Read This First!
A Peek Inside My Book Soaring with Faith: The Difference Maker for Congregations
Have you ever browsed around a book store, saw a book whose title and cover attracted you, but you could not decide whether you would buy it or not. The Table of Contents did not help you as much as you hoped. You wish somewhere was a synopsis of the essence of the book to help you make your decision.
I have!
What I have done with my newest book—Soaring with Faith: A Difference Maker for Congregations—is to give you that synopsis. That essence. I call it Read This First!
Here is that text for you from the first two and one-half pages of my book. If you like it then you ought to buy the book. HERE is the link to the book on Amazon to use when you read the synopsis.
Read This First!
The first thing you may want to know is, what does it mean to Soar with Faith and to be The Difference Maker for Congregations?
I get it. I would want a brief summary before I buy, borrow, or invest time in reading this book. I am delighted to offer you the same consideration.
Soaring with Faith is about five sets of Protestant Christian congregations in North America, which I call collectives: Soaring, Strong, Stumbling, Struggling, and Spiritless.
It makes the case ideal congregations are Soaring. These congregations are effectively moving beyond ordinary ministry toward extraordinary ministry in a quest to achieve exceptional ministry in response to the pulling of God. They journey to places of inspiration, imagination, and innovation.
Soaring congregations are amazing Christ-centered communities of faith focused on Kingdom growth. Less than ten percent of all congregations are Soaring.
Great ministry is also provided by Strong congregations. Strong congregations add significant value to Christian ministry but are missing some essential characteristics that could morph them into Soaring congregations. This book identifies these missing traits.
Many Strong congregations are larger than the average congregation, and have outstanding programs, ministries, and activities. Slightly more than ten percent of all congregations fall into the Strong category.
The other 80 percent of congregations are Stumbling, Struggling, and Spiritless. They are composed of wonderful people created in God’s image. They are often doing some meaningful things in Christian ministry. Yet, their congregation may be stuck, plateaued, declining, or even dying. Discontinuous, disruptive, or destructive intervention is required if they are ever to soar with faith.
Every congregation must assess and accept which collective best describes who they are right now. They need outside assistance to do this assessment. This establishes their beginning point for next steps. When they understand where they are, they can move forward on a spiritual and strategic journey.
This book helps Soaring congregations continue soaring. It points Strong congregations to the missing traits that could morph them into Soaring congregations.
Stumbling, Struggling, and Spiritless congregations learn about their situation and the need to begin a new kind of journey that could in five to seven years empower them to serve as Strong or Soaring congregations.
Read This Last at the end of this book explains how to connect with The Greenville Hub: A Gathering to Dialogue About FaithSoaring Congregations where you can come to South Carolina to learn how to assess your situation, along with what steps to take to launch an empowering spiritual and strategic journey.
On the next two pages is a chart that illustrates the Soaring with Faith Congregations Typology. This will give you an initial understanding of the typology. But be careful. At first glance you may declare you know which typology collective best describes your congregation.
(OOPS! The typology is after the Read This First! Message me and I will send it to you with no cost or obligation.)
What if you are wrong? I urge you not to make a shallow declaration. The future ministry of your congregation is more important than this. Every congregation must know where they are currently before they start taking—or fail to take—their next steps in Christian ministry.
My experience with this typology over the past three decades is that too many congregations who are Strong believe they are Soaring.
Soaring is a higher bar than many leaders truly grasp. Soaring is also a difficult focus to maintain more than five to seven years—once attained.
Stumbling congregations believe a turnaround for them is just around the next corner. They will be Strong once more.
What they are experiencing now is only temporary. My experience tells me more than half of Stumbling congregations will next become Struggling congregations unless they address key issues quickly.
Finally, Struggling and Spiritless congregations underestimate the depth of transition and change needed to turn around. It could be more than they have time, energy, and resources to address.
What it all means is that knowing your starting point is a crucial first step and understanding the full typology is essential for knowing your starting point.
HERE is the link to the book on Amazon. Be among the first 1000 people to purchase it.