From Embers to a Flame: How God can Revitalize Your Church
ISBN: 9781596380714Whether your church is healthy or struggling, the biblical principles in this book point the way to greater spiritual vitality. A pastor, seminary teacher, and conference speaker, Harry Reeder has long specialized in church revitalization. He deftly alerts us to potential problems in our churches, helps us to recognize our weaknesses and opportunities, and guides us in applying biblically based strategies for rekindling the flames of godly growth.
With upwards of 80 percent of American churches either in decline or at a plateau, many of our churches are ripe for renewal. Even thriving congregations can benefit from the insights, cautions, and recommendations packed into this concise volume.
Harry Reeder has for decades studied, taught on, and participated in church revitalization. One church in which he was pastor grew from 38 members to over 3000 in attendance. But the priorities and procedures that lead a church "from embers to a flame" are not about numbers. They are about the wise application of biblical principles that lead to congregational health and genuine growth.
God renews churches not through warmed-over secular methodologies but through time-honored truths that build on the past and prepare us for the future. Reeder's insights concerning prayer, the Word, godly leadership, vision, outreach, and more, serve both as corrective measures for declining churches and as preventive measures to keep healthy congregations moving forward.
Authors: Harry L. Reeder III (MDiv, DMin) is senior pastor of Briarwood Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, Alabama. He has written extensively on the topic of church revitalization, taught on the topic at the seminary level, and led conferences both nationally and internationally. Dave Swavely (MDiv) was the founding pastor of Faith Church in Sonoma, California, and planted a church in the Malvern area near Philadelphia. He has also written Decisions, Decisions: How (and How Not) to Make Them. Endorsements: "I highly recommend this book. Harry Reeder is well qualified to write on church revitalization. He has seen two churches dramatically revitalized under his leadership and has for years coached other churches in the principles through seminary and ongoing consultation This is an extremely important area, and Harry is an expert in the field." "Revitalizing churches is not easy, but Harry Reeder has done it and done it effectively more than once. He knows as much about it as anyone. If we hope to restore spiritual health to our churches, then this book deserves careful attention."
--Frank M. Barker Jr.
--Luder G. Whitlock
Additional Information:
| Cover: | Softcover |
| Number of Pages: | 236 |
| Publisher: | P&R Publishing |
| Publication Date: | 2008 |