Audiobook1 hour
Autopsy of a Deceased Church: 12 Ways to Keep Yours Alive
Written by Thom S. Rainer
Narrated by Maurice England
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5/5
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About this audiobook
No one wants to see a church die. And yet, far too many churches are dying. For more than twenty-five years, Dr. Thom Rainer has helped churches grow, reverse the trends of decline, and has autopsied those that have died. From this experience, he has discovered twelve consistent themes among those churches that have died. Yet, it's not gloom and doom because from those twelve themes, lessons on how to keep your church alive have emerged.Whether your church is vibrant or dying, whether you are a pastor or a church member, Autopsy of a Deceased Church will walk you through the radical paths necessary to keep your church alive to the glory of God and advancement of Christ's Kingdom!
Author
Thom S. Rainer
Thom S. Rainer (PhD, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) is president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources in Nashville, Tennessee. He was founding dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism and, Church Growth at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. His many books include Surprising Insights from the Unchurched, The Unexpected Journey, and Breakout Churches.
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Reviews for Autopsy of a Deceased Church
Rating: 4.383177574766355 out of 5 stars
4.5/5
107 ratings11 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I absolutely loved the perspective of the author. His analogy was spot on! Very insightful and convicting. I plan to present these concepts at our leadership meeting.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This was the pick for the Book Club at Church. It's a slim, quick, volume, with some excellent points. Rainer doesn't mince words, being straight and honest about what kills a church and what to do about it. It's an okay book. Rainer is clearly passionate about this topic and truly wants to help his brothers and sisters in Christ. The questions at the end of each chapters where well designed and obviously created to dig out the truth from the readers. But, in the end, this book just didn't reach me as I thought. My qualm is petty, I suppose, but it reads more like a blog post that someone tried to stretch into a book. Which makes sense since this topic started as a blog post for Rainer. He tends to repeat himself and uses space and fancy design to make the book appear longer than it really is. Also, to be honest, the advice, while good, was a bit jumbled and vague.However, I'm not sure this was something he could have avoided. One can give all the reasons in the world and all the solutions and how-to's and advice and warnings - but in the end, Churches die because people are selfish and sinful. And there is only one book that has ever helped people over come that. This is not it.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Concise, informational, and practical. Somewhat of a very sober read.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Very informative! Gave very practical ways to review your church and how it matches up to what God wants.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This was quick and to the point, while offering solid solutions that churches facing challenges can use and adapt to their situations. Follow this with Simple Church by the same author.
This book focused on older churches with established locations and traditions. I realize that it had to keep a narrow focus, but I would love resources for younger churches in transition. My church can’t focus on the “good old days” from 20 years ago or our building, as we have neither! How do we change to look like our community when we have to move every couple of years to a new space? - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Good, concrete pictures of trends among dying churches (including ones I've known intimately). Only three stars because it could have been longer. (What book review ever asks for longer?)
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This was a quick, interesting read. The author tried to provide the signs that a church is in danger of dying out. He made very good points about how difficult it is to see the gradual changes to the church environment. His tips were very thought-provoking and I appreciated his blunt writing style. He got straight to the point which gave more time for thought and analysis. I think this book would be a great book for a discussion.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5As a pastor who has served multiple churches over the last 22 years, I can testify to the sad reality of the health of many churches. Far more churches than you would think are already dead....They just don't know it yet.In Autopsy of a Deceased Church, church growth author Thom Rainer takes the reader down the unsettling journey of autopsying dead churches. Like a medical autopsy, Rainer is looking for the reasons that churches die. He settles in on some key threads that run through unhealthy churches and, left unchecked, will ultimately lead to their demise. These issues include a selfish refusal to reach out to others, elevating personal preferences over mission, failed pastoral leadership, and lack of prayer. A short read, Autopsy of a Deceased Church can be read in one afternoon. Be forewarned though: it takes longer than one afternoon to digest. Each chapter caused me to think of churches I had served or other churches about whom I was aware. Their health is dubious. Their mission is confused. Their prayer life is anemic. And, if things don't change, death awaits them.My prayer is that this short book will be used mightily by God to shake churches awake from their slumber. That somehow, churches who seem destined for the mortuary would become a platform for the grace of God.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This precise and easy-to-read exposé on how churches die provides simple insights on how to detect slow erosion. After studying similar “common threads,” Thom S. Rainer concludes that many of the churches are (to name a few) holding on to the past (the good old days) too tightly, not looking like their community, controlling an inward focused budget, forgetting about outreach, and rarely praying together.
Many of these churches seemed to face a slow death because of a lack of vision and the missing component of selflessness and compassion. “Those in the church were more concerned about protecting the way they did church than reaching residents of the community.” It’s exciting when you do find a church or pastor with an outward looking passion and mission. I recently spoke to a local pastor and friend who shared with me how their church recently decided to adopt their 100 closest neighbors in loving and non-threatening ways. I’m excited to see what God does through their selfless love!
18595231Some of my favorite quotes come from the chapter on prayer and the church: “Prayer was the lifeblood of the early church.” “Prayer was not an add-on to give them permission to eat a meal. It was serious stuff for a serious group of church members.” Prayer time is where the church discovers “together the question behind the question . . . they begin to understand more clearly.’
This is a book I would recommend to any pastor or church serious about staying alive and making an impact in their community!B&H Publishing Group provided this book to me for free in exchange for an honest review. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Great book for all church leaders. Could have gone a little deeper for such a serious subject but there is still a lot of meat to be digested in this short book!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Thom Rainer's "Autopsy of a Deceased Church: 12 Ways to Keep Yours Alive" is a short but penetrating look at the symptoms indicating a sick church community.The book is based on interviews Rainer conducted with representatives from 12 closed churches. Through these interviews he identified various patterns and symptoms of dying churches: lack of evangelization, a failure to budget for mission, no communal, prayer, etc.Rainer's purpose is not just to depress us, though. As he states in the outset, his hope is that this "autopsy" will help others to identify symptoms of an unhealthy church before it becomes a crisis. To that end he includes reflection questions at the end of each chapter to help church leaders discern the "vital signs" of their communities.The book ends with suggestions for churches in various stages of decline. Rainer does not mince words. He advocates for drastic changes in drastic circumstances, something many communities will resist. But Rainer is not concerned with comfort; he is concerned with churches communicating the Gospel effectively.A quick note to Catholic readers: while Rainer is Baptist and some of the examples in the book have a decidedly Protestant bent, the symptoms and suggestions identified by him are just as applicable to Catholic parishes. Any diocesan or parish leader interested in healthy parish communities would do well to read and reflect on Rainer's work.