Signs of Hope and Health in Mainline Churches

""Signs of Hope and Health in Mainline Churches is an insightful guide for fostering vibrant congregations. As the pastor of a church featured in this study, I found its focus on community, communication, character, and collaboration deeply resonant. This book combines research-based wisdom with practical applications, empowering churches to embrace hopeful and healthy futures. With its blend of biblical grounding and actionable insights, it's an invaluable resource for church leaders committed to thriving, mission-focused ministry."" --Greg Allen-Pickett, senior pastor, First Presbyterian Church of Hastings ""If you are looking for hope during the culture and attitude of decline in the local church, Thomas Kirkpatrick's book will provide hope, understanding, and enlightenment about why churches are thriving. His research and focus provide us with the tools to encourage congregations to build their skills in community-building, communication, collaboration, and character. Kirkpatrick demonstrates to us hopeful beliefs about the church and offers a roadmap for engaging the church in growth, rather than decline. His research truly benefits the church in the twenty-first century. I will recommend this book, and its research, to those church leaders supporting church vitality and growth."" --Bonnie Bates, conference minister, Penn Northeast Conference UCC ""Whether or not your church has assessed its congregational vitality this book describes the many models out there, offers practical guidelines and a path forward with a new 4 C's approach. A 'strength bombardment exercise' for mainline churches. This well-researched project asks questions about healthy and hopeful mainline churches and this book provides the answers with helpful guidelines and references. The good news is that hope and health are found in mainline churches."" --Linda Flatley, minister, Presbyterian Church USA ""What I find most helpful as I read Signs of Hope and Health in Mainline Churches, and Kirkpatrick's other books, is that he provides a clear outline and uses keywords to call attention to his point. The reader does not get lost in detail, but--sort of like climbing a ladder--one knows where one is and is clear about the next step. The guidance offered is the product of extensive research on the character of the church in our present time and in a perilous world. When this book arrives, it can be used immediately as a resource for the revitalization of the local church."" --Duncan Ferguson, author of Living Wisely and Well in the Evening of Life ""This project by Thomas Kirkpatrick offers a meaningful framework for hope and health that emerges out of the life of Christian communities. Kirkpatrick's research reveals essential markers and relationships that every leader must seriously consider in order to do the work of building hopeful and healthy communities. While simply stated and very practical, there is nothing light about what Kirkpatrick presents because it deepens how leaders understand the task of congregational work--a ministerial task all but forgotten. We are asked to consider the futurity of hope, a profound invitation to say the least. But we are encouraged to do so deliberately, relationally, and truthfully. My hope is that every faith leader uses this book as a resource for advancing congregational ministry."" --W. Tali Hairston, executive director, Nehemiah Initiative Seattle