“Does working at your church interfere with your communion with Christ?” That question may have saved author Anne Jackson’s life, as you’ll read in Mad Church Disease. As the daughter of a pastor, Anne saw firsthand the struggles leaders face and the toll it can take on their families. She vowed her life in ministry would be different. Yet years later, as a church leader, she was hospitalized because stress began wreaking havoc on her body. She had burned out. Anne developed a website that allowed church leaders to share their struggles. Within a few days, she was flooded with over a thousand responses from people pouring out stories of pain. Mad Church Disease, born out of that experience, is a lively, informative, and potentially life-saving resource for anyone in ministry - vocational or volunteer - who would like to understand, prevent, or treat the epidemic of burnout in church culture.
Does the silence, as taught by many of today’s Christian teachers and leaders, really take us into the presence of God, or is it a door that opens to the great delusion and falling away of which the Bible speaks? Ancient mystical practices are being introduced into countless churches under the umbrella of the spiritual formation movement. Also known as contemplative spirituality, this belief system has roots in mysticism and the occult. A Time of Departing by Ray Yungen exposes the truth about the new spirituality that is entering the Christian church.
In Called to Stay, Caleb Breakey takes a refreshingly honest look at the church, the problem of millennials leaving, and the stark reality of why the church desperately needs them. He holds nothing back as he unleashes an ambitious rallying cry to heal the church and inject his generation’s desire for truth, passion, and conviction into other believers. Caleb knows that answering the challenge of his own generation leads to a transformed church.
In this age of the megachurch, does your small church suffer from an inferiority complex? A remedy has arrived in All Churches Great and Small, where Kirk and Rosie Farnsworth say smaller is actually better! The authors cite a major study that identifies significant advantages of small churches, including growing spiritually, sharing faith, and empowering leadership. They offer 60 specific ideas for those who want their churches to become more effective in areas such as worship, caring, praying, studying, giving, and witnessing. Used regularly, the ideas in All Churches Great and Small will help small churches become great churches.
Is your church struggling just to survive, let alone thrive? Are you wondering whether to try something new or fall back on tradition? You know something needs to change - but you have no idea how to make that happen. David Laubach’s 12 Steps to Congregational Transformation offers the practical tools to get you started. Drawing on years of experience in helping churches pursue transformation, Laubach has identified primary principles and top priorities for church leaders who are passionate about fulfilling their congregation’’s mission in the world. Each step includes a relevant biblical text and commentary, along with questions for reflection and action. With inspiring anecdotes, candid personal illustrations, and comical cartoons, this practical resource uses a light touch on a heavy topic. If you are a leader ready to embark on the journey of transformation, this book serves as a much-needed roadmap. Let an expert lead you through the right questions before you invest in a library of books that claim to offer the right answers!
