Ed Stetzer - Comeback churches : how 300 churches turned around and yours can too

There is hope for your church! Any church can become healthy again, enjoy renewed vitality, and make a difference if you're willing to take the steps outlined in this practical and powerful book. As a successful pastor, church planter, researcher, and advisor to thousands of churches, Ed Stetzer speaks from a wealth of experience with all kinds of churches. Now, in one volume, your church can benefit from his wisdom. This book is a winner!

Dr. Rick Warren

The Purpose-Driven Life, The Purpose-Driven Church

I realized that I had given Ed Stetzer and Mike Dodson the ultimate compliment for their book when I asked my assistant to send the manuscript to my oldest son Sam who is beginning a new pastorate. Comeback Churches has the three greatest components that a book on the church could have. First and foremost, it is biblical. Second, it is well researched. And third, it is immensely practical and applicable. With the vast majority of the American churches in decline, this book should be in the hands of hundreds of thousands of pastors, staff, and church leaders. Simply stated, it is just that good.

Thom S. Rainer , President and CEO

LifeWay Christian Resources

Finally, a book of practical advice that is based on research. I have seen it both waysendless research with little advice or much advice with little facts. This book strikes the balance with perfection. I heartily recommend that every pastor study it with the church leadership. If your church (no matter the size) is mired in plateau or decline, or just needs a breath of fresh spiritual air, Comeback Churches will help!

Elmer Towns , Dean

Liberty University

This is the most helpful, practical book on church revitalization I've read this century. The authors show us how a comeback church is really a GoForth and GoForward church. I can't begin to do justice to this bountiful book. This is the book every author dreams of doing: the book that no one in the field can get around without going through.

Leonard Sweet , Drew Theological School,

George Fox University, www.wikiletics.com

Here's hopebecause there's real life here. Comeback Churches is more than a pep talk. It's rooted in the right stuff to bring a congregation out of the dismal into the vital. I commend this book because it grounds everything in the dynamics of actual discipleshipthe only timeless keys to true resurgence and revitalizing light years beyond clever methods and stylized techniques. The authors show the way to the enduringly fruitful; a quality needful among us church leaders in a day when quick fix approaches tempt, delude, and finally discourage too many.

Jack W. Hayford

President, International Foursquare Churches
Chancellor, The King's College and Seminary

Are your leaders courageous enough to engage in missional ministry? Does your church have the will to chart a new course of action to revitalize its life? Are you willing to invest the energy, time, and money to get off a long-term plateau? If so read Comeback Churches , listen to its advice, and put the powerful insights into action this year! No one, to my knowledge, has done the hard research, presented the facts, and offered such sound advice as Ed Stetzer and Mike Dodson. Based on a study of more than three hundred churches that have successfully revitalized their ministries, Comeback Churches is the number-one book on turning around declining and plateauing church ministry.

Gary L. McIntosh , D. Min., Ph.D.

Professor of Christian Ministry & Leadership,
Talbot School of Theology, Biola University

A refreshing book by authors who know how to make research exciting and instructional. Leaders and members of nongrowing evangelical churches should read this book (it wouldn't hurt mainliners either)!

Bill Easum

Easum, Bandy & Associates

Finally, a book that brings together the knowledge of the scholar, the information of the researcher, the experience of the practitioner and the heart of the pastor! Ed Stetzer and Mike Dodson have provided a powerful tool for leaders who want to help their churches become missional but just don't know where to start. This book is wonderfully balanced between the spiritual, biblical, strategic, and practical. One of the most powerful features of the book is the use of comeback stories from leaders that most pastors have never heard of, yet most pastors can relate to. Frustrated leaders will come away from this book with renewed hope and a workable plan to lead their church toward robust life and community transformation. I hope that every pastor leading a church that is currently experiencing plateau or decline will read this book and apply its principles!

Steven M. Pike

Assemblies of God Division of U.S. Missions

Ed Stetzer has nailed the major need in America. Churches are always in transition in this changing culture. Our greatest hope beyond launching new works is seeing churches come back alive with growth and vigor. This work has enormous potential to light the fire in thousands of churches. Read it embrace its principles join Jesus in growing His church! We have no other option.

Dr. Ronnie W. Floyd , Senior Pastor

First Baptist Church of Springdale and the Church
at Pinnacle Hills, Arkansas

Ed Stetzer and Mike Dodson could be called participant-observers. When it comes to leading churches from the brink of decline back to healthy Kingdom advance, they have been there and done that. But I prefer to call them practitioner-theologians, for they care deeply about biblical ecclesiology and how it finds root in faithful congregations of God's people today. This book should be read by every student preparing for pastoral ministry.

Timothy George

Dean, Beeson Divinity School, Samford University and
Executive Editor , Christianity Today

As a denominational leader, I am always looking for tools to help equip pastors to bring new life to established churches. Comeback Churches is a great resource that can help bring renewal to congregations and, ultimately, denominations as a whole.

Rev. Dr. Harry G. Gardner , Executive Minister

Convention of Atlantic Baptist Churches, Canada

Comeback Churches is written from a heart of passion for the renewing of the church. It is based upon biblical principles, and while it has a wealth of practical suggestions, it is not only a collection of quick fixes. Written by experienced comeback leaders, this is a must-read for the pastor and layleaders who are sincerely concerned about revitalizing the church!

Wayne W. Boyer , Executive Director

Churches of God, General Conference

Comeback Churches is not a good book. It is a great book! The chapter on Intentional and Strategic Church Evangelism is the most important word to the local church that I have read in many years. If I could require that every pastor and church leader in America read one book, it would be this one. With Comeback Churches , Ed Stetzer further establishes himself as one of the most strategically important kingdom leaders of our day.

John Avant , North American Mission Board

Keeping one eye on the Bible and one eye on best practices of more than three hundred comeback churches in the U.S., Ed Stetzer illustrates that it's possible to revitalize local congregations without losing sight of the important things that make a church a church: e.g., scriptural authority, biblical leadership, covenant community, and mission. Stetzer's sweep is broad. But his prescriptions aren't complex. They focus on the basic things like strategic and intentional prayer, outreach, and preaching. Church transformation, Stetzer would agree, is neither mechanical nor easy. But it can be achieved. Whether you're a coach or consultant who works with plateaued and declining churches or a pastor or church leader who desires to lead your church to the next level, you will benefit from a prayerful study of Comeback Churches.