Sample Chapter

About

Whether your church is healthy or struggling, the biblical principles in this book point the way to greater spiritual vitality. A pastor, seminary teacher, and conference speaker, Harry Reeder has long specialized in church revitalization. He deftly alerts us to potential problems in our churches, helps us to recognize our weaknesses and opportunities, and guides us in applying biblically based strategies for rekindling the flames of godly growth.

With upwards of 80 percent of American churches either in decline or at a plateau, many of our churches are ripe for renewal. Even thriving congregations can benefit from the insights, cautions, and recommendations packed into this concise volume.

Harry Reeder has for decades studied, taught on, and participated in church revitalization. One church in which he was pastor grew from 38 members to over 3000 in attendance. But the priorities and procedures that lead a church "from embers to a flame" are not about numbers. They are about the wise application of biblical principles that lead to congregational health and genuine growth.

God renews churches not through warmed-over secular methodologies but through time-honored truths that build on the past and prepare us for the future. Reeder's insights concerning prayer, the Word, godly leadership, vision, outreach, and more, serve both as corrective measures for declining churches and as preventive measures to keep healthy congregations moving forward.

Endorsements

“Harry Reeder is more than a great preacher—he is gifted at spiritually revitalizing local congregations.And unless your church is a brand-new church plant, it needs some level of renewal! So we all can learn much from this volume.”

—Timothy J. Keller

“Revitalizing churches is not easy, but Harry Reeder has done it and done it effectively more than once. He knows as much about it as anyone. If we hope to restore spiritual health to our churches, then this book deserves careful attention.”

—Luder G. Whitlock

“I highly recommend this book. Harry Reeder is well qualified to write on church revitalization. He has seen two churches dramatically revitalized under his leadership and has for years coached other churches in the principles through seminars and ongoing consultation. This is an extremely important area, and Harry is an expert in the field.”

—Frank M. Barker Jr.

The Authors

Harry L. Reeder III

Harry L. Reeder III (DMin, Reformed Theological Seminary) was senior pastor of Briarwood Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, Alabama, for more than twenty years. A popular conference speaker and the author of several books, Reeder also spoke daily on the radio program and podcast InPerspective.

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David Swavely

Dave Swavely is the planter of three churches and the founder of The Way With Words nonprofit ministry. He is the coauthor of Life in the Father’s House: A Member’s Guide to the Local Church (with Wayne Mack) and From Embers to a Flame: How God Can Revitalize Your Church (with Harry Reeder) and is the sole author of Decisions Decisions, Who Are You to Judge?, and Unto Others: Rediscovering the Golden Rule, as well as many fiction titles. See more at www.daveswavely.com.

More by David Swavely