few years ago Dr. Billy Graham visited England, and part of the year of preparation was a study entitled ‘Is Your Church Worth Joining?’ A tough question but a very proper one. For many churches, frankly, are not worth joining. And lots of people must share that view. The shrinking figures for church attendance in much of Western Europe bear testimony to the fact" (page 83).

Shrinking attendance is one of the major questions facing most churches in the U.S. and Canada. Every church has to face the question: Why should someone want to become a member of our congregation?

As we evaluate the question, Michael Green says, our focus has to return to the gospel itself, to Christ himself, and to taking the positive spiritual steps necessary to conform our local fellowship to the image of Christ. Such a process cannot be accomplished by simply continuing down the old, familiar paths. New spiritual vitality must be introduced into the fabric of the church itself if it is to become a fellowship in which new believers can be meaningfully nurtured in the faith and prepared for entering kingdom work themselves.

For most churches, this is a challenge of crisis proportions. Michael Green’s work may be one of the most practical guides available to help pastors and concerned members find a meaningful path toward becoming the kind of congregation that actually attracts new believing members.

Evangelism Through the Local Church provides more than 500 pages of interesting, inspiring and immediately practical tools for developing a church-wide self-analysis and casting a vision of what needs to be done. It is no longer in print, but used copies are widely available through used book stores, amazon.com, and other online used book outlets. •