Transformational Church: Creating a New Scorecard For Congregations by Ed Stetzer and

Thom S. Rainer. Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 2010. 243 pages. Reviewed by Jason M.
Fletcher.

Ed Stetzer holds a D.Min. from Beeson Divinity School and a Ph.D. from Southern

Baptist Theological Seminary. He has pastored, planted, and revitalized churches. He has

served denominationally with the North American Mission Board, and currently serves as Vice

President of Research and Ministry Development for LifeWay Christian Resources. A prolific

speaker and writer he has published over seven books in the areas of church planting and church

revitalization. Thom S. Rainer holds a Ph.D. from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary where

he was the founding dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism and, Church

Growth. He currently serves as President and C.E.O. of LifeWay Christian Resources. He has

written more than twenty books on church growth and revitalization.

This book was written by two leaders in the realm of church growth and revitalization.

The subtitle gives an indication toward the purpose of this writing, “creating a new scorecard for

the church.”

The title, Transformational Churches, is descriptive of what the authors believe should

describe the church. First, they used the term “transformational” because “radical change” is at

the heart of the gospel (1). The gospel transforms individuals, churches, and communities.

Second, they have focused their work on churches, because they believe that the church is

“God’s tool and instrument for His kingdom agenda” (1).

Ed Stetzer makes the statement that our traditional “scorecard” to measure the health of a

church by bodies, budgets, and buildings, is inadequate to measure if a church is a

transformational church (26). This led the authors to perform a survey to determine “if healthy

churches created a new scorecard” (27). In 2008 Lifeway Research surveyed five thousand

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Protestant churches and selected the top ten percent based on several criteria. First, the churches

had to agree that the Bible is the “authoritative guide for faith and life” (27). It is interesting that

the authors did not choose to make this a stronger question, as many who might deny the

inerrancy of Scripture might agree with it as it only touches on authority. This criteria is further

weakened by the use of the qualifying phrase, “guide for faith and life” (27). Stetzer argues that

this question was foundational as they sought their study to work with churches that held to the

exclusivity of Christ for salvation (27). However, from what is included in this book, it does not

state anywhere that the churches were specifically asked that question. With the weakness of the

question on Biblical authority, churches could be included that would deny the exclusivity of

Christ. This has significant theological implications because the purpose of this study was to

determine the way transformational churches measured their success. Churches could be

included as transformation churches who would deny inerrancy and the exclusivity of Christ.

This could harm the integrity of the research and its results.

The second criterion for inclusion in the study of transformational churches was that the

church must have grown at least ten percent in their worship attendance. This was done by

comparing the current year’s attendance with the attendance five years previous (28). In

addition, the church must have a percentage of attenders involved in a small group Bible study.

With the way this is written, only those churches that did not have a small group ministry would

be disqualified. What is notably absent in the remainder of the book is any mention of a

benchmark percentage involved in small groups.

Out of the original seven thousand Protestant churches that were surveyed, two hundred

and fifty were selected based on the criteria for the research of this book. Field consultants from

LifeWay Research were dispatched to conduct interviews and provide in-depth research of each
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church selected. Fifteen thousand church member surveys were completed from these churches

that became the basis for Transformational Churches.

One of the major weaknesses of this book is that it seeks to create a new scorecard for the

church, and yet, relied upon the traditional markers of the old scorecard in order to create it.

Also, the authors state that research would drive their conclusions (32). Instead of beginning

with a biblical theology of what a transformation church should look like, the authors instead

begin by drawing their conclusions from existing churches. This book has the weakness of

falling into the same pragmatic trap that is levied against other church growth material. Being a

description of current churches, the principles that have arisen from their careful research might

be limited to the culture and setting of those churches included in the study. Are the principles

timeless? Will they transcend cultures and apply in lands outside of the United States?

Before describing the “new scorecard” the authors state that transformational churches

value discipleship. Their goal is to make disciples (6). Stetzer describes the new scorecard as

“at its essence” being a measurement of how well a church is making disciples (31).

The new scorecard is what the authors call the “Transformational Loop” (33). The

Transformational Loop is composed of three primary categories: discern, embrace, and engage

(33). Within these categories are seven elements by which transformational churches are

evaluated: missionary mentality, vibrant leadership, relational intentionality, prayerful

dependence, worship, community, and mission (33). The authors are quick to point out that the

loop is not “seven steps to success,” but that it is a continual process in which there is no set

starting point and one in which the seven elements are interdependent (33). Chapters three

through nine explain each of the seven elements in greater detail.

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One of the chapters that was most helpful was the discussion of vibrant leadership. In that

chapter it finds that what set transformational churches apart was that their leadership had

developed more of a team approach to ministry than a structure in which all of the authority and

power rested with a single person. A few other principles which stood out were the fact that

these churches had some sort of “small advisory teams and accountability groups” that worked

alongside the pastor (89). In some places these were called “elder boards” but the important

principle was there was a mechanism for on-going pastoral accountability. Secondly, the authors

mention a leadership process that vibrant leaders will engage in. First it is a shift toward

modeling ministry, what they call the “encounter” level (95). Second is a shift toward leading

others to join the mission, what is called the “influence” level (95). Third, is leading people to

lead others, called the “leading leaders” level (96). The fourth stage is leading others to lead

others to join the mission, called the “movement” or “history-making” level (96). Examples of

who might have reached this fourth level would have been helpful to the reader. An unanswered

question is, “Is it expected that each vibrant leader reach the fourth stage?”

In the concusion the authors encourage the reader to engage the Transformational Loop

by Connection, Catharsis, and Convergence (228). Connection refers to simply entering the loop

by selecting a starting point. Catharsis refers to a “moment of decision or change that is

beneficial and liberating” (39). It would have been helpful for the authors to have been a little

more clear on this point, but it would seem that this does not necessarily describe a point of

conflict, but a determination that the status quo is not acceptable. Finally, convergence describes

the idea that all of the seven elements in the Transformational Loop work together.

In conclusion, all of the principles described in this book are vitally important to the

health of any church. This should be required reading for ministerial students as well as pastors
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and church leaders. It is well-researched, well-organized, and written in a style that is easily

accessible to the non-academic.

However, I would have to say that this book does accomplish what it sets out to do and

that is to “create a new scorecard for congregations.” A scorecard, by its very essence is

quantifiable and measurable. The principles described in Transformational Church are more

qualitative in nature and thus are difficult to measure on a scorecard.

After doing some research on-line, I was able to find the scorecard that is alluded to in

Transformational Church, but never presented. For a church who would like to see how they

measure up to the seven elements, they are invited to purchase the “Transformational Church

Assessment Tool” (TCAT) from LifeWay which costs between $200 and $800 at this time

(http://www.lifeway.com/transformationalchurch/tool.asp accessed January 3, 2011). According

to the website, this assessment tool is considered the “linchpin” in the Transformational Church

Initiative. It is disheartening to learn that to access the tool described within requires such a

significant investment. As the investment has already been made to create the tool, why place

such a high price on its access?