Growing an Engaged Church: How to Stop "Doing Church" and Start Being the Church Again

Growing an Engaged Church offers unique, research-based, often counterintuitive solutions to the challenges facing churches, including declining participation, contributions and membership. Clergy and church leaders will find the evidence and answers in this book provocative, eye-opening and actionable.

What if members of your congregation were 13 times more likely to have invited someone to participate in your church in the past month? Three times as satisfied with their lives? Spent more than two hours per week serving and helping others in their community? And tripled their giving to your church?

What would your church — your parish — look like? And how would you go about creating this kind of change? One thing is certain: Church leaders are never going to inspire more people to be actively and passionately involved in their congregations by doing the same things over and over again.

Pastors and lay leaders need something fresh. Something new. The last thing they need is “just another program” or to set up a laundry list of new activities for members.

In this compelling and insightful book, Al Winseman — who has led thriving churches, including one he built from the ground up — explores how churches and parishes can dramatically increase members’ participation, service to the community, giving and even life satisfaction. But the solutions Winseman offers are not the “magic pill” many leaders have come to expect. Rather, he shows leaders how to reach and inspire the hearts, minds and imaginations of their people.

Based on solid research by Gallup, Growing an Engaged Church will appeal to Protestant and Catholic clergy and lay leaders who are looking for a way to be the Church instead of just “doing church.”

Albert L. Winseman, D.Min., is a Senior Learning and Development Consultant at Gallup. Since joining Gallup in 2000 to develop Gallup’s faith-based practice area, he has led research into the characteristics of effective congregations. Prior to joining Gallup, Winseman served as a pastor in the United Methodist Church for 15 years.