Ed Stetzer and Mike Dodson deliver a book that is supported by research on churches that have successfully reversed their trend of a declining congregation size. Stetzer states, “This book will help you learn from the experiences of three hundred comeback churches so that you do not have to pay the same price and endure the same hard lessons for the education.”^[1] Baptismal ratio and attendance figures determined the health of an effective comeback.^[2] This book is not designed to be prescriptive for every church that is not healthy, but it should be perceived as a compilation of best practices identified from the research study where there are some significant findings within the data to show what influenced the comebacks. Stetzer explains the purpose of the book, “to practically help pastors and churches that may be struggling in plateau-and-decline mode to experience revitalization. That is at the heart of our desire to write this book and why we did the research.”^[3]

Abstract

There are fourteen chapters that detail specific factors that were identified from the comeback churches. There are many suggestions on implementation along with considerations. Each chapter ends with a conclusion and suggestions for further study. One of the chapters is labeled chapter zero as a foundation to explain how churches should be biblical, missional, and spiritual. The early chapters encourage pastors to take up the challenge and explain why the leaders need to be the ones to initiate the comeback.

Faith is a foundational ingredient for church growth and three faith factors were identified to help a church comeback. Renewed belief in Jesus Christ and the mission of the church was at the top of the lists with renewed attitude towards servanthood and strategic prayer closely behind. Being missional is important and reinforces the focus on the Great Commandment and the Great Commission.

Worship and preaching made a big difference with the comeback churches. Stetzer states, “Most growing churches we know have dynamic worship and excellent preaching. It is not just adding evangelism programs that makes a difference…but it’s also the way you worship and the way you preach that impacts whether or not the church can be a comeback church.”^[4] The music selection trended towards contemporary with a praise chorus using guitars and pianos over organs. Celebrative and orderly were the top two worship styles or moods. Most of the pastors mixed their preaching approach with the majority being biblical verse-by-verse.

Evangelism needs to be intentional and strategic. It needs to start with a vision and a plan to draw people into the church. There needs to be processes to effectively connect the guests to church leadership and identify their spiritual gifts so they can develop and mature. There needs to be a complete outreach process that not only opens the front door wide, but it also helps close the back door.^[5] Conducting spiritual gift assessments and equipping the congregation through ministry is vital to a comeback church. The pastor and leadership team needs to create an atmosphere where there is an expectation for everyone to be active in ministry and all ministries should have an evangelism component. Empowerment is important for leadership growth at the comeback church.

Stetzer states, “Comeback leaders exemplified the power of small-group community.”^[6] Having a “new” small group structure is essential to a comeback church as there needs to be revitalization within the church and small groups make a large impact as they can go very deep within each church member as they share more in small groups. There are six common responses from Americans complaining about why church is not meeting their needs. Small groups can help address each of them.

Bibliography

Stetzer, Ed, and Mike Dodson. Comeback Churches: How 300 Churches Turned around and Yours Can, Too. Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Group, 2007.

^[1] Ed Stetzer and Mike Dodson, Comeback Churches: How 300 Churches Turned around and Yours Can, Too (Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Group, 2007), x–xi.

^[2] Ibid., xi.

^[3] Ibid., xiii.

^[4] Stetzer and Dodson, Comeback Churches, 78.

^[5] Ibid., 130.

^[6] Stetzer and Dodson, Comeback Churches, 147.