mention he is realistic?) He then provides good questions to help you in practical ways in these areas!

• Exponential: Perhaps the most exciting aspect of this book is how viral the message is … Brand New Church doesn’t just talk about mission to the world, they do it! Capturing the multi-site movement and satellite technology, O’Dell shows how they (and you) can start reaching your world in your generation – literally – from the small ministry you have! You will want to buy this book just for the faith-stretching vision of the last section!

Shannon’s passion is contagious. His honesty is refreshing. His vision is global and his love for pastors and small churches seems unending! This is a 6-star book on a 5-star rating system!

In a recent interview, Shannon and I spoke about Transforming the Church and these principles we have expressed in this review in greater detail. I hope you will take the time to listen to that interview here.

You can learn more about Shannon here.

You can sign up for Shannon’s blog here.

You can learn more about Brand New Church here.

You can purchase transforming church in RURAL America here.

Write me at PastorMatt[@]EaglesInLeadership.org if I can be helpful to you and your church.