In this insightful booklet, Lynda Barely - Head of Research and Statistics for the Church of England - looks at trends in church attendance. It also challenges the Church to be accessible and relevant to modern-day living. Drawing on current research, Lynda Barley takes stock of the radical changes in Britain over the last century and offers insight on how churches can connect afresh with those outside the regular church community. Her analysis shows that although weekly Sunday attendance may be in decline, churches that run mid-week services, offer various styles and times of Sunday services, make good use of their buildings and generally adapt to the needs of the community are experiencing growth. There are further signs of hope in the thousands of fresh expressions of church springing up throughout the UK. Combining analysis with real-life stories, she encourages the Church to take seriously the need to adapt and enlarge its vision in order to stem the decline in church attendance.

“A perceptive and practical book about why our calendars so rarely reflect our priorities and what we can do to regain control.”—ADAM GRANT “Carey’s book will help you reorganize your life. And then you can share a copy with someone you care about.”—SETH GODIN You deserve to stop living at an unsustainable pace. An influential podcaster and thought leader shows you how. Overwhelmed. Overcommitted. Overworked. That’s the false script an inordinate number of people adopt to be successful. Does this sound familiar: ● Slammed is normal. ● Distractions are everywhere. ● Life gets reduced to going through the motions. Tired of living that way? At Your Best gives you the strategies you need to win at work and at home by living in a way today that will help you thrive tomorrow. Influential podcast host and thought leader Carey Nieuwhof understands the challenges of constant pressure. After a season of burnout almost took him out, he discovered how to get time, energy, and priorities working in his favor. This approach freed up more than one thousand productive hours a year for him and can do the same for you. At Your Best will help you ● replace chronic exhaustion with deep productivity ● break the pattern of overpromising and never accomplishing enough ● clarify what matters most by restructuring your day ● master the art of saying no, without losing friends or influence ● discover why vacations and sabbaticals don’t really solve your problems ● develop a personalized plan to recapture each day so you can break free from the trap of endless to-dos Start thriving at work and at home as you discover how to be at your best.

“Church is boring.” “It’s irrelevant.” “It’s full of hypocrites.” You’ve heard the excuses—now learn the real reasons men and boys are fleeing churches of every kind, all over the world, and what we can do about it. Women comprise more than 60% of the adults in a typical worship service in America. Some overseas congregations report ten women for every man in attendance. Men are less likely to lead, volunteer, and give in the church. They pray less, share their faith less, and read the Bible less. In Why Men Hate Going to Church, David Murrow identifies the barriers keeping many men from going to church, explains why it’s so hard to motivate the men who do attend, and also takes you inside several fast-growing congregations that are winning the hearts of men and boys. In this completely revised, reorganized, and rewritten edition of the classic book, with more than 70 percent new content, explore topics like: The increase and decrease in male church attendance during the past 500 years Why Christian churches are more feminine even though men are often still the leaders The difference between the type of God men and women like to worship The lack of volunteering and ministry opportunities for men The benefits men get from attending church regularly Men need the church but, more importantly, the church needs men. The presence of enthusiastic men is one of the surest predictors of church health, growth, giving, and expansion. Why Men Hate Going to Church does not call men back to church—it calls the church back to men.

An argument for the centrality of the Eucharistic church in an increasingly tribal world. As Western culture has secularized, the church has increasingly become marginalized and is seen as providing support and optional resources, rather than indispensable to the Christian life. In this volume, theologian Scott Cowdell argues for a recovery of the church as the proper context for Christian faith, life, and mission. In Why Church? Cowdell considers how we have arrived at this moment, examining how perceptions of the church have changed in response to increasing individualism and institutional failings. Suggesting that the Eucharistic Church embodies Christ’s desire to draw humankind to him, Cowdell shows how the Christian life depends on Christian community. Written with adult formation in mind and from a perspective of generous orthodoxy, Why Church? makes a provocative case for the centrality of the church to Christian life. Discussion questions at the conclusion of each chapter offer provocative conversation starters for any adult education group.

Churches everywhere are experiencing change. In his thought-provoking book, Professor Robin Gill identifies the main challenges facing the church and reflects on how Christians should respond.He first studies the immense moral challenges of our rapidly changing world: religion and the environment, the arms trade (including reflection on the global situation since the attack on New York on 11 September 2001), media ethics and the Lambeth Conference, and sexual ethics.The second part focuses on the changing patterns of churchgoing and addresses anxieties about churchgoing decline in the West, which run parallel with claims about rapid church growth elsewhere. The third part looks at changes in theological education.The author argues for greater honesty in the church and for a judicious use of both theology and sociology which would equip Christians to face the enormous challenges of our world today.

This is a challenging look at church attendance figures, which aims to interpret their message for today's Church. Bob Jackson highlights areas where the Church is growing, analyses causes of decline and outlines strategic responses to the problem of declining numbers.

The seven churches recorded in Revelation 2 and 3 are warnings to all churches in all cultures and settings today. They tell us how to face persecution, how to keep the main thing the main thing, how to respond to false teachers and teaching and how not to grow cold or lackadaisical. This study includes discussion questions for groups or classes as well as Teaching Notes.

Christianity is the only world religion with a chronic shortage of men. David Murrow identifies the barriers to male participation, and explains why it’s so hard to motivate the men who do go to church. Then, he takes you inside several fast-growing congregations that are winning the hearts of men and boys. “Church is boring.” “It’s irrelevant.” “It’s full of hypocrites.” You’ve heard the excuses —now learn the real reasons men and boys are fleeing churches of every kind, all over the world. Christianity is the only world religion with a chronic shortage of men. David Murrow identifies the barriers to male participation, and explains why it’s so hard to motivate the men who do go to church. Then, he takes you inside several fast-growing congregations that are winning the hearts of men and boys. The first release of Why Men Hate Going to Church sold more than 125,000 copies and was published in multiple languages. This edition is completely revised, reorganized, and rewritten, with more than 70 percent new content. Why Men Hate Going to Church does not call men back to church—it calls the church back to men.