From Embers to a Flame: How God Can Revitalize Your Church

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. Some of the signs that a church needs revitalization. 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. A clear, positive presentation and useful questions for review, discussion, and application make this work an effective resource for church leaders and study groups.