Be Not Afraid! is the result of an in-depth study of eight diverse, yet “ordinary,” mainline Protestant congregations by anthropologist (and churchgoer) Fred Roberts and a team of field researchers. While these may not be the best of times for mainline denominations, Roberts finds that when local congregations are evaluated by spiritual and religious standards instead of corporate- or pop culture-based values there remains much to celebrate.
This book is for leaders who love their faith communities but who are not complacent. On the contrary, they spend much time considering how to deal with what they see as a myriad of challenges and threats to the lives of their churches. It is for those who fear for the future of their individual congregations, their denominations, and even American Christianity. More specifically, this book is for those who worry about generation gaps in their pews, about their congregations “dying if they’re not growing,” about cultural irrelevance, and about the rise of nondenominational megachurches.
“Be not afraid!” Roberts counsels such leaders. Misplaced anxieties based on fundamentally wrong diagnoses of church problems often cause leaders to overlook the real challenges that face their churches. Roberts recommends that congregations work to discover their own uniqueness and to build upon the strengths that already exist among their own members. At their core, congregations have a radically different “bottom line” than businesses and other organizations and need to be organized around their unique purpose.
Be Not Afraid! offers a research-based guide to help people of faith know who they are, both as present-day congregations and as historical denominations; know what they believe and why they believe it; and to help them integrate their history and beliefs into all dimensions of their life together: organizational, liturgical, pastoral, and societal.
Be Not Afraid! will help churches rediscover their true calling to be nurturing faith communities, committed to spreading the good news and making disciples.
