Blog Tour: "Turning Controversy into Church Ministry" by W.P. Campbell

W.P. Campbell. Turning Controversy Into Church Ministry: A Christlike Response to Homosexuality. Zondervan, 2010. 240pgs. 

Another blog tour sponsored by http://engagingchurchblog.com/.  Thank you for allowing me to be a part of this. 

I have to say that when the option to sign up to review this book arrived I was intrigued.  Read that title a couple of times; doesn't it sound interesting? As a pastor how could I not want to turn controversy into church ministry? So, I signed up with two hopes: that this book would offer helpful insight into the issue of homosexuality and into some more general applications for dealing with controversies in the broader sense.  Were my hopes met, or dashed against the rocks? Read on to find out!

Campbell has divided this book into three parts.  In part one he invites the reader to analyze the current position and situation of his own church with three chapters focusing on three questions: Where do you stand in terms of grace, truth, and passion? Where do you stand in terms of dealing with sin and connecting with pain? Where do you stand in terms of scripture and who you follow? In part two he spends six chapters examining the controversy surrounding homosexuality. He moves through issues of science, psychology, and compassion/care.  Finally, in part three, Campbell offers a blueprint of how a church could incorporate ministry for sexual brokenness into their congregational activities.  This involves six 'spheres' drawn from the story of Nehemiah: Motivation (prayer), Vision (leadership), Healing (family values), Growth (mentors and counselors), Support (small groups), and Celebration (outreach).  His overarching thesis is that Christ desires to minister to those who struggle with sexual brokenness and that He can do so through our churches, despite the controversy and difficulties which surround these issues. 

Sadly, I almost did not make it past the first chapter of this book.  To be blunt, there seem to be several statistical errors and exaggerations designed to intensify the need for this book.  (Click the link to read my more detailed analysis)  I found this especially disappointing in a book which has a short section entitled "The Misuse of Statistics Today."  Still, I pressed forward.  After chapter one there are not too many other statistics at all, even if those I came across were also suspect. Not only that, but the rest of this book is worth reading, so I am glad I read on. 

Edit: Campbell has himself left some very helpful comments about my post about statistical errors.  They appear at the end of this post. He has included much more detailed explanations of his sources and very appropriate, and true, comments about my own words (that I need to be careful my own comments do not become alarmist, that these points are tangential, and so on).  Please make sure to read those comments as well as my own post.  

Errors aside, this book was a balanced and interesting approach to ministering in the midst of sexual brokenness.  The second section of the book explored the various facets of the controversy in an in-depth and accessible fashion.  Campbell ends each of these chapters with a lengthier story and some of them were quite moving.  In the third section Campbell offers a good overview of a possible ministry model for a church, with some standard, but helpful, thoughts on such issues as leadership, prayer, and small groups.  He is absolutely right in that any church seeking to minister to sexual brokenness needs to incorporate that ministry into the life of the church.  The whole Nehemiah thing felt like a cheap add on, as if he needed a biblical story to tack onto his model, but considering the state of Christian literature I can forgive that. 

Overall, this was an interesting book.  I learned a lot about the homosexuality and the controversy surrounding it, had a chance to do some worthwhile reflections on my own attitudes, and was challenged in how I deal with controversial and difficult issues which require the love of Christ.  In terms of my two initial hopes, my first was well met. My second was met but I had to get there myself.  In other words, Campbell doesn't actually offer general thoughts on dealing with controversial issues, but his book contains such insights if the reader abstracts them from the work.  

??? stars, conditionally recommended.  Content wise, discounting the stat stuff, I would give this book a 3.5. But, I can't quite get over the statistical issues and I am not sure how that should affect this rating. Other than that, this book is helpful for those interested in the subject, and especially for this involved in church ministry.