David Anderson	Dr. Ronnie W. Floyd	Eddie Jones	Geoff Surratt
Mark Beeson	Ken Freeman	Tony Morgan	Ed Young
Rick Bezet	Craig Groeschel	Tim Stevens

I’m captivated by Shannon’s story, challenged by his witness and moved by his resolve. As I read, I found myself turning the pages quickly and anticipating what was coming next. Shannon sounds a clear call for leaders of the church in rural America—but the principles translate to any leader trying to move a congregation toward life change in communities of all sizes. This is a rare book ... one that I’ll be buying several copies of to hand out to encourage pastors every chance I get.

Tim Stevens, Executive Pastor
Granger Community Church
Author, Pop Goes the Church
Co-Author, The Simply Strategic series
twitter.com/timastevens
www.leadingsmart.com

I believe in Shannon O’Dell and his book because he leads with vision and heart. His vision is not a dream about something he has never experienced, but his vision is coming into reality as he is transforming church in rural America. His heart is sensitive to God’s Spirit because he is a man committed to the Bible being his model to reach his world with Christ. If you want to believe again, if you want to know again that God can use you and your church, read this inspiring work and let God take you to a new level of faith. Share this book with spiritual leaders across the country and there is no telling how many leaders that will once believe God can use them, right where they are.

Dr. Ronnie W. Floyd, Senior Pastor
First Baptist Church of Springdale
and The Church at Pinnacle Hills, Arkansas
twitter.com/ronniefloyd
www. ronniefloyd.com

The lies about churches “in the boonies” echo loudly throughout the landscape of our culture. And too often, leaders believe them thinking “success” is reserved for places with big populations and bigger budgets.

But in Transforming Church in Rural America, Shannon O’Dell confronts some of the most powerful and prominent of these lies head on. And as he shares his passion for what church is meant to be, he reminds us of the truth that God can move anywhere—even in rural America.

No matter what size church you are a part of, this book will challenge your traditional thinking, force you to look beyond the status quo and enable you to grasp a bigger vision of what God has in store for your ministry and your leadership.

Ed Young, Pastor
Fellowship Church
Author, The Creative Leader
twitter.com/edyoung
www.edyoung.com
www.fellowshipbchurch.com
www.edyoungblog.com

Shannon O’Dell’s passion for the rural church in America is contagious. The vision to see the small church reach multitudes through partnerships with other churches is a move of God, and Transforming Church in Rural America, is right on the wave of God’s plan.

Craig Groeschel, Senior Pastor LifeChurch.tv
Author of The Christian Atheist: Believing in Godbut Living As If He Doesn’t Exist
www.lifechurch.tv
swerve.lifechurch.tv

I’ve been friends with Shannon for years; he’s an awesome man of God! I would encourage pastors, staff in the church, and leaders to read Shannon’s book. I’ve watched him take a dead Church in the middle of nowhere and grow a great Church. It’s awesome!

Ken Freeman,
Ken Freeman Ministries
www.kenfreemanministries.com

No one in America knows more about reaching people for Christ in a rural setting than Shannon O’Dell. He and his team at Brand New Church are literally changing the world one small town at a time. Transforming Church in Rural America should be on the must read list of anyone who is serious about going into the highways and byways and compelling them to come in.

Geoff Surratt, Pastor of Ministries
Seacoast Church, Charleston, SC
twitter.com/Geoffsurratt
www.geoffsurratt.com
www.seacoast.org

If you want to know how to bring life to places that desperately need it, then you have to read Transforming Church in Rural America, as Shannon O’Dell shares about the great risk he took in building a church in the middle of rural Arkansasan endeavor that, I have to say, has been nothing shy of successful!

Rick Bezet, Lead Pastor
New Life Church in Central Arkansas
twitter.com/rick_bezet
www.newlifechurch.tv

Shannon O’Dell shatters the “rural reality” with the power of vision, excellence, and technology to prove no matter how small or low on finances, your church can become a relevant force for transforming lives today.

Tony Morgan, Pastor of Ministries
West Ridge Church
Author of Killing Cockroaches And Other Scattered Musings on Leadership
www.tonymorganlive.com

Shannon O’Dell isn’t just “Breaking the Rurals” – he is shattering the rules for ministry and blazing a trail for pastors in any size church and any size city in America. A visionary leader with a passion for people and a zeal for the local church, Shannon’s amazing story will challenge your thinking about the way church has always been done.

David Anderson, Lead Pastor
Crosspoint Community Church
www.blog.moviepastor.com
www.crosspointlive.tv
twitter.com/moviepastor

Being a church planter in rural America, (Rolla, Missouri) I have seen and experienced many things that Shannon details in this book. The application of the principles in this book will take strong leadership driven by a God-given vision. The results will bring about transformation to churches in rural America that have neglected the Great Commission and allowed church to be more about them than about those needing a Savior in our communities.

Eddie Jones, Lead Pastor
Christian Life Center
www.clcrolla.com
twitter.com/eddieljones

Oh Father God, we pray for Shannon O’Dell, for his family, for his marriage, for his ministry, and for his congregation. We pray for his witness and we pray for his mind, that he will think new thoughts and dream new dreams. We pray for his body that it will be healthy and strong, that he can run long the race that you have set before him.

We pray for his friends, that they will be true to him and true to You; that they will always lift him up, always encourage him, always help him on the journey. We pray for resources to flow into his ministry because it is Your work and what You have purposed to be done. We believe that You will resource what You have commanded to be done. And so we pray that people with money will give money, that people with time will give time, that people with faith will exercise their faith, that people with big ideas and big dreams and big visions will give those ideas and dreams and visions to the cause.

I pray, Father, that Shannon will encourage and challenge pastors and leaders in rural churches all across this country. I pray that the God-sized work you are doing in Arkansas through Shannon’s ministry will be repeated in towns and villages in every corner of our nation. In Jesus name we pray for this. Amen.

Mark Beeson
Senior Pastor, Granger Community Church
www.markbeeson.com