101 Great Ideas For Growing Healthy Churches

A variety of experienced church leaders, missioners and other practitioners share simple and effective ideas for enhancing the life, worship and witness of every local church. With humour, realism, real-life stories and top-tips for dealing with challenging situations, here is a welcome aid for all clergy and lay church leaders.

A practical guide that helps churches identify their strengths and weaknesses and discover what action to take in order to develop the health of their church. It focuses on the quality of the church's life rather than just the numbers attending.

A compelling case for an entrepreneurial approach to ministry and mission, exploring its biblical basis and potential benefits. Based on extensive interviews with entrepreneurial ministers from a range of denominations. Draws on examples of 'entrepreneurs' from the Bible and Christian history to help readers imagine how such an approach could work in their own context. Addresses the problems some have with the word 'entrepreneur' and sets out a positive and informed alternative understanding. Full of informative and inspiring case-studies of entrepreneurial ministry in action. Building on his own experiences as a priest and an entrepreneur, Volland argues that the concept of entrepreneurship offers churches a helpful lens through which to view Christian ministry and mission, and an understanding and approach to ministry that is well fitted for the mission task in a rapidly changing world. He shows how an entrepreneurial approach is consistent with understandings of leadership in the major denominations and in the new churches. He also argues that such an approach is consistent both with the nature of God and with human collaboration with God's activity in the world. His conclusions are based on extensive interviews with entrepreneurial ministers (Justin Welby and Steven Croft were among the interviewees), and his findings result in practical suggestions for those seeking to be more entrepreneurial in their ministries as well as in recommendations for strategic change that will encourage sustainable church growth and vitality in the years ahead.

"Sheep swapping", "shuffling of the saints"- Whatever you call it, many churches are growing only because Christians transfer from one church to another. What's more, many churches aren't growing at all. The problem, according to authors, Dann Spader and Gary Mayes, is that too many church calendars are filled with outdated, mediocre programs that have become more of a burden than a blessing. That, coupled with the fact that these programs minister almost exclusively to Christians, leaves little for the non-Christian "seeker" to get excited about. Growing a Healthy Church is not a list of trendy new programs for your church agenda. It is a journey of rediscovery. Spader and Mayes look closely at the four stages of spiritual growth in relation to outreach. Using the innovative "M-level" system, these gifted men show how a church can minister to all individuals regardless of their levels of maturity in potential service. This helps eliminate the mistakes of forcing new Christians into service that may overwhelm them or may leave the mature Christian unchallenged. Proven successful through SonLife and churches who have used this system, this resource will help you focus on the simplicity of Christ's ministry, enabling you to build an effective discipling strategy for your church.

Developing Healthy Churches is an utterly practical and realistic guide for any leader seeking to revitalize and grow their church. The long-awaited sequel to the bestselling Healthy Churches’ Handbook, this new volume will help you implement tried and tested approaches for healthy church growth in your parish.

Is your church healthy and growing or stagnant and dying? If your church is afflicted with remnant theology, spiritual naval gazing, pastoral timidity, hyper-cooperativism, or terminal ethnikitis, changes are it's already dying on the vine. On the other hand, if your church is growing it's probably ad healthy church. "Healthy churches, like healthy people," says the author, "exhibit certain vital signs." Wagner has his own list of 7 "signs" that lead can be taken as leading to good health and gives many illustrations of churches that exhibit and/or don't exhibit those signs. - Back cover.

Growing Healthy Churches provides an overview of the theories of Church Growth and also suggestions for the Church Growth Movement in the current period. The book serves as an introduction to the means by which congregations can maintain both the increase in numbers while at the same time maintaining congregational health. The book is available in Spanish as Cultivando Iglesias Saludables

Is your church healthy and growing or stagnant and dying? If your church is afflicted with remnant theology, spiritual naval gazing, pastoral timidity, hyper-cooperativism, or terminal ethnikitis, changes are it's already dying on the vine. On the other hand, if your church is growing it's probably ad healthy church. "Healthy churches, like healthy people," says the author, "exhibit certain vital signs." Wagner has his own list of 7 "signs" that lead can be taken as leading to good health and gives many illustrations of churches that exhibit and/or don't exhibit those signs. - Back cover.