The Fly in the Ointment By J. Russell Crabtree Have you ever wondered why it is that groupings of churches create fellowships or denominations? What purpose do they serve? After they have been established, why do they not help the very congregations which gave them reason for being? J. Russell Crabtree takes on an extremely difficult issue relative to District, Regional, and National church organizations. The status quo leader at any of these level may have little interest in what Crabtree has to say. The man or woman who is a servant/leader to groupings of churches and who is always in critique mode of how serving and leading best happens will find this book a stimulating read. The Fly in the Ointment is written primarily to a mainline church audience.However, once a person does the translation from region to district and makes allowances for polity differences, this book will challenge evangelical and Pentecostal conventional thinking. While I agree with most but not all of the book, I do appreciate that Crabtree is not "pie-in-the-sky." He understands budgets, bylaws, governance, the church and Districts (Regions). He is very practical in his advice to leaders. The book's description of mono-optional cultures to multi-optional cultures is fascinating; it is profound yet simple. In describing life on a variety of fronts in the 1950s he shows we had few options: cars - Ford or Chevy (but not both); tissue - Kleenex; overseas travel - TWA; business machines - IBM; churches - Baptist, Assemblies of God, Presbyterian, or Catholic (certainly not all of the above). In the 60s and 70s we began to learn of options and those options included church options. If we were raised AG, we could change and go to the Baptist or Independent church and God wouldn't get made at us. As we approach 2010, brand loyalty is in the glossary of terms of business history books. Unfortunately, many of the church organizations that grew out of the early and mid-years of the 20th century do not connect with the idea that a local church has options today. Crabtree is an optimist. While rightly researching regional/district bodies to the fullest extent, he offers solutions in his Regional Association Assessment Tool ©. In the final chapter of The Fly in the Ointment he gives a five-step process to getting started, beginning with finding out where you are today in service to the church. District, regional, and national work is not easy. Crabtree notes that, when taking a northbound highway out of Honolulu, you come to a place called Pali Pass. At that point, if you take a right on Park Street for one block and then a left on Easy Street for one block you come upon a sign. It reads, "Dead End." Crabtree's implication...Don't take that last turn!