Thirty-five years ago, the church steeple rose above the rooftops, calling the community to worship. Today the church, often dwarfed by neighboring structures, is one building among many and overlooked by many passersby on their way to Sunday fun.

A generation ago, phrases like equipping the laity and small groups hadn't entered the church vernacular. Homogeneous sounded like a word to describe milk not churches. And pastors weren't as likely to talk about "staffing the programs," "setting the vision," or "planning strategically."

About thirty-five years ago, Warren Wiersbe was pasturing Central Baptist Church in East Chicago, Indiana, and his wife was giving birth to their first son, David.

Today, David pastors Hope Evangelical Free Church in Roscoe, Illinois, his second pastorate. And Warren, after pasturing Calvary Baptist Church in Covington, Kentucky, and the historic Moody Church in Chicago, is currently general director of Back to the Bible, a ...