Thousands of congregations today are confronted with the reality that their neighbourhoods and regions have changed around them, often to such a degree that their survival is threatened. This follow-up to the ground-breaking book Studying Congregations shows how to turn a church around by understanding the unique needs of the neighbourhood. This hands-on workbook offers congregations a logical, action oriented, collegial process for gathering the right information that can help to evaluate their church's particular situation and the available options.

Twenty years after Critical Moment of Ministry was first published, Loren Mead returns to his groundbreaking work on one of the most important times in a congregation's life--the time between one pastor's leaving and another's arrival. In this revised edition, A Change of Pastors, Mead shares the wisdom he gained from thirty-five years of studying congregations, wisdom that he hopes will allow congregations to take full advantage of this time during which incredible congregational change can happen.

Intentionally provocative, Alban founder and former president Loren Mead's dynamic work sets out dramatic and compelling challenges for today's churches. Mead chose the word "meltdown"-a strong term, indeed-very carefully and consciously. His clarion call urges congregations to direct attention to their dwindling financial resources and their unreliable fiscal practices, and to take major action now-or face disaster in the future. Mead addresses changing church giving patterns; the inconsistent ways congregations keep financial records; the lack of coordinated short- and long-range planning;...