Church Life: The Next Generation

Dying for Change by Leith Anderson, Bethany House, $11.95

Reviewed by Dave Wilkinson, pastor of Moorpark (California) Presbyterian Church

I was warned I would be arrested if I opened the book. So I read myself my rights, pocketed a quarter to call my lawyer, and opened to the introduction. Within a few words I felt the cuffs snap around my wrist and heard the door clang closed behind me. I had to finish it. The cover of Dying for Change had described it well: "An Arresting Look at the New Realities Confronting Churches and Para-Church Ministries."

Author Leith Anderson, senior pastor of Wooddale Church in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, loves the church and cares for its ministry. But he's also concerned: "An estimated 85 percent of America's Protestant churches are either stagnating or dying," he says. His purpose in writing this book is to help churches recognize current social trends and adapt to the new spiritual and social realities, thus revitalizing their ...