{"id":8780,"date":"2023-06-13T13:58:56","date_gmt":"2023-06-13T13:58:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/?p=8780"},"modified":"2023-06-14T14:50:13","modified_gmt":"2023-06-14T14:50:13","slug":"book-recommendation-when-church-stops-working","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2023\/06\/13\/book-recommendation-when-church-stops-working\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Recommendation: \u2018When Church Stops Working\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Andrew Root, Carrie Olson Baalson professor of youth and family ministry, and Blair D. Bertrand are the authors of \u201cWhen Church Stops Working: A Future for Your Congregation beyond More Money, Programs, and Innovation,\u201d published by Brazos Press in May 2023. In it, they ask: What if the solution for the decline of today&#8217;s church isn&#8217;t more money, people, programs, innovation, or busyness? What if the answer is to stop and wait on God?<\/p>\n<p>The themes from Root\u2019s critically acclaimed Ministry in a Secular Age series anchor \u201cWhen Church Stops Working.\u201d Through insights from the book of Acts and stories from contemporary congregations, Root and Bertrand illustrate how actively waiting for God can bring new life to leaders and churchgoers struggling with burnout.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are many books written about the state of the church, and they fall into every literary genre: true crime, romance, science fiction, fantasy, and horror. And if they have the word &#8216;crisis&#8217; or &#8216;decline,&#8217; they can tip into being self-help, business management, and even home improvement,\u201d said The Most Rev. Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury. \u201cWhat I value about this book is that it is theology\u2014as it seeks to address where we are by reminding us of who God is and who we are. Because it puts God in the center, it is a profoundly hope-giving book, engaging us all by diagnosing the real crisis of faith and encouraging us to live alertly and expectantly within that. The church needs teachers like this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/bakerpublishinggroup.com\/books\/when-church-stops-working\/412660\">Find out more about \u201cWhen Church Stops Working.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Andrew Root, Carrie Olson Baalson professor of youth and family ministry, and Blair D. Bertrand are the authors of \u201cWhen Church Stops Working: A Future for Your Congregation beyond More Money, Programs, and Innovation,\u201d published by Brazos Press in May 2023. In it, they ask: What if the solution for the decline of today&#8217;s church isn&#8217;t more money, people, programs, innovation, or busyness? What if the answer is to stop and wait on God?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":8781,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-8780","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-newsletter","8":"entry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Book Recommendation: \u2018When Church Stops Working\u2019 - Luther Seminary<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2023\/06\/13\/book-recommendation-when-church-stops-working\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Book Recommendation: \u2018When Church Stops Working\u2019 - Luther Seminary\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Andrew Root, Carrie Olson Baalson professor of youth and family ministry, and Blair D. Bertrand are the authors of \u201cWhen Church Stops Working: A Future for Your Congregation beyond More Money, Programs, and Innovation,\u201d published by Brazos Press in May 2023. In it, they ask: What if the solution for the decline of today&#039;s church isn&#039;t more money, people, programs, innovation, or busyness? 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