We Refused To Lead A Dying Church

Paul Nixon does it again with this groundbreaking follow-up to his bestseller "I Refuse to Lead a Dying Church!" "We Refused to Lead a Dying Church!" shares the miracles of God’s transformative power in dying churches that decided to choose life with real examples of ordinary pastors and lay leaders who inspired church growth. Nixon shares the stories of fifteen churches from the United Church of Christ, United Methodist Church, and Presbyterian Church (USA) that decided giving up, dying, was not an option.

God has called all of us to lead healthy, growing, spiritual churches. For this very reason, Paul Nixon refused to lead a dying church. Paul invites you to join his commitment in refusing, ever again, to lead a dying church. This commitment entails six choices: choosing life over death; choosing community over isolation; choosing fun over drudgery; choosing bold over mild; choosing frontier over fortress; and choosing now rather than later.

The COVID-19 pandemic renewed speculation of the Church's demise, and the wake of global catastrophe heightened clergy burnout. Still, Paul Nixon holds onto fierce hope that life and resurrection are choices the Church and its leaders can still make. With new material for the post-quarantine era and an and an included discussion guide, the second edition of I Refuse to Lead a Dying Church! provides excellent stimulation for faith leaders to commit to six critical choices: choosing life over death; choosing community over isolation; choosing fun over drudgery; choosing bold over mild; choosing frontier over fortress; and choosing now rather than later.

There is no end to clichés and easy assumptions about congregational health and vitality. It's much easier to start a new church than turn around an old o≠ nondenominational churches are growing, while denominational churches are dying; small-membership churches are concerned only with survival; suburban churches care only about endless programming and "spiritual entertainment"; downtown churches are doomed to decay. Whatever kernel of truth such analyses might contain, they miss the actual point. Churches stagnate, decline, and die for a number of reasons, but principally because they have forgotten who they are. They have forgotten their mission to reach out to those who do not know God in Christ. They have forgotten that we worship--not to feel comfortable and safe--but to come into the presence of a God who leads us out into the world. They have forgotten the "cloud of witnesses" who have gone before us in the Christian faith, providing models for how we can proclaim the message of the gospel in ways that new generations can hear it. Paul Nixon calls this failure of memory "spiritual amnesia." Concerned with institutional survival and personal comfort, congregations have forgotten what previous generations of Christians have learned time and again: that the church's great challenge is to make the gospel available in new and compelling ways to those who need most to hear it. In a series of sweeping insights into congregational life and contemporary culture, Nixon maps a course that will help churches remember who they are and for whom they exist.

Pastors and ministry professionals will find this book illuminating as it covers new ground, yet it is aimed at the church-going public.

Presents twelve lessons on keeping a church alive, discussing the consistent themes the author found in dying churches.

The church is in the desert today!! The arid conditions existing in the church leave the people parched, thirsty and longing for refreshing. Many church leaders do not know how to get the spiritual water for themselves and therefore they cannot lead God's people into the Promised Land of true fellowship and discipleship. This sad state of the church causes many church buildings to stand empty because people are tired of church leaders committing gross indecencies and leading people astray with messages that "tickle their ears" or boring them to tears with sermons that contain no life-changing truths. In The Wellspring of Life: Why the Church is Dying of Thirst, Dr. Meyer van Rensburg addresses the issue by pointing out many of the mistakes that have been made (from spraying people with "Doom" insecticide in Africa to church leaders refusing to be criticised because they see themselves as "little gods", as well as the vacuous Sunday services that leave people in the same state that they came to church, instead of inspiring them and changing their lives). The church is dying of thirst in the desert and the condition can only be treated by discovering the living water to quench that thirst. Too many church leaders do not know how to hear the voice of God and therefore cannot lead people to the living water. By following the listing of the well in the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, this book demonstrates that the church needs the living water the Wellspring of Life provides. Each mention of the well is dealt with separately to show the significance of what is revealed there, to prove how these Scriptures were specifically put in this order to provide a systematic study of the importance of the well to the church and to point out the mistakes people in the church make. For instance, with Hagar, the fact that the well existed in the desert is first explored and then the fact that it had to be revealed for her to see it. Many people live next to the Well, but it has never been revealed to them that it can change their lives. Further revelations follow with each mention of the well: from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob through to David and the prophets. This continues to the New Testament and the Book of Revelation to show how God will provide for us if we can but follow His instructions regarding the Wellspring of Life. The truths discovered are applied as lessons for the church today. Pastors and ministry professionals will find this book illuminating as it covers new ground, yet it is aimed at the church-going public. It can also serve as a handbook in colleges, as it has many references and quotes, yet it is not written in high academic language.

Principles for church leadership are important, but just as important is knowing when and how to implement them. This is strategy and it can make or break a leader’s work. Those who have been in ministry for a while may have a bag of leadership tricks. But what are the results? Nixon and Shockley explore eight key leadership behaviors that will help a church move successfully through its first season of transformation, putting it well on its way to becoming a dynamic, growing body of Christ. They report that ninety percent of existing churches never make it out of the first season of transformation and give guidance on how to turn around a stagnant or dying church.