The Great Evangelical Recession
6 Factors That Will Crash the American Church...and How to Prepare
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4.4 • 14 Ratings
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- $10.99
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
In 2006, few Americans were expecting the economy to collapse. Today the American church is in a similar position, on the precipice of a great spiritual recession. While we focus on a few large churches and dynamic leaders that are successful, the church's overall membership is shrinking. Young Christians are fleeing. Our donations are drying up. Political fervor is dividing us. Even as these crises eat at the church internally, our once friendly host culture is quickly turning hostile and antagonistic. How can we avoid a devastating collapse?
In The Great Evangelical Recession, award-winning journalist and pastor John Dickerson identifies six factors that are radically eroding the American church and offers biblical solutions to prepare evangelicals for spiritual success, even in the face of alarming trends. This book is a heartfelt plea and call to the American church combining quality research, genuine hope, and practical application with the purpose of igniting the church toward a better future.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
An investigative journalist and evangelical pastor, Dickerson is acerbic in his first book, identifying six alarming aspects of evangelical Christian decline in the United States. He asserts that the greater evangelical bloc has inflated its statistics, is going bankrupt, attracting hatred from society, dividing internally, losing young members, and sputtering in making new followers of Jesus. After addressing these pressing problems, he identifies six counter-measures to resurrect the movement. He suggests that re-valuing ministry for the 21st century; making churches financially solvent in a changing economy; doing good; uniting diverse streams of evangelicalism; and healing wounds by re-igniting individual discipleship will transform the current bleak landscape. While his facts may be accurate, he relies too heavily on only one or two research organizations. He takes a myopic view of Christianity in the U.S., equating Christianity as a whole with evangelicalism and neglecting minorities in favor of statistics on white evangelicals. Additionally, he makes too much of homosexuality, framing it as the cultural issue that evangelicals must address. While the latter half of the book is prudent and he has some good observations, it lacks even-handed ministerial insight.
Customer Reviews
Urgent
John Dickerson uses his experience in the journalism to detect trends of decline within the Church in America as we know it today. The GER is laced with haunting statistics that indicate a rapid change in our culture, alerting the Church to adjust to the new generation. The book provides several proposals to solve the problems that the Church faces, and if these ideas are implemented, then there is a promising new model that Evangelicals can adopt to continue to pursue God's heart for His people