Chris Sonksen: Saving Your Church From Itself

Saving Your Church From Itself
Baker Books, 2022
By Chris Sonksen

WHO: Chris Sonksen, founding pastor pf South Hills Church in Southern California and founder of Church BOOM.

HE SAYS: “When the enemy takes a run at your church, he won’t do it through those who attend it; he will do it through those who lead it.”

THE BIG IDEA: Identify and address often overlooked behaviors and signs that can point toward division in a church.

THE PROGRESSION: In 10 chapters, the author explores how misalignment in a staff can lead to fracture. He also explores the six behaviors that tear teams apart.

“When people are divided or churches are split, it can usually be traced back to a leader.”

Greenwood Baptist Church: No Strings Attached

The church leadership purposefully lowers what they ask their people to do so that anyone—introverts, kids, the elderly—can be involved.

How Can We Avoid ‘Believing’ the Bible While Denying What It Actually Says?

We need to learn, and teach other people, not just to read the Bible but also how to interpret it, so they don’t end up being Bible-believing heretics or Jesus-followers who follow a Jesus different than the real Jesus of the Bible and history.

Is Gen Z Coming Back to Church?

When people born between 1997 and 2007 go to church, they attend, on average, about 23 services per year.