The More-with-Less Church: Maximize Your Money, Space, Time, and People to Multiply Ministry Impact - Softcover

Hall, Eddy; Bowman, Ray; Machmer, J. Skipp

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0801015537 ISBN 13: 9780801015533

Publisher: Baker Books, 2014

Synopsis

In our challenging economic times, it is no surprise that churches must get creative with their resources. But the authors of The More-with-Less Church believe pastors, leadership teams, and planning committees should look on times such as these not as hurdles to overcome but as opportunities to reconsider entrenched but inefficient ministry practices that are siphoning time, money, and energy from their churches. Drawn from time- and field-tested strategies, this practical resource helps church leaders avoid costly mistakes and maximize the return on their investment in four areas of church life--ministries, staffing, facilities, and finances.

About this title

From the Back Cover

Do more, spend less

In challenging economic times, it is no surprise that churches must get creative with their resources. In The More-with-Less Church, the authors of the bestselling When Not to Build propose that church leaders look on these times as opportunities to reconsider ministry practices that may be siphoning time, money, and energy from their churches. Drawn from time- and field-tested strategies, this practical resource will help you avoid costly mistakes and maximize the return on investment in ministries, staffing, facilities, and finances.

"The conventional church growth wisdom calls for bigger staff, bigger budgets, bigger buildings. The More-with-Less Church shows it's possible to impact more people without breaking the budget or burning out staff."--Drew Dyck, managing editor of Leadership Journal

"This volume is chock-full of practical insights on how church leaders can free up more money for the real mission of the church--our impact BEYOND the church in helping people live better lives. The counterintuitive suggestions are just spot on."--Reggie McNeal, author of Get Off Your Donkey!

"The problem with many churches today isn't a shortage of ministries, staff, buildings, or finances--but an abundance of all these resources that are overprogrammed, underutilized, or poorly managed. The More-with-Less Church shows how to maximize your church's resources to fulfill its mission. Don't start another program, hire another staff member, lay another brick, or raise another dollar until you read this book!"--Jim Tomberlin, author of 125 Tips for Multisite Churches

The relationship among this book's three authors is unique. Ray Bowman founded Living Stones Associates (LSA) in 1980. Eddy Hall succeeded him and now leads a team of ten consultants in addition to serving as head of staff at Hilltop Urban Church in Wichita, Kansas. Skipp Machmer joined LSA in 2011 and is being groomed to succeed Eddy. Skipp is executive pastor at Riverside Church in Big Lake, Minnesota.

About the Author

Eddy Hall is CEO of Living Stones Associates, a consulting team that since 1980 has been helping churches devise creative facility solutions, save money, improve church health, and increase ministry impact. He is the coauthor of several books, including When Not to Build and leads the staff at Hilltop Urban Church in Wichita, Kansas, a multi-ethnic church serving a low-income community.

Ray Bowman is the founder of Living Stones Associates. As an architect he spent thirty years helping churches build new facilities before turning his energies to helping them make the most of the buildings they already had. The coauthor of several books, including When Not to Build, he continues to consult in retirement.

J. Skipp Machmer over the past seventeen years has served on the staffs of two churches, first as Creative Arts Pastor and now as Executive Pastor at Riverside Church in Big Lake, Minnesota. He has guided a church in transitioning from being inwardly focused to being outwardly focused, helped lead his congregation through the transition to multivenue worship, then working on becoming a multisite church, seeing attendance grow from 500 to over 1500, mostly through evangelism.

About this edition

• Publisher: Baker Books
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0801015537
• ISBN 13: 9780801015533
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256