Jeffrey H Patton

If It Could Happen Here: Turning the Small-membership Church Around Jeffrey H Patton

Are small membership churches--as the conventional wisdom says--simply places where pastors bide their time while they wait for something better to come along? Are they places where long-standing family relationships are maintained, but little else? Are they places where attendance is dropping, the building is out of date, the programs are boring, and people don't want to change? If you believe this conventional wisdom, then this book is not for you. But if you see small-membership churches, especially those in rural areas, as opportunities for the radical message of Jesus to transform lives and communities, then this is a book you want to read.