Who's Going Where and Why

In 2001 the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) conducted the U.S. Congregational Life Survey. More than 1.2 million worshipers and 12,000 congregations across three continents were surveyed to provide a portrait of congregational life. The findings were pu...

Confessing Jesus Christ for the 21st Century

These essays and sermons articulate the basics of the Christian faith and are by some of the best-known evangelical voices in the Presbyterian Church today. The main ideas in these essays are congruent with the basic theology contained in "Union in C...

To John Buchanan, mainline churches have an obligation to be in the world, and their effectiveness requires that they not abandon their traditions. Churches need to steer a course that allows them to maintain a singular way in the world and to creati...

Ten Strengths of U.S. Congregations

Results from the U.S. Congregational Life Survey, the largest project of its type ever conducted in the United States, have prompted this second book from Westminster John Knox Press authors Cynthia Woolever and Deborah Bruce. Their original work, A ...

This field guide is a supplement to Cynthia Woolever and Deborah Bruce's study of United States congregations, Beyond the Ordinary. It includes detailed information on the qualities and characteristics of strong congregations.

The Practice of God's Mission

Using a study of the Gospel of John as a framework, Sherron George affirms that God's mission in partnership, by its very nature, must be ecumenical. This book is intended for all Christians engaged in mission with God and others. It is offered as a ...

How the Neighborhood Church Is Transforming the Faith

Named one of Publishers Weekly's Best Religion Books of 2006, this firsthand account explores the grassroots phenomenon of church life today, showing how neighborhood churches are not only surviving but thriving.

Real Christianity in a Virtual World

This time in our society is unlike any other. People communicate daily without ever having to speak face to face, news breaks around the world in a matter of seconds, and favorite TV shows can be viewed at our convenience. We are, simultaneously, a p...

Helping Congregations Discover New Life

Robert Craig and Robert Worley have written this practical book as an aid to revitalizing church organizations, especially ones that perceive themselves as victims of outside forces. It is an excellent resource that offers guidance to congregations e...

A Call to Begin Again

Make a new church. That's the challenge Chuck Meyer lays down for readers. He writes that the institutional church we know so well is dying. In fact, it may already be dead. Its structure and theology make no sense today, and haven't for decades. It ...

Churches Making Their Way Forward

Using as their guide the story of the two disciples who meet the risen Christ on the road to Emmaus, Donna Sinclair and Christopher White move congregations beyond a search for silver bullet solutions, beyond a preoccupation with technique and progra...

Ways to Grow in Effectiveness

Over a period of years, Donald Smith probed, analyzed, interpreted, and reinterpreted data pertaining to what makes for effective ministry. Through all his research, one fact kept emerging: pastors who focus on empowering others are recognized as the...

A Reader on Urban Ministry

This book compiles essays by over thirty urban pastors, community organizers, seminary professors, and church leaders. Their essays seek to present creative opportunities for urban ministries to bring hope and renewal to their congregations and commu...

Mission in a Global Context

Hope for the World represents a new resolve and commitment to the global context for the ministry of the church. Missions, evangelism, and theological education too often seem ill prepared to face the despair commonly shared by both the Northern and ...

In this study of church growth and membership retention, Donald Smith argues that if a church is to survive, it must concentrate on keeping its present members as well as attracting new ones. He interviews people from six hundred churches of various ...