Winning on Purpose: How to Organize Congregations to Succeed in Their Mission

I now rank "Winning on Purpose" among the top 10 books on church organizational life that I've read. The foundational premise is that Christians are to make disciples of Jesus. The way a local church organizes for ministry can hinder or assist in that mission. Kaiser dares to suggest that pastors, church boards, and the membership of the church are to be accountable for the mission. Accountability does not restrict or lay guilt on these persons, but in proper relationship to one another frees them to lead and serve in ways that will give them every opportunity to fulfill their God-given mission. The author does a good job of describing the limitations of how many traditional churches are organized. He is even better at defining and describing Accountable Discipleship through an organizational structure that can be adapted to a variety of traditions. It may well be the limitations of publishing did not allow him to go into more detail about how to move from a traditional, ineffective organizational model to the effective model he promotes. I would benefit from more suggestions about how to lead a church (as quickly as possible) from the former to the latter. Nevertheless, "winning on Purpose" should be taught in seminaries and continuing education seminars. It should not just on the book shelf of any pastor or church leader, but in their hands and a matter of urgent prayer and discussion in churches that have a desire to grow -- and a willingness to do what it takes to make disciples.

Simply a must read for church boards. Avoid the pitfalls of typical church boards and enable a pastor to lead, boards to govern, staff/volunteers to manage and put your members into ministry. What more could you want? Kaiser teaches the system that allows it to happen.

I found this book to be both exciting and challenging. It is based upon some serious success in the American Baptist Church of the West where turn-around has become the norm. You might want to also read Paul Borden's "Direct Hit" which gives you some background to this success. Borden provides the story, Kaiser in this book provides the nuts and bolts of why to and how to give your church the "win."

I love the book in and of itself. It is very clear and concise as to both theory and process for pursuing the Accountable Leadership process. My one bug with the book is that there is little in the way of any Biblical study and underpinning to this. I find that too bad because it is a good organizational model that can be demonstrated from Biblical principles. It would have been immensely helpful to have more on that end. That does not diminish my rating since what the book proposes to do it does very well. I highly recommend this book to church leadership both staff and lay leaders.

The title and cover are horrible. Had a friend not recommended the book, I would have never read it. The content of the book, however, is amazing. Well done and very, very helpful. Every church leader should read this book.