Building Community: Revitalizing Church

Pew Research Center's 2014 Religious Land¬scape Study found that there are 5,000,000 fewer mainline Protestant adults in the U.S. than in 2007. Sunday church attendance declined ten percent or more in over half of U.S. Episcopal churches between 2012 and 2016.But not all churches are declining or holding even. Over a thousand Episcopal churches report an increase in Sunday attendance over the same five-year period. A study of Methodist, Baptist, Lutheran, and Presbyterian churches shows that while a majority are in decline, a significant number are growing. One profiled congregation reported to have doubled their membership in eighteen months.Instead of focusing on failing churches, or the causes of decline, Building Community: Revitalizing Church, concentrates on the character¬istics of growing churches. Why churches are declining is not as important as what can be done to reverse the de¬cline. You cannot change the demographics of your com¬munity, but you can change how you welcome new peo¬ple, change your worship to be vibrant and engaging, change your music to attract a younger generation, avoid conflict, and find ways to minister to people in your community.Therefore, this work addresses church leaders, clergy and lay, who need information on how to build thriving congregations. Much of the data that distinguishes growing congregations come from surveys conducted by the Episcopal Church. Other mainline denominations have done similar surveys, such as The U.S. Congregational Life Survey: Fastest Growing Presbyterian Churches, com¬pleted in 2001. None, however, are as comprehensive or recent as the New FACTs of Episcopal Church Growth and Decline by C. Kirk Hadaway, completed in 2015, with factual data from 762 Episcopal Churches. The study examines some twenty characteristics of churches that were clearly growing, plateaued, or declining.Included are in depth studies of twelve Episcopal Churches that are supported by links to Transforming Episcopal Churches videos on the Episcopal Church website, that can be used to re¬verse decline in attendance, attract new mem¬bers, and build community. Hospitality, music, changing worship, use of new technologies, and community in-volvement are common elements in many of the churches profiled here. Changing a single feature of church life does not guarantee growth. A change in several areas increases the probability that your church will begin to thrive. What form these take will be different for each church. Church leaders need to discern what is right for their congrega¬tion. Read the chapters from cover to cover or skip around to topics that interest you. Make notes in the spaces pro¬vided. Read the profiles of transforming churches and watch the online videos. Soon you will see the bigger picture and can begin to make plans. Chapter 14, Steps to Large-Scale Change, is the how-you-go-about-it section. Finally, this book doesn't let you forget you are doing God's work. Keep yourself and your congregation in your prayers. Listen to your intuition. Remember God's word spoken to Joshua:Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be dis¬couraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go (Joshua 1:9).

• | Author: Bert Anderson
• | Publisher: Independently published
• | Publication Date: Oct 18, 2018
• | Number of Pages: 217 pages
• | Language: English
• | Binding: Paperback
• | ISBN-10: 1719998701
• | ISBN-13: 9781719998703