Hundreds of churches this year will close their doors a final time, never to open them again. They were once vibrant, living growing churches making a profound difference in the lives of people and the communities they served. But now all the spiritual life has been drained out of them, and they are only an empty shell of what they once were. How does this happen? Why does this happen? What can a church do to prevent this from happening?
I highly recommend the book Autopsy of a Deceased Church by Thom Rainer. The subtitle “12 Ways to Keep Yours Alive” should be an incentive to purchase this quick, but thought provoking read.
The thought provoking question we all need to be asking: “Is the church I lead or the church I call home, healthy, sick, very sick, or dying?” If you are a bit hesitant to read this book, it probably speaks to the fact that you don’t want to think that your church is either sick, very sick, or dying. None of us enjoy hearing that kind of diagnosis, but denial of the problem only increases the terminal diagnosis of dead. Read the book and do something to revive the spiritual life of your church before it is too late.
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