The Deliberate Church: Building Your Ministry on the Gospel

If you look for church revitalization books, they are few and far between. And while Deliberate

Church by Mark Dever was not marketed exclusively as that, it is a great help for pastors who are thinking purposefully about implementing a healthy philosophy of ministry into their church.

Mark Dever is pastor at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC, and has been so since the early 90's. Dever certainly brought new life to CHBC and did so while keeping grounded in the gospel, and in the local church. He is known as author of the popular book 9 Marks of a Healthy Church, and this book is a help in putting those 9 marks into practice. He also heads 9 Marks Ministries, a great encouragement to many pastors worldwide. Also, a deeply show more informative follow on twittter.

The name of the book informs us of the nature of the book, and Dever wants us to think deeply about church and be deliberate about the way our churches our ordered. This covers from main service, to business meetings, polilty, children, youth, worship, and everything in between. Perhaps no one has written more or researched more about the church in recent times that Mark Dever. And Deliberate Church starts with a clear theology of the church that is helpful for planters and revitalizers. Namely, that God intends for the local church to be a corporate display His glory and wisdom. Dever builds on this biblical framework to to remind us that "we are building a corporate organic structure that will accurately magnify God's glory and faithfully communicate His Gospel.

Dever is immensely helpful in getting a solid foundation for the theology of the church, as it is the basis of everything else that a church does. Whether a church is new or old it must have a solid theology that undergirds all that they do and help guide their decisions.

He then turns to remind us of several truths regarding methods:
1. Theology drives methods
2. God's methods determine ours
3. The Gospel both enables and informs our participation in God's purposes'
4. Faithfulness to the Gospel must be our measure of success, not results.

Over the next few chapters Dever covers many topics, from "What should a pastor pray for his church", reverse membership interviews, sermon planning, worship service planning, and more.

Some quotes that stood out to me:

"Much as you must eat a varied diet from all food groups, so must you vary the worship meetings of church to satisfy different needs."

"Worship is a total life orientation of engaging with God on the terms that He proposes and in the way that he provides"

On transition in an established church: at least 5 years, lots of exposition, and recognition of small victories.

Growing a congregation to "spiritual maturity is not simply about quiet times, but about their love for other belivers, and their concrete expressions of that love."

This book is helpful for pastors of established churches to think about their methods and strategies in a way that will honor God and move their churches to be effective in their communities, and not do things "because we've always done it that way"

This book is helpful for church planters because it will give them a head start on establishing polity and methods to reach their communities. show less

show more 關於二十一世紀的教會和其牧者們面對的問題，狄馬可作了許多深思熟慮、條理分明、依據聖經的思考。這本著作是他一系列出版物的壓軸之作，他在其中為教會論奠定了深經檢驗的神學框架。

狄馬可是個忠心、有智慧、忠於聖經的牧師，多年來一直幫助其他牧師在教會生活和事奉中更加忠於聖經。《深思熟慮的教會》是他的另一個禮物，送給我們這些想根據聖經改革地方教會的人。這本書是個完美的範例，展現了論述教會健康和成長的真正實用書籍應有的樣子。它提供了實際的指導和例證，把聖經原則體現在地方教會的生活和事奉中。在這文化劇變的時代，教會的見證至關重要。在這後基督教的時代，那些最能分別為聖的教會才是福音真理最關鍵的火炬。這本書會幫助地方教會的領袖們，在聖經教導的光照下，積極重新思考我們在做甚麼，為甚麼要這樣做。
—— 鄧肯（J. Ligon Duncan III）
密西西比傑克森市第一長老會（First Presbyterian Church,Jackson, Mississippi）主任牧師，認信福音派聯會（Allianceof Confessing Evangelicals）主席

關於二十一世紀的教會和其牧者們面對的問題，狄馬可作了許多深思熟慮、條理分明、依據聖經的思考。這本著作是他一系列出版物的壓軸之作，他在其中為教會論奠定了深經檢驗的神學框架。通過適當的問題，他激發讀者思考教會結構的權威性，教會的性質、形式、敬拜、聖禮、宣講、職分及其要求、運作方式，以及對外拓展。他引導我們實際應用這些必備原則，讓教會生活能生機勃勃，榮耀神，以基督為中心，並忠於聖經。
—— 奈特斯（Tom J. Nettles）
美南浸信會神學院，教會歷史學教授 show less

This book was insightful and encouraging. Dever does a good job of providing both biblical warrant for his views and practical wisdom on how to implement them. While it would be helpful for all pastors, it is primarily geared towards guys in established churches. Overall, I heartily recommend this book for all pastors, particularly aspiring and young pastors, who desire to lead their congregation in faithfulness to the Scriptures in all areas of ministry.

Finished reading “The Deliberate Church” by Paul Alexander and Mark Dever a few months ago and haven’t taken time to express my thoughts here on the site.

The book was interesting. I picked it up somewhere and it sat on the shelf for a while until I made the effort to get through it. It took me a while because I occasionally lost interest.

The book attempts to give a clear blueprint that every aspect of local church leadership is well-defined and mandated in Scripture.

This is what intrigued me about the book and caught my interest initially, but I began to see some issues with the authors when they exclaimed that all leadership roles could only be filled by men.

I did finish the book and did learn some great ideas on running board show more meetings, holding leadership elections, public meetings, etc. I will keep the book on my shelf and draw from it on occasion I’m sure. show less

Implement or refute

Ordering copies for our elders. I don't agree with everything, but its such a clear and grounded and sensible biblical argument at every point that it all needs to be discussed and much of it implemented.

Practical, helpful, full of information about building and forming a healthy church from practices to leadership to purpose.

Practical, helpful, full of information about building and forming a healthy church from practices to leadership to purpose.