David Lose: Renew 52 Now Available!

Concerned about the decline of many of our congregations and the larger Church? Dismayed by smaller attendance on Sunday mornings? Worried that your children or friends don't seem interested in their faith? Well, now there's something you can do about it!

I'm very excited to announce a new - and  free! - e-book intended to help us renew and revitalize our congregations. (Click here to learn more and download your copy!)

The book is called Renew 52, and it contains 50+ essays by church leaders under the age of 50 on church revitalization. Except that it's simpler than that. "Revitalization" is such a big idea and, frankly, sounds like it could be both difficult and boring at the same time! So instead of asking people to write about "strategies for revitalization," I asked a group of friends - teachers, preachers, artists, musicians - whether they would share one good idea on how to help a church grow.

The result was overwhelming. By the time we were done we had 55 contributors from fifteen different Christian traditionssubmitting 54 essays of 800 words or less sharing their one good idea on how to help our congregations. Some of these ideas are about preaching; others about leadership; still others are about stewardship, youth & family ministry, and more. Each offers one idea that almost any congregation can try out. Which means that you have at your disposal enough good ideas to try one out each week for a year, or one each month for almost five years, or one.... Well, you get the idea.

And did I mention that it's  free? That's right, each of these authors offered his or her work for free simply because they love the church and want to see it flourish. So with a little help from the donors of Luther Seminary and a grant from the Lilly Endowment, we were able to put together an e-book available on the iPad, Nook, or Kindle (pdf version coming Oct. 1) that is available to anyone for free. Simply click this link and you'll be taken to a page with instructions on how to download the book.

So please, please, please download your free copy of Renew 52 today. (Since releasing the book yesterday, we've had more than 1000 downloads and tons more are coming each hour. I'd encourage you to "get yours before they go," but of course it's an e-book and so the supply is, quite literally, unlimited!)

More than that, please share this book with your friends, pastors, Sunday School teachers, church council members, skeptics   - anyone you think cares about congregations and wants to see them grow! There are a host of ways to share this page with others via Facebook, Twitter, and more located at the middle left of this post (labeled  Share This ). If you receive this post by email, you can forward it, and you can share the link (www.luthersem.edu/renew52) via email, Facebook, or Twitter. Together, we can get the word out and make a difference.

Thank you. Even more, thank God for you and your commitment to Christ's church.

Taken with permission from David's blog, "...In the Meantime"