Loving Your Community by Stephen Viars is a good primer on how the church ministers to its community instead of expecting the community to come to it. The author uses personal examples of ways his church reached out and seized the opportunities around them-some of which are not so obvious. The author also uses testimonials of people impacted by the ministry of the church.
Church has many resources in its people and the properties and resources that they own. The author encourages the church to tap into what they have and be a better steward of it. While some view stewardship as protecting what they own, we should view it as getting the best and most usage out of it.

Viars style is easy reading. For a seasoned pastor with a missional heart and experience, it may be a good refresher or a bit too basic. For someone who has been doing traditional inward-focused church, this may be really good for them to get them thinking outside the church box.

One last thing – I did appreciate is the refocusing of church staff positions. Instead of a children’s pastor, they retooled them as the City or Town Children’s Pastor. It expands the focus of the ministry from church-only, to the community. Brilliant idea.

All in all, it was an easy read with a few new ideas, but was pretty predictable based on my experience. It would be a great tool for pastors to take key leaders through.