Peter Wagner: Churchquake

C. Peter Wagner, Churchquake!: How the New Apostolic Reformation Is Shaking Up the Church As We Know It (Ventura, CA: Regal Publishers), 274 pages, ISBN 9780830719181.

I started reading Peter Wagner’s books soon after he began to be published, and I took his class on ‘Signs and Wonders’ at Fuller Seminary. I recall some of his early writing when he confronted things such as: the obvious impact of the uneducated, unpolished, and under financed Pentecostal preachers who came to Bolivia, found an empty lot for their raggedly tents and drew large enthusiastic crowds. Those things made no sense to Missionary Peter, who thought back then, thought that he was doing all things the right way.

Peter had to confront that his right way was not necessarily God’s way, and that confrontation led to a career in the Christian world in which Peter has become one of the ‘experts’ in church growth and the work of the Holy Spirit.

When Peter started off 45 years or so ago, the church world was far different than the one to which we have become accustomed. There were no Willow Creeks, Saddle Backs, and Church on the Ways or any other seeker sensitive megachurches. People were just starting to hear about Pat Robertson, John Osteen, and all of today’s leaders. The largest churches in the world today were still forming and in their infancy.

The wave that washed over the church world back then carried a challenge to allow the Holy Spirit to take His rightful place in the kingdom of God and the kingdom of your heart. Much of that early effort was forged by the FGBMFI, which was headed by an Armenian dairy farmer from Southern California.

Forty years ago the church world was told to seek the Baptism of the Holy Ghost, which was evidenced by speaking in tongues and would endue the recipient with power from on high that would produce the ability to touch the world for Jesus. When that wave washed ashore it caught many of us and permeated the church world. One result of that wave is a world dotted with megachurches, most of which, to Wagner’s study, buck and rebel at the restraints of denominationalism.

Peter’s book is an upbeat review of how and why these megachurches function so well in today’s otherwise declining North American church scene. Peter spends much effort defining or naming the movement that best fits these churches with an apostolic connotation.

Once named, Peter examines the administrative structure of these new megachurches. He presents charts that look like the organizational charts I created when seeking new consulting work from clients who were impressed with that sort of thing. Peter finds that much of the success of these churches is the chief executive role accorded the Senior Pastor, a role that allows the casting and fulfilling of God given visions. Peter compares the failure of the congregationally ruled church to the more theocratic one-person rule model. This is contrasted to a pastor who picks his board and keeps only those who are on the team, this is the pastoral team model.

I have been involved in both of these management styles over the past twenty years. I was on the pastoral staff of Church on the Way where I experienced difficulty with the Senior Pastor’s management style even though it met much of Wagner’s criteria. I left and moved to Hawaii where I became part of a Nazarene Church, which was ruled by several related families that made sure the Pastor didn’t waste his time on anything as silly as a vision. The Sunday services there were restful, reverent and nothing happened.

We moved on to New Hope, a fledgling Foursquare Church in the fall of 1995, one, which fits Wagner’s model, and now is the largest in Hawaii with a congregation in the low five figures. We have people everywhere, all wanting to help and be involved. The emphasis in Wagner’s book and at New Hope is on developing leaders and getting the right management style in place. Everyone can be a leader; all you need to do is master the techniques. We teach Time Management in our Bible Institute. Our staff administers tests, which reveal people’s gifts in and for the church. We must learn to do church as a team. No longer is the Baptism of the Holy Spirit seen as the key to successful ministry, the wave of today is leadership and leadership summits. No more tarrying at the altar until you are filled with power from on high. Seekers don’t like that.

Wagner looks upon the modern Seminary as largely a waste of time. Seminaries are not doing what is needed, the academics teach theory, doctrine and even worse, original languages—the ultimate waste of time. Funny, I got much out of my years at the Seminary where Peter taught. While not an expert in any category similar to Peter, I wondered at what he had written. Also, today’s megachurch leader is a self taught CEO who can communicate the Gospel in simple words. That same CEO will build staff and leaders into vision-catchers. This is what will bring the Church into the 21st Century with a potential for success that makes Azusa Street look like an old stable from which nothing worthwhile could come. Keep it simple and fast moving. No time to ponder and seek. We are too busy. Come and dine.

In spite of my picking on Peter and his model, I have enjoyed my years at the megachurches of today. I grew as a citizen of the kingdom of God while I was in those megachurches. They are great and are able to offer far more than the small church. I enjoy the worship, the crowds, the prosperity of the congregation and what it can do corporately.

I also enjoyed Peter’s book. It is a quick read that is filled with interesting stories about the church and its success all over the world. Everyone should read it. It is upbeat and challenging. You will learn much and be challenged by his thoughts. Your church might even begin to grow after you read what Peter has to say. His last chapter is thrilling, and the last page almost brought me out of my chair cheering the One to whom we owe all. Not many books reviewed in this journal do that.

Reviewed by H. Murray Hohns