This book is a fictional tale of a Church in crisis. The lead pastor, Oliver Wagner has been pastoring Connection Church for the past 8 years. Everything appears well from the outside but upon closer examination, there are more than meets the eye. People are still coming to Church but some have stopped coming. Some leaders faithfully serve albeit with different expectations of the direction of the Church. Along with those who work well alongside the pastor, some row in the opposite direction, opposing any pastoral initiatives at every turn. Pastor Wagner works well with some key individuals like Jorge Miranda, Emma Rockwell, Becky Garner, but not with people such as Ken Cassidy. With skillful storytelling, author Thom Rainer points out some common dysfunctions in that Church to help us reflect on our churches. Some of these "traps" that many fail to notice include:

- Members who stopped coming;
- Declining frequency of attendance;
- Attrition rates that are larger than recruitment numbers;
- Lack of foundational Bible teaching and Discipleship;
- Recognizing and Dealing with conflict;
- Having a low bar of expectations on members;
- Lacking an understanding of the importance of Church membership;
- Failing to evangelize or reach out;
- Churches that are too prone toward programs rather than discipleship;
.....

Through the tale, Rainer incorporates all of the above into a gripping story of inspiration, discouragement, political conflict, pastoral care, board relationships, and many other familiar Church issues. Stories encapsulate many real-life issues. Just like how Jesus points out plain gospel truths using parables, Rainer tries to do the same with Church matters. The author has a deep concern for the state of the Church today. With his many decades of Church engagement, he continues to point out ways that churches should watch out for potential pitfalls while trying to meet the needs of members and friends in their community. The five traps are in bold above.

My Thoughts
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In the West, many Churches are in decline. It is easy for one to say that numbers are not the necessary measure of success. Yet, we cannot avoid the use of numbers totally. They do tell a story that we might choose to ignore at our peril. Numbers may not be everything but they do tell us something. That is why one of the most important messages is to notice the people coming and going, of those who quietly vote with their feet at the first sign of unhappiness with the church. Relationships are complicated because people are complicated. Church leaders need to study their own contexts with care before applying any of these lessons. Different issues might dominate at different phases of Church life. It could also change when the church transitions to a new place, a new pastor, or even a new program. From internal concerns to external matters, Rainer gives us five broad things to beware of. Of course, these are not necessarily the only five issues all churches should be concerned about. Many will have more of course.

It is tempting to rank the issues but that will be in vain because every ranking is merely a snapshot of the situation in time. It will change frequently. What is more important is an attentive and prayerful disposition among the leadership to sense the movement of the Spirit. Hopefully, the day will come when Rainer will write another book about the five successes that lead one to celebrate the beauty and excitement of good churches. For the uninitiated who intend to diagnose their own Church health, this book serves as a launchpad toward that end.

Anyone who wants to examine their own churches should pick up this book. This is regardless of whether one's church is in trouble or not.

Thom S. Rainer is the founder and CEO of Church Answers. Prior to Church Answers, he served as president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources. He also served at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary for twelve years where he was the founding dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions and Evangelism. He has been a pastor of four churches and interim pastor of ten churches. He is a 1977 graduate of the University of Alabama and earned his Master of Divinity and Ph.D. degrees from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Rainer has written over 30 books, including three that reached number-one bestseller: I Am a Church Member, Autopsy of a Deceased Church, and Simple Church. He has spoken in hundreds of venues and led over 500 church consultations. He can be reached at www.ChurchAnswers.com.

Rainer and his wife, Nellie Jo, live in Franklin, TN, and have three grown sons: Sam, Art and Jess, who are married to Erin, Sarah and Rachel respectively. The Rainers have ten grandchildren: Canon, Maggie, Nathaniel, Will (with the Lord), Harper, Bren, Joshua, Collins, Joel, and James.

Rating: 4.25 stars out of 5.

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This book has been provided courtesy of Tyndale House Publishers via NetGalley without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.

Where Have All the Church Members Gone? is a book that aims to equip Christians with an antidote to the decline in church attendance. With worship attendance declining thirty-two percent each year, this book is a call to action, not just to pastors, but to any congregant who has a vested interest in seeing the Christian church thrive.

The book is told in a fictionalized narrative form, centered around an upper-middle class church in North Carolina. As the church struggles to maintain attendance on Sunday mornings, a task force is formed to uncover where all the church members have gone. The task force members range from a faithful elder to a troublesome naysayer. This creates a little drama as the church tries to turn the tides, but more importantly, brings to light some of the challenges that come with implementing change. What develops through this story is an understanding of five key traps that slowly lead to declines in church attendance.

I have noticed a tendency for some churches to seek membership and involvement by providing higher levels of entertainment. Larger screens and flashier services are not the solutions that Rainer provides. In fact it is quite the opposite. Rather than seeking to be conformed to the pattern of this world, Rainer leans into what a church should be: knowledgeable about the Word, expressing faith through ministry, becoming better disciples, and evangelizing. He expects more out of the church's members and believes this will help support better church growth.

As a longtime Church member, this book convicted me in areas where I can see myself better ministering to the body of Christ. I also found enjoyment in reading the story, which has just enough character development to make this approach work, while still being short and dense in terms of providing meaningful thoughts about how to approach building up a church. Church leaders may find even greater benefit as the book outlines very specific ways in which a church may self-assess its current state to make a plan for further growth.

My overall impression was very positive as it gives both church members and individual church leaders concrete ways in which they can reflect and further grow. I think the telling of a story was also a great approach and for those who want the "too long, didn't read" version, a final chapter summarizes the key points of the story with additional insight in where to go next. I would call the book more practical than it is spiritual. So any specific guidance would want to be balanced with where the church leaders feel the Lord is guiding them.

Thank you NetGalley and Tyndale House for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

In a pre-Covid world, I worked at a church. It was then I became accustomed with Thom Rainer, particularly with his podcast, which I very much enjoyed. The moment I saw one of his books on Netgalley I knew I had to request it, and lucky me, I actually got it!

This brief, but illuminating book offers insight Rainer is known for if you’re familiar with his other works. In Where Have All the Church Members Gone, Rainer lists five traps churches fall into which, if not dealt with, can lead to a dying church. He utilizes a storytelling technique to resonate with the reader on an emotional level while conveying information in an interesting manner. Dickens it is not, but it was far more enjoyable than having facts and case studies laid before me. Rainer is repetitious at times, but this only solidifies the information in the readers mind. I often found myself smiling because some of his characters reminded me of beloved church family members, or nodding because a scenario hit a little too close to home. I particularly appreciated Rainer’s mentions of spiritual warfare, being steadfast in prayer, and his focus on Biblical obedience: if we as the church are obedient to God then He will provide a way for us.

I read Where Have All the Church Members Gone in two days, although most could read it in one, (I was constantly being interrupted by children.) and I’d recommend this book to anyone in church leadership. Where Have All the Church Members Gone? is set to be published August 6, 2024. Thank you again to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to review this book.

This book started out interestingly but then it turned into an infomercial for the resource Church Answers, the resource of which the author is CEO, and that was very disappointing.

You will find your church in this book. If not at every point, at least one of the points will hit home. If you are a church leader or a Pastor, this is a great resource. If your church is healthy, it will be a good refresher. If it's not, it provides a roadmap to health. The decades of work done by Dr. Rainer and his team are on full display. The narrative format is easy to read and compelling to the reader. Thom was my grader back at Southern Seminary, a long time ago. He was insightful then and the Lord continues to use him to help churches fulfill the great commission. I highly recommend this book.

I was supplied a pre-publication copy of this book to read and review by the publisher.

I really want to know what is the reason of degradation of church member in worldwide. Sometimes, I really think that the church really not relevant again to today's culture. But Thom Rainer do a comprehensive thing to find out why people silent about church and leave church. Knowing this will make good strategy for churches to cope with that.

While short, the book was insightful and gave me quite a lot to think about. This book is a little different from Rainier’s others since it has a little fictional story depicting a pastor realizing that his church is declining and putting together a task force to decide what to do about it.

The little allegorical story made it much easier to absorb his points and it didn’t really feel like I was reading nonfiction.

At less than. 150 pages, this book is quite short, but it definitely packs a punch! I will be thinking about the points he raised for quite a while.

I must admit, I was excited to spot a new Thom Rainer book available to read, and then I saw it was a fable and I was bummed. I’m not usually a fan of fables/allegories as a teaching model.
Boy, was I ever wrong.
This tale was engaging AND enlightening!
As a church member whose church has gone through the ‘Know Your Church Report”, I had no idea of the usefulness of the metrics to the leadership. I found that encouraging.
However, I did notice some things that might want to be polished up prior to publication.
The use of the term “grandfathering” is not acceptable or in use in Canada as it is non-inclusive and is lingo that has racist roots. I suggest utilizing the term “legacy”. As Maya Angelou once said “Do the best you can util you know better. Then once you know better, do better.” (And FWIW, I am a white middle aged lady who lives in a white town in Southern Alberta)
I would have also liked to have seen more of the aftermath of Ken and of Jill - more concrete examples of how to best continue to navigate those relationships.
All in all, another stellar leadership book from Mr Rainer!