Rainers book is the result of the study of 14 dying churches to see what went wrong. When i wrote autopsy of a deceased church five years ago, the response took me by surprise. While the sales of the book remain strong to this day, i think its worth noting what we have learned in the five years since i wrote the book. Autopsy of a deceased church is a companion video series to thom rainers best selling book.
Week 8 in a wednesday evening study through the book of revelation week 8 an autopsy of a dead church date. Autopsy of a deceased church will walk you through the radical paths necessary to keep your church alive to the glory of god and advancement of christs kingdom. We look now at the fifth of the seven letters to the churches, the letter to the church at sardis. God desires fresh prayers from our living heart, and not some religious mumbojumbo from a manmade catechism or other manmade book. But it is packed with the kind of reminders every church needs, and with it thom. Rainer is a protestant pastor who is well thought in evangelical circles and writes extensively on church growth and, in this case, church decline. But, ahead, you see a sign that reads, cool, clear, lifegiving water only five miles ahead. Im actually reading this book for a bible study in my church. Some are dying painfully slow but certain deaths and they are on life support as we speak. Autopsy of a deceased church is a smallsized book and an easy, quick read. If your church is dying, the passion of key leaders is waning.
An autopsy of a dead church reveals vain repetitions, religious chants and lifeless memorized prayers from a book. Toward the end of autopsy of a deceased church, thom rainer writes, regarding his surefire fixes for churches p. In addition to offering nonsolutions that are guaranteed to fail, this book became part. As we begin the autopsy of the dead church we immediately find that dna evidence links every person in the church with an infamous and ancient crime scenethe garden of eden. The autopsy of autopsy of a deceased church roll to. There are several points in decline where the church can turn around, but the key influencers refuse to listen. Yet, its not gloom and doom because from those twelve themes, lessons. Summary paper autopsy of a deceased church thom rainer. Jesus told the church at sardis, i know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. Ministries and programs are shifting towards those inside the church rather than those outside the church. In the book, rainer recounts his experience of working with a formerly prosperous midwestern church that died a slow death over the course of a. Autopsy of a deceased church, thom rainer missionary church. The truth is, the reasons churches are dying arent complex. One of the defining marks of a dying church is that the people in it dont realize its dying.
May 01, 2014 whether your church is vibrant or dying, whether you are a pastor or a church member, autopsy of a deceased church will walk you through the radical paths necessary to keep your church alive to the glory of god and advancement of christs kingdom. Whether your church is vibrant or dying, whether you are a pastor or a church member, autopsy of a deceased church will walk you through the radical paths necessary to keep your church alive to the glory of god and advancement of christs kingdom. Autopsy of a dead church the text click here to watch this sermon. Thom rainers 2014 book autopsy of a deceased church gives remarkable insights into the signs and symptoms of churches that are on their. By the time i got there the attendance had fallen to an average. That was the beginning of the decline that led to our death. Rainer puts these skills to good use, helping pastors and church leaders to think about the kinds of symptoms that they need. So writes thom rainer in autopsy of a deceased church 34. This is a book that every church member needs to read.
An autopsy of a dead church 1 and unto the angel of the church in sardis write. Autopsy of a deceased church by thom rainer a christian. Lessons learned since autopsy of a deceased church. Accordingly, the pastor placed a notice in the local newspapers, stating that, because the church was dead, it was everyones duty to give it a decent christian burial. An autopsy of a dead church determines cause of death as using modern corrupted bible versions.
Autopsy of a dead church let the bible speak tv with kevin. Autopsy of a deceased church be a healthy church church. Autopsy of a deceased church download books pdfepub and. Buy the book, autopsy of a deceased church, by thom s. In the first part, rainer analyzes 14 churches he recognizes as dead and shares ten common characteristics among them that contributed to their demise. Rainer, president and ceo of lifeway christian resources, writes about the results of 14 church autopsies. As many as 100,000 churches in america are showing signs of decline toward death. That change must lead to action and an outward focus.
Leaders of a sick church will be encouraged to start down a path toward health. An autopsy of a dead church sermon by tim byrd, revelation. It has a glorious past, but a glorious past is all that it has. Whether your church is vibrant or dying, whether you are a pastor or a church member, autopsy of a deceased church will walk you through the radical paths. What happened to those congregations and why are some churches in the process of dying today. Ironically, a book about the death of churches became a. Apr 15, 2014 autopsy of a deceased church is a short, little book that describes ten characteristics of dead or dying churches. Jun 02, 2019 she was very sick at the time, but she did not want to admit it. The book is based on interviews rainer conducted with representatives from 12 closed churches. Due to our increased volume of online orders, recent icy inclement weather, along with working safely in a covid19 environment we are experiencing some delays in shipping. Imagine you are crawling, scorched, near death, across a hot burning desert. May 12, 2019 ironically, a book about the death of churches became a book about hope for churches.
Rainer writes autopsy of deceased churches baptist press. We cannot guarantee that every book is in the library. Products designed to look as if they are real or imitations of the real items, costly items but are not. They were engaged in an activity called, this is the way weve. Thoughtfully expanded to book form, i am a church member begins to remedy the outbreak of inactive or barely committed church. The church must pray for wisdom and strength to do whatever is necessary. The funeral would be held the following sunday afternoon.
In order to read online autopsy of a deceased church textbook, you need to create a free account. Leaders of a sick church will be encouraged to start down a. An autopsy of a dead church sermon by tim byrd, revelation 3. In this broadcast of let the bible speak, we consider what we might learn from the autopsy of a dead church. This video series will help you and your church leaders examine what your church needs to stay healthy and vibrant. Download autopsy of a deceased church book for free in pdf, epub. Its genesis was a popular blog article with the same title. In the book, rainer recounts his experience of working with a formerly prosperous midwestern church that died a slow death over the course of a decade.
The book is valuable for helping those in a dead or dying church to recognize their churchs state. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain. Read as many books as you like personal use and join over 150. From this experience, he has discovered twelve consistent themes among those churches that have died. I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. Thats exactly what thom rainer does in his book autopsy of a deceased church. The book is meant for struggling and vibrant churches alike, rainer said. Sep 27, 2020 the autopsy of autopsy of a deceased church. The readers wanted to know what they could do to prevent their churches from dying. Find all the books, read about the author, and more. This sign gives you renewed energy, new hope and you continue your tormenting crawl.
Autopsy of a dead church autopsy of a dead church is a great book to read. This is a sad and tragic letter to a rather sad and t. While our church isnt dead or dying at this time i appreciate the unflinching forward thinking of our pastor and deacons to take this step to make meaningful assessments and improvements where necessary. The book is an expanded version of a blog post that rainer wrote on his website last year.
That is the premise on which religion researcher thom rainer wrote the 2014 book autopsy of a deceased church. I wasnt really sure that it would be a book that would appeal to the masses but the title had me intrigued so i gave it a read. I want to talk to you today about a sobering subject. Autopsy of a deceased church thom rainer perspective. Within dying churches, few people show up to pray and. Morbidly curious, a large crowd turned out for the funeral.
Autopsy means to look for yourself within or to see with your own eyes. Thom rainer has helped churches grow, reverse the trends of decline, and has autopsied those that have died. The churches of the first century eventually died although the truth upon which they were established continued to spread to other places. In this book rainer identifies several fatal causes that put once alive and vibrant churches in the grave. In the first century the body of christ grew numerically, at a great speed. Autopsy of a deceased church is a short, little book that describes ten characteristics of dead or dying churches. Jul 05, 2019 prayer is the lifeblood of the church. On this fifth anniversary celebration of autopsy of a deceased church. Oct 18, 2002 week 8 an autopsy of a dead church date. Recently, weve been checking out thom rainers autopsy of a deceased church. We will open the spiritual body with the scalpel of gods twoedged sword, the word of god.
Ministries and programs are shifting towards those inside the church rather than those. Webster describes it as the examination of a dead body to find out the cause of death. Nothing will kill a church faster than taking away the authoritative king james bible, and replacing it with a watereddown imposter. While rainer does offer some suggestions on how dying churches might regain their health, i found these chapters to be inadequate. The community began a transition toward a lower socioeconomic class thirty years ago, but the church members had no desire to reach the new residents. This is a polite way of saying many a church begins with life but ends in death.
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