Vital Church Resources

Recovery

Breakout Churches: Discover How to Make the Leap by Thom S. Rainer (2005, Zondervan)

Can a Church Live Again? The Revitalization of a 21st-Century Church by Ronald Russell (2003, Smyth & Helwys)

Change Your Church for Good: The Art of Sacred Cow Tipping by Brad Powell (2007, Nelson)

Church on the Couch: Does the Church Need Therapy? by Elaine Hamilton (2009, Zondervan)

Comeback Churches: How 300 Churches Turned Around and Yours Can, Too by Ed Stetzer and Mike Dodson (2007, B&H)

Dying for Change by Leith Anderson (1998, Baker)

The Forgotten Ways: Reactivating the Missional Church by Alan Hirsch (2007, Brazos)

From Embers to a Flame: How God Can Revitalize Your Church by Harry L. Reeder III & David Swavely (2008, P&R)

How to Change Your Church (Without Killing It) by Alan Nelson and Gene Appel (2000, Thomas Nelson)

If It Could Happen Here: Turning the Small-Membership Church Around by Jeff Patton (2002, Abingdon)

Innovative Planning: Your Church in 4-D by Bud Wrenn (2008, Chalice Press)

Leaders Who Last: Sustaining Yourself and Your Ministry by Margaret J. Marcuson (2009, Seabury Books)

Mad Church Disease: Overcoming the Burnout Epidemic by Anne Jackson (2009, Zondervan)

A Mainline Turnaround: Strategies for Congregations and Denominations by Lyle E. Schaller (2005, Abingdon)

More Dumb Things Churches Do and New Strategies for Avoiding Them by Philip Wiehe and Linda McFadden (2009, Morehouse)

Preaching for Revitalization: How to Revitalize Your Church Through Your Pulpit by Michael F. Ross (2006, Christian Focus)

The Rabbit and the Elephant: Why Small is the New Big for Today’s Church by Tony and Felicity Dale and George Barna (2009, Tyndale)

A Second Resurrection: Leading Your Congregation to New Life by William Easum (2007, Abingdon)

Springs of Living Water: Christ-Centered Church Renewal by David S. Young (2008, Herald Press)

Steering Chaos: Leading Through Transition and Living to Tell About It  by Scott Wilson (2009, Zondervan)

(Who Can Save) The Incredible Shrinking Church by Frank Page and John Perry (2008, B&H)

Whole Church: Leading From Fragmentation to Engagement by Mel Lawrenz (2009, Jossey-Bass)

Can These Bones Live? Bringing New Life to a Dying Church by Kevass Harding (2007, Abingdon)

The Timeless Whisper’s Been Here All Along

To a world on edge, defensive, and hurting, Christians have a responsibility to not only listen to God but also to speak Good News in a way that can actually be heard.

How to Leverage Existing Ministries for Outreach

“You could launch new outreach ministries without removing any existing ministries, increasing your budget or adding staff.”

Doing Unto Others

Davis maintains that ministry shouldn’t be about serving at church on a Sunday morning, because those people are already saved. Instead, it should be about doing ministry on the mission field and talking to people who are unchurched.