Brain Haynes has written a book entitled Shift: What it takes to finally reach families today. Brian works for Kingsland Baptist Church in Katy, Texas as their Associate Pastor. I finished this book this past week and have read many reviews. My favorite reviews are here and here. You can find a full collection of reviews here.
This book review will try and answer 3 questions that I had before starting to read it.
1. So why is this book important to Children's Ministry, Student Ministry, and Family Ministry as a whole?
My answer: Simply put, it furthers the conversation. As churches and ministries try to figure out how to work together better to reach the entire family this book should be in the conversation. It will not end the conversation or in my opinion be the full strategy of the church but it does give a great glance into what is a piece of the strategy. Just like Reggie Joiner has his strategy of Orange which furthers the conversation but doesn't complete it either. There will be many more strategies that come forward over the next couple of years.
2. What is the Family Ministry Strategy of Shift?
Basically Brian breaks down a person's life from child to adult into different milestones. These milestones are well defined, maybe named weird, but he does a very good job in defining each. Once you know the milestone then the church can come along side the family to help build faith skills. I like the idea of having key times in someone's life where they are more open to God and open to furthering their relationship with God. I agree with Gina McClain though that it does seem to miss the times between the milestones.
3. Can I do what the Family Ministry strategy of Shift?
Yes I can come along side families during milestones in a person's life. Yes I can partner with other staff members to make we are thinking about these milestones. Yes I can quantify and qualify each step. The problem with this strategy is that I have been doing that for almost 5 years now and don't feel like my family ministry is where it should be. I think that there has to be another solution. More conversations will continue and more books will be written.
So there is my 2 cents on the book Shift. I would recommend that if you are in Children's Ministry, Student Ministry, or Family Ministry to give it a read. It is short and worth your while.
