Constant growth and expansion are the hallmarks of success in the 21st century. If your church hasn't seen double-digit increases in membership, if you're not planning a 20,000 square foot expansion to your building, if you're not planting a new 1,000-seat campus every year, you must be doing something wrong. Right? Not so, claim Andrew Root and Blair Bertrand, the authors of When Church Stops Working: A Future for Your Congregation Beyond More Money, Programs, and Innovation. They suggest that calm, steadfast witness in response to God's movement might just be a suitable alternative to the boom-or-bust model of church. 

The Church is not a Fortune 500 company and it should not seek to behave like one. Rather, the Church should focus its energy on God. Funny, that. A return to the relationship with God is a calm and steady theme throughout the book. Root and Bertrand are certain that God continues to speak to us through sacrament, scripture, prayer, learning, and ministry. They are persuaded that we can, again, learn from the liturgies and calendars, rhythms and patterns of our traditions. There is no call here to a radical reformation of the Church such as we saw tried 500 years ago, but rather a reminder that we have an alternative model of how to be as church.

This book is not a series of tips and tricks for reviving a declining congregation. Nor is it a step-by-step manual to successful stewardship campaigns or anything like that. Rather, it is a persuasive suggestion that our calling as 21st century Christians may be to live in smaller, calmer, more intentional communities than we have done for many generations. 

In summary, I think When Church Stops Working is a well-written, accessible, refreshing entry into the field of congregational development. Its focus on spirituality, relationship, and God certainly speaks to me and the challenges and opportunities I see in my parish, diocese, and church. This could make for an excellent book study for clergy groups, parish councils, or entire congregations. I hope that this book will be widely read and its ideas discussed by people in every order and ministry of the Church. 

A longer review is available at bookishpriest.com

Thanks to Brazos Press and NetGalley for furnishing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.