The American Church in Crisis: Groundbreaking Research Based on a National Database of over 200,000 Churches - Softcover

Olson, David T.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0310599377 ISBN 13: 9780310599371

Publisher: Zondervan, 2017

Synopsis

Groundbreaking research based on a national database of over 200,000 churches shows that the overall United States population is growing faster than the church. The director of the American Church Research Project, Dave Olson, has worked to analyze church attendance, showing that it is virtually unchanged from fifteen years ago while our population has grown by fifty-two million people. What does this mean for you, your church, and the future of Christianity in North America? The American Church in Crisis offers unprecedented access to data that helps you understand the state of the church today. "We live in a world that is post-Christian, postmodern, and multiethnic, whether we realize it or not," says the author. This book not only gives a realistic picture that confirms hunches and explodes myths, but it provides insight into how the church must change to reach a new and changed world with the hope of the gospel. Readers will find a richly textured mosaic with optimistic and challenging stories. Charts, diagrams, and worksheets provide church leaders and motivated church members with a stimulating read that will provoke much discussion. Questions for discussion accompany the chapters.

About this title

From the Publisher

Groundbreaking analytical research from a database of over 200,000 North American churches reveals our population is growing faster than church attendance. This guide shows the problems as well as the potential of the American church, confirming hunches, exploding myths, and offering a clear path to a brighter future.

From the Inside Flap

Attendance at American churches is less than half of what the polls report, according to Dave Olson, director of the American Church Research Project. The American Church in Crisis presents groundbreaking research that offers a more accurate picture of what is really happening to the American church at both the national and local levels. "The research does not rely on what people report to the polls, but rather measures their actual behavior," Olson says.

The American Church in Crisis delivers unexpected and original insights and provides a graphic picture of the state of the American church based on the largest ever research study of American church attendance. The research for this book was done through the collection of yearly attendance data of more than 200,000 individual Christian churches over a ten to twenty-five year period. While most other researchers look at membership, this research is based on attendance, which is much more reliable and reflects immediate change. This unique research base allows the author to forecast trends and patterns in the American church that no one else has seen.

The American Church in Crisis takes the data and shows what is happening in the church today--and why. It offers answers to the questions church leaders are asking: Why are these trends occurring? What values and habits of the larger culture affect the church? What values and habits of Christian culture affect the church? How must we change our values, habits, and priorities in order for the American church to grow in health and influence?

As well as insight and information from a unique and more complete database, The American Church in Crisis offers sidebars, charts, maps, and graphs to give a visual overview of key information. Worksheets help congregations and church leaders take the facts and figures and apply them to their unique situation.

Readers will find a richly textured mosaic, with stories of both optimism and challenge. The American Church in Crisis confirms hunches, explodes myths, and offers a clear path toward a brighter future.

About this edition

• Publisher: Zondervan
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 0310599377
• ISBN 13: 9780310599371
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 240