Growing an Engaged Church: How to Stop "Doing Church" and Start Being the Church Again

As a student of church health and assimilation I wondered if this book would be the same old, same old. Its not (or else I wouldn't be doing this review). This is a book your whole staff can engage. It will start a discussion that, I believe, will lead you to a much healthier church than before you started.

Mainline Christian churches have been in decline for nearly 40 years, and increasingly are labeled as lifeless and outmoded. Albert Winseman's "Growing an Engaged Church" provides a thoughtful approach on how to turn this around and create a church that is full of life and in tune with the needs of all who seek to be part of something bigger than mere existence. Winseman's work is based on the use of the Gallup Faith Poll and Congregational Engagement Index which is detailed at the end of the book. As his subtitle suggests, Winseman makes the case that most mainline churches insist on "doing" church (going through the motions) rather than "being" church, that is, building a parish of dedicated and energized members who are growing spiritually and, at the same time, are reaching out in concern and service to the world. Humans are fundamentally spiritual beings, and that spirituality needs to find expression. Churches are ideally suited to meet this need but by failing in their task of "being," talents and strengths of members and prospective members go largely unrecognized and unharnessed. This translates to a vacuum for spiritual expression and a huge loss of human potential that otherwise could be tapped for the transformation of society. Engagement describes the degree of belonging an individual has in his/her church. Engaged members drive the spiritual health of every church and the more engaged members there are in one's church, the healthier it is. A healthy church is the good soil that produces fruit in abundance. Winseman destroys the myth that believing leads to belonging and establishes a new paradigm belonging leads to believing. He shows how the level of engagement provides the linkage to belonging and believing. He then provides a framework to engage members of a parish/congregation, the metrics to measure engagement, and lists the rewards that come with high level engagement. There are three factors underlying the concept of engagement: 1. Feeling welcomed - "Am I valued?" and "Can I make a meaningful contribution?" 2. The value of membership - Does the commitment required for membership reflect the value placed on membership? 3. Emotions do matter - Engagement is how one feels about their church. Conservative churches have been doing a much better job at connecting with people at an emotional level than mainline churches. For the bond to have optimum strength, it must go beyond just the worship service or Mass. And there are four outcomes that result from an "engaged church": 1. Members will be more satisfied with their lives. 2. Members will be more inviting - inviting others to "come and see.' 3. Members will be more engaged in serving others. 4. Members will be more inclined to give - engaged churches/parishes give more in terms of both percentage of income and actual dollars and time. Church leaders - pastors, elders, deacons, pastoral council members, et al - will find "Growing an Engaged Church" provocative and

This is an extremely good book. I highly recommend this to anyone who is interested to know more about reviving churches.

Whether familiar with the Gallup Q12 from a corporate environment or new to this thinking, Albert Winseman gives a detailed overview, suitable to anyone, of the factors involved with a church member's choice to be engaged. He then presents strategic steps a church can take to measure and then increase engagement among the congregation. Growing an Engaged Church also has case studies of churches that have successfully turned around their church to become much more effective at doing God's work and meeting the needs of members. I have purchased copies for my church staff and we will be implementing several of the the practices.

A well-written treatise on the current problem that American churches have in garnering an engaged membership. For lay leaders of the church, it offers powerful ideas on how they can be more effective in growing a committed membership. Having been to a church that used many of these concepts, I can attest that their concepts are powerful.