Essential Church?: Reclaiming a Generation of Dropouts
Language: English
Published by B&H Books, 2008
- Hardcover
- Used
Seller: MERS Goodwill, Saint Louis, MO, U.S.A.MERS Goodwill
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Condition: Used - Fair
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Used - Acceptable: All pages and the cover are intact, but shrink wrap, dust covers, or boxed set case may be missing. Pages may include limited notes, highlighting, or minor water damage but the text is readable. Pages may include limited notes and highlighting, but the text cannot be obscured or unreadable. Any access codes or passwords originally included with the book may be expired, used or no longer valid. Image is stock photo and cover art edition may be different than pictured.
Seller Inventory # MERV.0805443924.A
- Title
- Essential Church?: Reclaiming a Generation of Dropouts
- Author
- Thom S. Rainer; Sam S. Rainer
- Publisher
- B&H Books
- Publication year
- 2008
- Condition
- acceptable
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Language
- English
- ISBN 10
- 0805443924
- ISBN 13
- 9780805443929
Why do so many young adults (18 to 22) leave the church, and what will it take to bring them back? This important question is examined and duly answered in Essential Church?, a follow-up to Thom S. Rainer’s best-selling Simple Church cowritten this time with his son, research expert Sam Rainer.
The book is based on a study of one-thousand so-called "church dropouts" who were interviewed about why they left. Their answers are quite surprising, having less to do with "losing their religion" and more about the desire for a community that isn’t made stale by simply maintaining the status quo.
In turn, the Rainers offer churches four concrete solutions toward making their worship community an essential part these young people’s lives again:
Simplify - develop a clear structure and process for making disciples.
Deepen - provide strong biblical teaching and preaching.
Expect - let members know the need for commitment to the congregation.
Multiply - emphasize evangelism, outward focus, and starting new churches.
"Synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
About the Author
Thom S. Rainer is the founder and CEO of Church Answers. Prior to Church Answers, he served as president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources. He also served at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary for twelve years where he was the founding dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions and Evangelism. He has been a pastor of four churches and interim pastor of ten churches. He is a 1977 graduate of the University of Alabama and earned his Master of Divinity and Ph.D. degrees from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Rainer has written over 30 books, including three that reached number one bestseller: I Am a Church Member, Autopsy of a Deceased Church, and Simple Church.
He has spoken in hundreds of venues and led over 500 church consultations. He can be reached at www.ChurchAnswers.com.
Rainer and his wife, Nellie Jo, live in Franklin, TN, and have three grown sons: Sam, Art and Jess, who are married to Erin, Sarah and Rachel respectively. The Rainers have ten grandchildren: Canon, Maggie, Nathaniel, Will (with the Lord), Harper, Bren, Joshua, Collins, Joel, and James.
Sam S. Rainer is a senior pastor, writer, and the president and CEO of Rainer Research. He also blogs and writes a column for Outreach magazine and lives with his wife, Erin, in Floyds Knobs, Indiana.
"About the title" may belong to another edition of this title.
MERS Goodwill
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AbeBooks seller since March 13, 2026
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