Based on an intensive study of five cooperative ministry ventures, this thought-provoking book looks at how each takes a unique approach in addressing its own mission context. From rural ministries in North Dakota and West Virginia, to ambitious community development projects in Alabama and Maine, to intensive urban mission in Milwaukee, these engaging stories will stimulate readers to take a fresh look and new approaches to parish and community issues.

"There are many questions that leaders of small-membership congregations as themselves about their church's future. Lyle Schaller suggests that two in particular should rise to the top of the list. What is the right size of a church and should these congregations make their plans on the basis of few resources and fewer options. If you are believe that believes that small-membership churches are distinctive places of Christian witness and service, then this book is for you.

Is something crucial missing from your congregation's programs? Beneath the surface of churches' programs and activities lies the fundamental question of how leaders and churches can be enabled to discern and obediently cooperate with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. This biblically grounded book asserts that many leaders overlook the necessary precondition of cooperating with the empowering will of the Holy Spirit before putting their plans into action. Growing the Church in the Power of the Holy Spirit is a highly practical guide for nurturing relations between believers and the Holy Spirit, a process facilitated by seven dynamics: Love that draws us into engagement Faith and obedience Receiving divine guidance Exercising spiritual discernment Welcoming the gifts and manifestations of the Holy Spirit Intercessory prayer that shapes the future Seeing and responding to kairos moments Advanced by the church leadership and brought into being by the Holy Spirit, these factors help congregations preach and teach, worship, heal, govern, make disciples of converts, and evangelize.

The preamble of the original constitution of the Southern Baptist Convention describes the purpose of the SBC as “eliciting, combining, and directing the energies of the whole denomination in one sacred effort, for the propagation of the Gospel.” These words are not only historically significant; they convey the mission and purpose and distill the distinct facets of the SBC Cooperative Program. One Sacred Effort looks close at this unique and enduring ministry operation.