The People Factor: Giving People Top Priority in the Life and Ministry of the Local Church

Some have jokingly remarked, “The church would be great if it just weren’t for all the people.” Not so, for the church is people. Oral Withrow has caught the essence of what effective ministry is all about in his new book, The People Factor. If you are interested in effective transformational ministry, you will want to study and share this book with the people in your church. Pastors and congregations that are making a difference have learned that people, not programs, doctrine, finances, or administration, must come first.

I have devoted my life to being a student of effective pastors and congregations. In my twenty‑five years of pastoring, I have had the unique privilege of being associated with some of the most effective churches and pastors in America today. Some of the churches are megachurches and some are much smaller, but they all have one key ingredient in common: they give people a top priority in the life and ministry of the local church.

Oral Withrow challenges some of the traditions and myths that have often hindered effective ministry. He relates practical insights out of his own rich experience of pastoring and ministering to pastors and congregations across America. His Ponder and Process section at the end of each chapter makes this book a practical tool to use with small groups and classes for congregations who are wanting to make their ministry more effective.

I have found in my own experience that all ministry in the church flows out of relationships. If I could summarize the essence of Christ’s teaching in just one word, it would be relationship. He came to bring us into right relationship with God and right relationship with each other. That is what the good news is really all about. The People Factor relates some very practical principles on how to build and maintain those relationships in the life of the church. This is one book that really needed to be written.

Ray Cotton

Senior Pastor

New Hope Community Church

Portland, Oregon