Death of the Church

Autorentext
Mike Regele (M. Div.) studied at Seattle Pacific University and Fuller Theological Seminary. He is co-founder and president of Percept Group, Inc., and an author and co-author whose works include Exploring Your Ministry Area, Your Church and Its Mission, Understanding Your Congregation, and ReVision. Mark Schulz is co-founder and executive vice-president of Percept. He is co-author of several works with Mike Regele.

Klappentext
'Death of the Church is intended to provoke, although we have been careful to be accurate and responsible in our statement of the issues. We will have failed if you only yawn. You may not like what we say, but you must at least acknowledge the issues, for they are very real. The institutional church in America will look very different twenty-five years from now. Indeed, several denominations may no longer exist. We are sure that there will be hundreds of local congregations that won't. The forces reshaping our culture are too many and too strong. We see signs of social fragmentation and collapse everywhere. But we also believe deeply in the hope of the Gospel and the security of the church. Both will survive. But how the church universal is expressed in and through the churches in America will look very different. This is the issue we write about.' -- From the Introduction

Inhalt
Contents Acknowledgments What This Book Is About 1.We're Not in Kansas Anymore! PART ONE: Change 2. Last One Out, Turn Off the Lights! 3. Predictable Change I: The Generational Cycle 4. Predictable Change II: The Church 5. Chaotic Change PART TWO: Focal Points of Change 6. Changing Reality I: A Requiem for Modernity 7. Changing Reality II: A Reality for Every Occasion 8. Changing Structures I: The End of the Grand American Story 9. Changing Structures II: When the Grand Story Fails 10. Changing Players I: E Pluribus Pluribus 11. Changing Players II: The Passing Actors---Builders and Silents 12. Changing Players III: The Imminent Actors---Boomers, Survivors, Millennials 13. C hanging Faith I: The Insiders 14. Changing Faith II: The Outsiders PART THREE: The Church in a Defining Moment 15. Joseph Who? 16. The Decision 17. What Must Die? 18. The Road to Life 19. Prelude 20. Stop! Appendixes A. Generations B. Whatever Happened to the Family? C. Population Projections---Births, Deaths, and Immigration D. Religious Preference Profiles E. Characteristics of the Emerging New World