One poll declared him the most influential American church leader of the last 100 years. Lyle E. Schaller has written literally millions of words of insight and advice for church leaders. His books alone number nearly 60 titles and span 40 years of publication, beginning in 1964. Now, this single volume makes available his best insights, organized by topic and framed with fascinating background perspective of Schaller himself. This volume both introduces Schaller to a new generation of church leaders and is a handy resource for those who grew up on Schaller's writing and count him as a major ministry influence.

Are you still suffering over the sight of empty pews? Have your efforts been more than exhaustive in expanding your congregation? Have you maximized your brainstorming potential for bringing in new members? If you have reached what appears to be your limit, then no longer fret, 44 Ways To Increase Church Attendance can open the doors of both your church and mind. With proven techniques for building a body for Christ, church leaders can increase their membership and then free themselves to focus on other important missions for God. Schaller's suggestions will energize leaders and put their churches on the road of abundance.

Here is a treasury of 44 proven-effective stewardship ideas by the man Leadership magazine calls "America's foremost authority on the dynamics of church life." "When all is said and done," says Lyle E. Schaller, "there are only two good reasons why anyone should be asked to contribute money to the church. The first is to help promote the giver's spiritual growth... The second reason is even simpler. Christian discipleship is Christian stewardship. How could it be anything else? How else do God's people grow in grace?" In the tradition of Schaller's many other top-selling books, 44 Ways to Expand the Financial Base of Your Congregation contains strategies tested and proven in scores of local congregations across the U.S. and Canada. The 44 strategies are humorously illustrated by Edward Lee Tucker's "Friar Tuck" cartoon characters.

The most effective way to influence both individual and institutional behavior is to ask questions. This text provides a conceptual framework for asking questions about congregations and it classifies various syndromes that prevent a church from making the changes that are needed for new life. It will become the first choice of church champions who choose to intervene in the life of the church.

This highly practical step-by-step look at the life and role of the pastor is helpful for newly ordained clergy as well as the experienced pastor looking for guidance, practical wisdom, and renewal. Bloede offers specific advice and concrete examples on: Honing personal skills (communicating, leading, supervising, planning, and reflecting); Sharpening program delivery (administration, pastoral care, worship, preaching, Christian education, and evangelism); Renewing personal resources (continuing education, taking care of one's self, and renewing faith).

Enhance and strengthen your corporate leadership skills with this guide to spirituality in business from a bestselling Christian consultant and speaker. Bestselling author Laurie Beth Jones brings you the ultimate guide to transforming your team and sparking inspiration in your business. In Jesus, CEO, Jones compares Jesus to a CEO who turned a disorganized "staff" of twelve into a thriving, long-lasting enterprise.With the twenty-fifth anniversary edition of Jesus, CEO, Jones revises and updates her original modernized guidance, ensuring that everyone can continue to apply the ancient wisdom pulled straight from the Bible. Filled with fresh, practical, and profound advice, Jesus, CEO helps managers motivate their teams and themselves. Jones divides this advice into three sections: strength of self-mastery, strength of actions, and strength of relationships. By teaching readers how to reinvent all aspects of their business according to the ultimate CEO, Jesus, CEO becomes the handbook you need for corporate success.

Lyle E. Schaller is America's most influential religious leader among all denominations, according to a survey of more than three thousand religious leaders conducted by the Hartford Religious Research Center and reported in the Los Angeles Times.

Some churches grow rapidly, only to hit a ceiling. Other churches have experienced declining or static attendance--many of them for decades. Frustrated pastors and church leaders want growth methods that work, but without adding to pastoral fatigue. How to Break Growth Barriers argues that growth comes when effective leadership and lay-empowerment skills work hand in hand. This requires a shift of focus from the shepherd as the primary caregiver to shepherd as developer and coach of many caregivers. The authors show pastors how to communicate a vision for the future and then how to lead the congregation into the paradigms necessary for potentially limitless growth. The strategies found in this book are not only tried and true, and taken from a biblical perspective of a "harvest" vision. They're also newly updated to reflect our changing culture, including helpful charts and checklists for self-evaluation.

Packed with new research, new interviews, and practical solutions, this updated and expanded edition of Next will equip pastors, ministry teams, and Christian organizations to navigate leadership changes with wisdom and grace. While there is no simple, one-size-fits-all solution to the puzzle of planning for a seamless pastoral succession, Next offers church leaders and pastors a guide to asking the right questions in order to plan for the future. Vanderbloemen, founder of a leading pastoral search firm, and Bird, an award-winning writer and researcher, share insider stories of succession failures and successes in dozens of churches, including some of the nation's most influential. The authors demystify successful pastoral succession and help you prepare for an even brighter future for your ministry. Includes a foreword by John Ortberg and an introduction by Eric Geiger and Kenton Beshore.

One of the most crucial changes in North American life, Lyle E. Schaller explains, has been the shift from small to large institutions. Sixty years ago one-teacher, one-room schoolhouses still abounded, and the average number of students in all American schools was one hundred. Now new construction on elementary schools is often for facilities that will accommodate more than twelve hundred students, and average school size is over six hundred. Similar changes have happened in several other branches of American life. These changes, Schaller contends, mean that the rules have changed for everyone involved in organizational life. Very large churches—megachurches—will increasingly come to embody the new rule-book for congregations. Extending their mission far beyond a single local neighborhood, they will draw large numbers of visitors, helping them move progressively from skeptics or seekers to believers to learners to disciples to apostles. The Very Large Church was written for those congregational leaders, both volunteer and paid staff, who recognize that their old rule-book is obsolete and who are eager to learn how to participate effectively in the very large church in a context that is defined by the culture, the societal context, clearly defined expectations, a theological belief system, a passion for evangelism, a high level of competence, creativity, innovation, and a new and different set of rules, rather than by local traditions, geographical boundaries, or yesterday's stereotypes. Key Features: • Focuses on issues in organization life—Schaller's strong suit • Addresses a tendency that is growing today Key Benefits: • Places the shift to large churches within the context of a cultural shift from small to large institutions • Demonstrates how and why the old rule-book for organizational structure must change • Helps church leaders understand how to make the transition to the megachurch culture while retaining Christian integrity