"Where Have All the Church Members Gone?" (Thom S Rainer)

TITLE: Where Have All the Church Members Gone?How to Avoid the Five Traps That Silently Kill Churches
AUTHOR: Thom S. Rainer
PUBLISHER: Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale Momentum, 2024, (144 pages).

This book is a fictional tale of a Church in crisis. The lead pastor, Oliver Wagner has been pastoring Connection Church for the past 8 years. Everything appears well from the outside but upon closer examination, there are more than meets the eye. People are still coming to Church but some have stopped coming. Some leaders faithfully serve albeit with different expectations of the direction of the Church. Along with those who work well alongside the pastor, some row in the opposite direction, opposing any pastoral initiatives at every turn. Pastor Wagner works well with some key individuals like Jorge Miranda, Emma Rockwell, Becky Garner, but not with people such as Ken Cassidy. With skillful storytelling, author Thom Rainer points out some common dysfunctions in that Church to help us reflect on our churches. Some of these "traps" that many fail to notice include:

• Members who stopped coming;
• Declining frequency of attendance;
• Attrition rates that are larger than recruitment numbers;
• Lack of foundational Bible teaching and Discipleship;
• Recognizing and Dealing with conflict;
• Having a low bar of expectations on members;
• Lacking an understanding of the importance of Church membership;
• Failing to evangelize or reach out;
• Churches that are too prone toward programs rather than discipleship;
• .....

Through the tale, Rainer incorporates all of the above into a gripping story of inspiration, discouragement, political conflict, pastoral care, board relationships, and many other familiar Church issues. Stories encapsulate many real-life issues. Just like how Jesus points out plain gospel truths using parables, Rainer tries to do the same with Church matters. The author has a deep concern for the state of the Church today. With his many decades of Church engagement, he continues to point out ways that churches should watch out for potential pitfalls while trying to meet the needs of members and friends in their community. The five traps are in bold above.

My Thoughts
In the West, many Churches are in decline. It is easy for one to say that numbers are not the necessary measure of success. Yet, we cannot avoid the use of numbers totally. They do tell a story that we might choose to ignore at our peril. Numbers may not be everything but they do tell us something. That is why one of the most important messages is to notice the people coming and going, of those who quietly vote with their feet at the first sign of unhappiness with the church. Relationships are complicated because people are complicated. Church leaders need to study their own contexts with care before applying any of these lessons. Different issues might dominate at different phases of Church life. It could also change when the church transitions to a new place, a new pastor, or even a new program. From internal concerns to external matters, Rainer gives us five broad things to beware of. Of course, these are not necessarily the only five issues all churches should be concerned about. Many will have more of course.

It is tempting to rank the issues but that will be in vain because every ranking is merely a snapshot of the situation in time. It will change frequently. What is more important is an attentive and prayerful disposition among the leadership to sense the movement of the Spirit. Hopefully, the day will come when Rainer will write another book about the five successes that lead one to celebrate the beauty and excitement of good churches. For the uninitiated who intend to diagnose their own Church health, this book serves as a launchpad toward that end. 

Anyone who wants to examine their own churches should pick up this book. This is regardless of whether one's church is in trouble or not. 

Thom S. Rainer is the founder and CEO of Church Answers. Prior to Church Answers, he served as president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources. He also served at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary for twelve years where he was the founding dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions and Evangelism. He has been a pastor of four churches and interim pastor of ten churches. He is a 1977 graduate of the University of Alabama and earned his Master of Divinity and Ph.D. degrees from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Rainer has written over 30 books, including three that reached number-one bestseller: I Am a Church Member, Autopsy of a Deceased Church, and Simple Church. He has spoken in hundreds of venues and led over 500 church consultations. He can be reached at www.ChurchAnswers.com. 

Rainer and his wife, Nellie Jo, live in Franklin, TN, and have three grown sons: Sam, Art and Jess, who are married to Erin, Sarah and Rachel respectively. The Rainers have ten grandchildren: Canon, Maggie, Nathaniel, Will (with the Lord), Harper, Bren, Joshua, Collins, Joel, and James.

Rating: 4.25 stars out of 5.

conrade

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This book has been provided courtesy of Tyndale House Publishers via NetGalley without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.