Comeback Churches: How 300 Churches Turned Around and Yours Can, Too
Average Rating: out of 14 Reviews
Price: $17.99
Sale: $11.54
Manufacturer: B&H Books
EAN (European Article Number): 9780805445367
Number of Items: 1
Binding: Hardcover
Author: Ed Stetzer::Mike Dodson
Publisher: B&H Books
Dewey Decimal Number: 253
Publication Date: 2007-05-01
Reading Level: 224
Description: Research shows that over time, most churches plateau and then eventually decline. Typically, they start strong and experience periods of growth, then stagnate and lose members. Since 1991, the North American population has increased by 15 percent while the number of "unchurched" people has increased by 92 percent. Large church houses that were filled in the 1950s and `60s now hold a fraction of their capacity.
To counter this trend, authors Ed Stetzer and Mike Dodson surveyed 300 churches from across ten different denominations that recently achieved healthy evangelistic growth after a significant season of decline. What they have discovered is an exciting method of congregation reinvigoration that is shared in the new book entitled Comeback Churches.
Details: I am not normally a fan of church growth books. Too many times I think they are all about marketing, making church about product placement and promotion instead of loving God and loving people. I have come away from some books on church growth convinced that it could all be done without reference to or dependence upon God at all.
It was with this skepticism that I came to Stetzer's and Dodson's Comeback Churches. I was pleasantly surprised to read a book that pointed toward the biblical foundations of the church and biblical patterns for its growth. The book is a great encouragement that churches in decline can be revitalized. The reader will be challenged but at the same time stories of leaders and churches sprinkled through the book give the reader hope. I believe that leaders who take the message of this book to heart will be used by God to increase the numbers of Comeback Churches all over the world.
Review Summary: Comeback Churches
Date: 2008-01-12
Details: Comeback Churches is an excellent help to pastors and lay leaders trying to bring stagnant, plateaued or declining churches back to life, health and vitality.Comeback Churches: How 300 Churches Turned Around and Yours Can, Too
Review Summary: An Fine Use of Theology and Statistics
Date: 2007-12-07
Details: The authors do a terrific job of communicating a heart for the gospel and theology while sharing observations of how things are done in our fallen world. They are careful to base all conclusions not in the statistics but in what the Bible has told us to do. This book is well worth reading and even sharing with your staff and deacons.
Review Summary: An Excellent Well Written Book
Date: 2007-10-23
Details: This is a book the vast majority of pastors and church leaders in America need to read. It is well researched, well written, completely Biblical and extraordanarily practical. This book can help anyone who follows this well written and researched guidance.
Les White D.Min
Review Summary: Very Good
Date: 2007-10-18
Details: I've read many books on church growth/church health, and this one is near the top of my list. Although there are many commendable points made, my favorite is the authors' "Missional Matrix." In it they assert there must be a biblical grounding in Christology, Ecclesiology and Missiology. When these three truths are in balance and empowered by the Holy Spirit, a stagnant or declining congregation is on its way to becoming a "comeback church."
This book is a very good read, and would be helpful to any pastor or church leader.