From the Introduction:
Growing Healthy Churches is the fifth volume in a continuing series produced by the Board of Pensions. Like its predecessor volumes, this resource is dedicated to supporting healthy ministers and ministry across the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) […]
[…] This fifth volume focuses on how the church might “grow.” It is well known that since the beginning of the Christian Era, the Body of Christ has been, and continues to be, but one generation from extinction. We do not inherit the faith. It is only passed on to another generation when one believer tells an individual about the saving grace of Jesus Christ. If someone did not share that story of Good News with us, we would not be a part of the church. Others have said that evangelism is an individual sharing a cup of water to a thirsty seeker. Over the past four decades, the Presbyterian Church has not been particularly successful in telling that “old, old story.” In fact, since the reunion of the UPCUSA and the PCUS in 1983, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has lost 847,680 members and dissolved 1,140 churches. If our church does not begin to take more seriously the need to share the story, the denomination is in danger of becoming extinct.
