How Congregations Thrive
Fostering Community, Identity, and Mission in Today’s Churches
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Publishing:10th Dec '26
£65.00
This title is due to be published on 10th December, and will be despatched as soon as possible.
Based on rich research on real-life Protestant congregations, this book explores how congregations can thrive – as communities, as worship spaces, and as actors in the world.
Why do some congregations flourish, while others can barely stay open at all in the face of disaffiliation, aging congregations, financial hardships, and clergy burnout? Grounded in research from 10 Protestant congregations, this open access book explores the characteristics connected to congregational flourishing, and demonstrates how worship, leadership, sermons and difficult conversations all play an important role in fostering a strong congregational identity as well as individual and social thriving.
From leadership styles to congregational conflict to enacting faith in the local community, this book explores many areas of church life to determine what they reveal about and how they contribute to the overall health of the congregation. Surveys, interviews, focus groups and participant observation are utilised in the chapter’s findings. These discussions provide an up-to-date examination of congregational life in the Unites States for scholars of religion as well as a thoughtful roadmap for ministers looking to put their faith community on a stronger path toward congregational vitality.
The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on Bloomsbury Collections. Open access was funded by Center for Religion and Civic Culture at the University of Southern California.
This book stands out for emphasizing congregational thriving as a process, not a state. Grounded in research, Maureen Day helps churches understand the centrality of congregational identity—through challenging and flourishing ministry seasons—for nurturing congregants’ move toward God and one another. She showcases promising practices for congregations who choose to think and act hopefully and imaginatively about their future. * Joel Thiessen, Ambrose University, Canada *
Based on rich research in real-life congregations, this book offers deep insight into how congregations can thrive in the 21st century—as communities, as worship spaces, and as actors in the world. * Richard L. Wood, University of Southern California, USA *
Maureen Day’s How Congregations Thrive offers a hopeful and deeply practical reminder: thriving is not a destination but an ongoing journey. Every congregation has both strengths to celebrate and challenges to address. Through compelling stories of 'typical' churches, Day shows us how faithful congregations can learn from one another—and discover how to hope, adapt, and become incrementally more thriving one faithful step at a time. * Scott Thumma, Hartford International University, USA *
ISBN: 9781350595255
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
200 pages