I just started reading Essential Church by Rainer and Rainer. 20 pages in I am already seeing this book connect with my life. The book purports to be about reaching the 18-22 year olds who are abandoning the church at a rate of 70% by the time they hit 22. These are saved kids, kids who know their faith, but see no connection between it and the church they attend.
Already I am realizing, this is exactly what happened to my Dad. I’ve hread his reasons for leaving church before, to do with hypocrites and serious sin by leaders in the church. But I think when it comes down to it, if it was really about hypocrites, why didn’t he ever try another church, give anyone else a chance? Because it simply wasn’t important to him. He didn’t see why church was essential.
This book may be more useful than I thought. Download the eBook version for free here.
Tags: backsliders, church growth, Essential Church, family
[...] while reading Essential Church, I have experienced a gelling of ideas from several other places about mission and vision [...]