Sacred Cows Make Gourmet Burgers: Ministry Anytime, Anywhere, by Anyone

Bill Easum has a truly refreshing perspective on 21st century church life. His challenge to systematically undo any structure of the church that doesn't serve a functional purpose is revolutionary, but much needed. I've bought this book for the entire administrative board at our church and have asked them to read it and share their feelings in the coming month. If you're a pastor of church leader of a church that is stuck in the "way we've always done it," get this book for your entire leadership team and try doing it a different way!

If you feel called to Lay Ministry, you need this book. If you are frustrated with the slow, do-nothing bureaucracy of your church, you need this book. If you or your Pastor spend all of your time "running the church" instead of doing God's Work, you need this book. It will get your wheels turning in the right direction. Easum does a great job of showing how many churches have lost the joy of a spiritual relationship with God and exchanged it for the tedium of overcomplex committee structures. He advocates a new model of ministry by enlightened lay members being nurtured by their clergy, solving problems, setting goals and developing their own strategies to do the work that Christ has led them to do, without the stifling, controlling structures that can hold them back. The idea that it is better to err on the side of being too permissive seems dangerous, because it is. It endangers the inbred fear of change that chokes the spiritual life out of a congregation. Many well established clergy and older church members will be afraid of the ideas that this book offers, they need to be understood, too. Those over fifty will have a hard time understanding how anything can work without a rigid structure. Structure was and is an integral part of their world and served them well, but the spiritual needs of God's people cannot be met by structure. Those needs can only be met by inspired ministry which is free to respond instantly to the pain and suffering that modern society still cannot cure. The only thing that kept me from giving this book 5 stars is that Easum needed a better editor. There are a few inconsistancies and unfinished ideas that should have been cleaned up and some scientific terminology that would have benefitted from more careful review. They are occasionally distracting but can in no way dampen the enthusiasm I have for the great ideas that Easum puts before us. He has given me words to express my frustration with the current state of many "main-line" churches, including my own. We can work out our own solutions if we can find and use our Spiritual Gifts as God intends for us to.

Churches ought to be structured to empower rather than to control. This is the idea at the heart of this book. As simple as it sounds, to apply the principles Easum talks about requires a reinvention of the decision-making systems, ministry structures, and atmosphere of the church. He warns that making this change takes a church about five years of sustained effort. In my work as a church consultant, when I find a church that is ready to take on this challenge, I assign this book (actually selected chapters of it) as reading for the staff and leadership team.I find this book exhilarating, but it doesn't do everything. Easum admits to not enjoying (actually, to despising) how-to writing. This is not a how-to book. Rather, it outlines the concepts, and some readers are left thinking, "This is great, but how do I do it?"Well, I think Easum has come upon the right way to answer that question. Recently he has merged his consulting firm with that of Thomas Bandy who is a how-to person. In their seminars, Easum presents the theory and Bandy follows with the nuts and bolts. So, if you like Easum's ideas, follow this book with reading a couple of Bandy's books, and you'll have the practics to go along with the theory. This is not a book for the timid or traditional, but if you want to unleash God's power through the people of your congregation, reading SACRED COWS is a good place to begin.

I borrowed the book from my pastor and read it quickly as I could not put it down after I started reading it. I have been a member of a church for about 25 years and have served on committees, attended meetings, and been part of planning committees and have found this book to be so true. "This is the way it's always been done." I like the permission giving idea. We all need to use our gifts to further the kingdom. We need to do ministry as God leads and use the gifts we have been given.

This book excited me so much that I gave away so many copies to church leaders that I inquired at a local seminary bookstore about bulk rates!The perceived need to control the church is one of the biggest impediments to successfully turning around a struggling church (from my experience). Easum deals with this directly, and shows how a "permission giving" church can experience dynamic growth.I also found his analysis of a balanced pastor to be a big help in my own pastoral growth.The only negative point about the book is that it isn't as big on concrete suggestions as it is on general concepts. Figuring out exactly how to do what he suggests requires reading some other, related books. But that's worth the effort, too.Every pastor should read this book.