The Strategies & Insights for Church Growth will help pastors to build a discipleship system as well as how to keep them. This anointed book has been compiled to change the mindset of how church growth is not about numbers but about transformed lives and making them disciples.

Why Plan Strategy? Is church growth theory incompatible with belief in the sovereignty of God? Does adherence to church growth principles leave out dependency upon the work of the Holy Spirit? C. Peter Wagner answers no to both questions. He further believes that no task could be more crucial than fulfilling the Great Commission in our generation, and how to approach and plan for the execution of this task is the questions of the day. Strategies for Church Growth addresses this key issue in a biblically pragmatic way. It brings together for the first time many principles of evangelism and missions which have proved, through recent research and experience, to be effective in implementing the Great Commission. It also unifies, in concise form, the latest research of the Church Growth Movement, the Lausanne Committee on World Evangelization, the U.S. Center for World Mission and numerous other key contributors to the recent explosion of evangelistic technology. Among the topics explored are: - the major components of strategy - choosing the appropriate strategy - advantages of having a strategy - the theology of church growth - the harvest principle and soil testing - why you should aim for church growth - characteristics of good goals - the meaning of mission and evangelism - how to target your outreach

What exactly is the Church Growth movement? This timely volume in the Counterpoints series addresses the history of the movement that has become such an enormous shaping force on the Western church today, and it explores--in a roundtable forum of leading voices--five main perspectives on the classic Church Growth movement: Effective Evangelism View - presented by Elmer Towns Gospel in Our Culture View - presented by Craig Van Gelder Centrist View - presented by Charles Van Engen Reformist View - presented by Gailyn Van Rheenan Renewal View - presented by Howard Snyder Each view is first presented by its proponent, then critiqued by the co-contributors. The interactive and fair-minded format allows the reader to consider the strengths and weaknesses of each view and draw informed, personal conclusions. Evaluating the Church Growth Movement concludes with reflections by three seasoned pastors who have grappled with the practical implications of Church Growth. The Counterpoints series presents a comparison and critique of scholarly views on topics important to Christians that are both fair-minded and respectful of the biblical text. Each volume is a one-stop reference that allows readers to evaluate the different positions on a specific issue and form their own, educated opinion.

Author Donald A. McGavran is considered a founder of the Church Growth Movement in America. In this 3rd edition of his standard work, McGavaran analyzes the causes, methods and strategies for successful church growth both in America and abroad.

Most of what we do in missions can be categorized as our missiological methods. As important as our mission methods are, we usually look to the social sciences to guide us, as we seek to find effective and reproducible methods for sharing the gospel and planting churches cross-culturally. The lack of theological reflection on our missiological methods bears consequences. We tend to look to Scripture and theology for our missiological purpose and goals, but we often struggle to know how theology speaks to the social sciences or to our pragmatic methods. The social sciences have contributed to undeniable advances in our methodologies. At the same time, we want our methods to be anchored in our theology and the fruit of our missional efforts to be theologically healthy. Missiological Triage provides a solid foundation for a holistic integration of theology, missiology, and the social sciences, and offers practical steps for applying the social sciences to our mission methods in a theologically faithful manner. Professors and students of missiology, mission leaders, and missionary practitioners will benefit from this framework for theologically analyzing the social sciences in our missiological methods.

What decisions must be made now if The United Methodist Church is to have a future?

Appropriate Christianity examines contextualization in three crucial dimensions: truth, allegiance and spiritual power. With eighteen contributing authors including Sherwood Lingenfelter, Paul E. Pierson, Paul H. DeNeui, and Paul G. Hiebert, this compilation is a must-read for the student of contextualization.

This book presents a unique approach to church growth. It is written mainly to help churches that are declining, but will help all churches. The underlying premise is that churches do not grow and reach new people because they do not know how, or because they are so poorly structured and organized that they spend most of their time and efforts in conflict. This disrupts the fellowship and leaves very little time and energy for reaching new people. The subtitle could be, "Fifteen Essential Steps To Growth"- Basic growth and administrative principles. The combining of these areas makes this a unique book. Young has brought together these basic elements, from over 40 years of experience. . The book is a practical guide for a local church to follow to function efficiently and effectively, and reach people for Christ. When the steps are followed, and in the proper order, the church can pretty well be assured of growth and effective ministry. Dr. Robert A. Young is currently President of Samuelite Corp., Church Outreach and Consulting. He served as Associate Pastor/Administration of Walnut Street Baptist Church, Louisville, KY, and Park Cities Baptist Church, Dallas, TX, and President of the National Association of Church Business Administration. He has conducted "Total Church Consultations" and Capital Fund Campaigns for churches of all sizes and denominations. He is now available to serve churches as a consultant in these areas. He is also the author of "The Development of A Church Manual of Administrative Policies".

Containing more than 300 articles, covering the alphabetical entries P-Sh, this book also includes articles on significant topics ranging from Paul, political theology and the Qur'an, to religious liberty, salvation history and scholasticism.