Where can your congregation turn when its vitality (and membership) wanes? How might it understand this loss as part of its life cycle? These resources will enable your congregation to renew its identity, purpose, mission, and vision.

CONGREGATIONAL VITALITY : Congregational Renewal 

Behold I Do a New Thing: Transforming Communities of Faith (Book)
C. Kirk Hadaway, Author.  Cleveland, OH: Pilgrim Press, 2001.
Maintaining that a good church is one that truly changes people, Kirk Hadaway presents a dynamic model of church as “incarnational community” that provides leadership for transformation.

Changing the Conversation: A Third Way for Congregations (Book)
Anthony B. Robinson, Author.  Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2008.
Anthony Robinson proposes ways to promote congregational renewal by directing conversations away from typical dead-end polarities and toward more fundamental questions about congregational identity and purpose.

Creating the Future Together: Methods to Inspire Your Whole Faith Community (Book)
Loren B. Mead, Billie T. Alban, Authors.  Herndon, VA: Alban Institute, 2008.
Two pioneers of organizational change bring various methods of change to religious communities. Large Group Methods offer viable ways to broaden the conversation so that everyone is included in visioning and implementing change.

Pathway to Renewal: Practical Steps for Congregations (Book)
Daniel P. Smith, Mary K. Sellon, Authors.  Herndon, VA: Alban Institute, 2008.
Applying "adaptive leadership" to staff and lay leaders, Pathway to Renewal identifies three phases of organizational development that help renew congregations and enable them to implement change.

The Power of Asset Mapping: How Your Congregation Can Act on Its Gifts (Book)
Luther K. Snow, Author.  Herndon, VA: Alban Institute, 2004.
Using a strategy developed in working with rural communities, Luther Snow shows congregations a way to identify their assets and how to see the power of those assets.

Recovering the Sacred Center: Church Renewal from the Inside Out (Book)
Howard E. Friend, Author.  Valley Forge, PA: Judson Press, 1998.
Using metaphor, story, and reflection, Howard Friend develops a theological and practical guide to congregation renewal that offers news ways to think about congregational change.

Transforming Congregations for the Future (Book)
Loren B. Mead, Author.  Herndon, VA: Alban Institute, 1994.
Showing that mainline denominations have lost members and money during the past three decades, author Loren Mead asks that we dedicate ourselves not merely to increased numbers, but to congregational transformation.

12 Steps to Congregational Transformation: A Practical Guide for Leaders (Book)
David Laubach, Author.  Valley Forge, PA: Judson Press, 2006.
This book outlines 12 areas of focus for thought and action for congregations wishing to grow, adapt to change, and foster the development of their members’ faith.

The Bold Alternative: Staying in Church in the 21st Century (Book)
Gary W. Charles, Author.  Louisville, KY: Geneva Press, 2001.
Reversing the perspective on church attendance from who’s not coming to focus on those who do come, Gary Charles explores six vibrant Presbyterian congregations and offers spiritual encouragement and practical suggestions for smaller congregations.

Christian Chaos: Revolutionizing the Congregation (Book)
Thomas G. Bandy, Author.  Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1999.
Christian Chaos describes how to effectively shape church leadership in our rapidly changing culture, and how to form and develop cell groups as the primary means by which today's congregations can be re-formed and revitalized.

The Church Transition Workbook: Getting Your Church in Gear (Book)
Bill Kemp, Author.  Nashville, TN: Upper Room Books, 2004.
Believing that "critical changes in the local church happen best when they are accommodated within a declared period of transition" Bill Kemp provides a workbook for congregational change and renewal.

Community: The Structure of Belonging (Book)
Peter Block, Author.  San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2008.
Peter Block calls for us to learn how to create and sustain authentic community. He discusses the nature of community, purpose of building community, dynamics of transformation, and approaches to restoring and nurturing community.

Culture Shift: Transforming Your Church from the Inside Out (Book)
Robert Lewis, Wayne Cordeiro, Warren Bird, Authors.  San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2005.
Culture Shift points leaders seeking congregational renewal in the right direction. It shows how to assess congregational culture and then work in God’s power to transform it.

The Dance of Change: The Challenges to Sustaining Momentum in Learning Organizations (Book)
Peter M. Senge, Art Kleiner, Charlotte Roberts, Richard Ross, George Roth, Bryan Smith, Authors.  New York, NY: Doubleday, 1999.
Peter Senge and others develop and apply systems theory to the leadership task of starting and sustaining productive, developmental life in organizations.

Five Challenges for the Once and Future Church (Book)
Loren B. Mead, Author.  Herndon, VA: Alban Institute, 1996.
Seriously concerned about the church’s viability, Mead explains the five key challenges congregations must face if we are to have churches in future generations that are stronger than ours.

The Gathered and Scattered Church: Equipping Believers for the 21st Century (Book)
Edward H. Hammett, Author.  Macon, GA: Smyth & Helwys Publishers, 1999.
Edward Hammett concludes that the church needs to recast itself in a way that focuses on equipping people to be scattered out in mission to the world.

Making the Church Work: Converting the Church for the 21st Century (Book)
Edward H. Hammett, Author.  Macon, GA: Smyth & Helwys Publishers, 2000.
Churches stuck in outdated modes of leadership and focus are failing churches. This book explores the areas where the church needs to repent and adaptations it must make to grow into full relationship with Christ and fill its future mission.

A New and Right Spirit: Creating an Authentic Church in a Consumer Culture (Book)
Rick Barger, Author.  Herndon, VA: Alban Institute, 2005.
Rick Barger argues for creating an authentic church in a culture dominated by consumerism—a church that seriously engages the story of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Transformation inevitably arises from such engagement.

Opening the Gates: How Proactive Conversion Can Revitalize the Jewish Community (Book)
Gary A. Tobin, Author.  San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 1999.
Author Gary Tobin asserts that the American Jewish community must engage in proactive conversion to grow and remain vital.

The Passion Driven Congregation (Book)
Carver McGriff, Kent Millard, Authors.  Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2003.
The authors define a "passion driven" congregation as "one moved to share the suffering of others, compelled to action, and stirred to the depths by love."

Power Surge: Six Marks of Discipleship for a Changing Church (Book)
Michael W. Foss, Author.  Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2000.
Asserting that churches today are called to shift from a "membership" model to a "discipleship" model, Michael Foss uses simple illustrations to discuss the leadership elements of discipleship churches.

Reclaiming the Church: Where the Mainline Church Went Wrong and What to Do About It (Book)
John B. Cobb Jr., Author.  Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1997.
John Cobb calls upon the mainline church to (1) re-discover its passion for the conviction that the Christian faith is of supreme; and (2) engage in serious theological reflection about our shared faith.

Reclaiming the Great Commission: A Practical Model for Transforming Denominations and Congregations (Book)
Bishop Claude E. Payne, Hamilton Beazley, Authors.  San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2000.
Grounded in the biblical Great Commission to make disciples of all nations and in the Great Commandment to love and serve God and neighbor, this book presents the principles and practicalities of evangelism for mainline denominations.

Rekindling the Mainline: New Life through New Churches (Book)
Stephen C. Compton, Author.  Herndon, VA: Alban Institute, 2003.
Stephen Compton proposes planting new churches as a solution to declining membership in mainline denominations.

The Self-Renewing Congregation: Organizational Strategies for Revitalizing Congregational Life (Book)
Isa Aron, Author.  Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing, 2000.
To serve the Jewish community of the twenty- first century synagogues must become self-renewing by changing the way they operate rather than the content of their operations.

Servant Leadership for Church Renewal: Shepherds by the Living Springs (Book)
David S. Young, Author.  Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 1999.
Young argues that servant leadership is at the core of church renewal. "It starts with learning to kneel, to listen to God, and to be attentive to directives from God." Servant leaders, he says,"discover God in their midst and then point o

The Soul of Tomorrow’s Church: Weaving Spiritual Practices in Ministry (Book)
Kent I. Groff, Author.  Nashville, TN: Upper Room Books, 2000.
Does your church feel like just one meeting after another? Author Kent Ira Groff asserts that the Spirit is still working through opportunities to focus on the essential functions of community and spiritual practices.

Spiritual Community: The Power to Restore Hope, Commitment and Joy (Book)
David A. Teutsch, Author.  Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing, 2005.
This book advocates the importance of engaging in the intentional creation of a community that accords "full value to intrinsic goods—things inside ourselves that are valuable and that often take considerable commitment and energy to nurture and dev

Transforming the Mainline Church: Lessons in Change from Pittsburgh’s Cathedral of Hope (Book)
Robert A. Chesnut, Author.  Louisville, KY: Geneva Press, 2000.
When Robert Chesnut became pastor of Pittsburgh’s East Liberty Presbyterian Church, this very large inner-city church was in real trouble.

Turn Your Church Inside Out: Building a Community for Others (Book)
Walt Kallestad, Author.  Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Fortress Press, 2001.
Drawing on his own experience and scriptural teachings, author and pastor Walt Kallestad outlines steps any congregation can take to become a community that celebrates and affirms people while managing change.

You Only Have to Die: Leading Your Congregation to New Life (Book)
James A. Harnish, Author.  Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2004.
"We must die to be born again": a paradox as true for congregations as for individuals. James Harnish writes that congregations must be willing to die to the things that block discipleship. Through such losses there is room for resurrection.