Change the World: Recovering the Message and Mission of Jesus

In a time when the congregations of many mainline churches are ebbing in the U.S., the success of a booming multi-campus congregation in the Rust Belt is certainly worthy of analysis. In this provocative, passionate and often critical book, Slaughter, lead pastor at Ginghamsburg United Methodist Church, takes a hard look at the seeker-sensitive, attendance-focused strategies that have driven the church growth movement for the past 20 years-and finds them severely lacking. ""Let's quit worrying about numbers in the pews,"" asserts Slaughter, ""and begin to be the hands and feet of Jesus in our homes, our communities, and the outermost places of the world."" In such chapters as ""Disciples vs. Decisions,"" the author describes the mission-driven, locally-focused and challenging philosophy of congregational life that's made a significant impact in places like Darfur, Sudan. It has also, ironically enough, fueled growth in the Ginghamsburg congregations. Chapters conclude with questions for individuals and congregations. Because he writes chiefly from his own experience, and doesn't draw a lot on that of other congregations, readers are mostly going to have to figure out how to apply Slaughter's ideas to their own church communities.