This book review was written by Marc Potvin, Director of Field Education, and is featured in this month’s Dio E-Newsletter, a monthly update shared with the wider community.

Andrew Root and Blair D. Bertrand. When Church Stops Working: A Future for your Congregation Beyond More Money, Programs, and Innovation. Brazos Press, 2023 ISBN 978-1-58743-578-2.  Available both on paper and digitally.

Perhaps, your church is in the same situation that many churches are in nowadays. Your congregation is shrinking, few new people join, and the budget is becoming smaller and more difficult to meet, with a building to be maintained and repaired, and having a minister to pay. What is one to do?

Andrew Root and Blair Bertrand collaborated in writing a book that explores the challenges experienced by so many churches today.

This book will discuss why the church is in crisis, offering some suggestions for what we can do about it. The bad, (or, at least disorienting) news is that this book will reveal that what you think is the problem isn’t really the problem. And the actions you think will help the church may make things worse (Root and Bertrand, p. xi).

The writers suggest that times of crisis are good for the church. But, instead of trying “to fix” what may be wrong by doing more and being busier, or giving up, they offer that a solution to the crisis can be found in slowing down. Doing this can allow the church to notice that God is at work in its midst and in the world around and is inviting the church to join in. The authors share examples on how the church can join in God’s movement showing in the process that there is a future for the church.

Grounded on Root’s in-depth research and writings from Ministry in the Secular Ages (a many volumes work) and Bertrand’s practical experience both in Canada and Africa, When Church Stops Working is an accessible and practical book for any reader.

I recommend it to anyone who is at a loss on how to move the church forward. One must be forewarned, though. Solutions exist, but they require the church to think about itself differently. While not complicated, this requires hard work and courage. But then again, doesn’t God keep reminding us to not be afraid and be of courage? God is indeed with us and like Root and Bertrand, I believe God is not finished with the church.