Hope not Complaints: Renew 52

I think we have brilliant leaders in our Church. From lay members to pastors and others rostered leaders, our ELCA is full of brilliant, faithful and Godly women and men. In addition to those folks, we are part of a wider community of Christians including the Methodists, Anglicans and Presbyterians, who have publicly vowed to work, worship, & pray  together as we strive to build us the whole body of Christ not just our own "home teams." Since Matthew 28:19 gives us a common purpose, why not share our common wisdom and gifts?

David Lose, a pastor and professor at Luther seminary in Minnesota, put together this great list of ministry ideas from just over 50 different leaders from across various denominations and brought them together in a free e-book. This is not a book for pastors. This is for anyone involved in a church who wants ideas on renewing their congregation. It is a positive project that doesn't work to make faith easier, or more trendy but rather tries to give tools to help make a congregation a vibrant place for worship, discipleship and service. I love this book if for no other reason than the opening line from Pastor Lose: "I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of people complaining about the decline of the church."

We know our churches aren't what they used to be, we know this, but it's time to stop complaining and start dreaming, envisioning and working on ways to revitalize them and make them vibrant outposts of God's kingdom. I encourage you to read this and try some of the ideas in it. IT is 100% FREE so you literally have nothing to lose.

If you have an e-reader (like a kindle or nook) follow this link: Renew 52 and download it for your device. Also, free e-reader apps can be downloaded for just about any computer or mobile device. Or if that's not your thing, it will be a free PDF come October 1st, which can be downloaded to any computer. Now, I have no connection with this project or seminary. I am proud Gettysburg Seminary alum and always will be :). Nor is there a financial benefit for any of authors. These are simply fellow Christians like you and me, who are done bemoaning the past and full of hope for our churches and what God is going to do with them in the future. So why not join them and see what happens?