Growing the Small Church

In this practical, 11-week study, the focus is on growth for congregations with fewer than 200 members. What is examined grows out of classes, reading, and nationwide workshops. But most of all, it grows out of real-life experience: the successes and failures that have come as Church Growth principles have been applied in difficult, actual settings. The author examines pertinent topics including strategies for growth, diseases that prevent growth, and profiles of a growth pastor and congregation. But this is more than a book to be read and understood. It is a tool to be used with a congregation. It is meant to be studied, discussed, assimilated. It is essential that the leadership of the church be involved: the pastor, members of the governing board, the informal decision makers, church school teachers, music personnel, and as many members as possible. A climate needs to be set, a time established for holding the sessions, class members recruited. This student edition is to be used with the "Growing the Small Church" leader's guide.…