Evangelism and Externally Focused Ministry: How People Are Coming to Faith as Churches Do Good in the Community
by Eric Swanson
Please join me on Wednesday, May 4, 2:30pm CT for a free webinar on “Externally Focused Ministry, Evangelism and Church Growth: The Surprising Discoveries.” You can register for the free webinar HERE.
We’ve all heard the news; the number of people who are attending churches in the U.S. is in decline. For the past several years we’ve poured over research from Pew, Hartford, Stetzer, Rainer, and Leadership Network’s Bird that tells us:
• “Roughly half of all churches in America did not add one new person through conversion growth last year.”
• “In America, it takes the combined effort of 85 Christians working over an entire year to produce one convert.”
• This year in the United States…4,000 churches will be started…3,500 churches will close.
• “Growing churches make up only about 20% of all U.S. churches today. The rest have reached a plateau or are declining.”
Recently we’ve been reading about decreasing frequency of attendance.
In dramatic contrast, we’ve discovered a very different story with a certain kind of church…
Where should you start in your succession thinking and planning?
This is a continuation of two prior posts. The first was on the idea of no success without a successor and the second was on various ways leaders and churches try to address the issue.
Passing the Leadership Baton: A Winning Transition Plan for Your Ministry
We are thrilled that Passing the Leadership Baton is now available! This highly anticipated book by Tom Mullins offers compassionate practical advice for orchestrating a successful leadership transition—a topic that is vital for every leader and church. It’s also the first release in the NEXT book imprint, a new co-publishing partnership between Leadership Network and HarperCollins Christian Publishing, the world’s largest Christian book publisher.