Beyond Maintenance to Mission

by Craig L. Nessan

A guide for congregations wanting to move away from "maintenance thinking" to powerful, creative engagement with the world God loves! This book argues compellingly for the centrality of mission in understanding the church and provides a model for congregational leadership that will help move congregations beyond a maintenance mentality to vital engagement with the world God loves. Nessan's model of congregational leadership is strongly centered on worship life of a congregation and the entirety of the church's ministry. The chapters provide solid theological and practical direction on the themes of worship, education, fellowship, stewardship, evangelism, global connections, ecumenism, and social ministry. It is a book that will find a home in both the academy and the parish---a textbook for seminarians and a guide and resource for pastors and lay congregational leaders.

Genres: Religion

148 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1999

Reviews

[Kelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

We used this book as a study in my church as a way to begin updating our strategic plan. This is not an easy read, by any definition of easy. It makes you think about the church’s identity and its mission and how the various subset purposes of each interact to make an effective church, by any definition of “effective”. I will be interested to see how this exercise impacts the planning process.

[Doris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have taken my time reading this, and its concepts have been especially poignant along the way. Now that I've finished I want to start over and read it again. I am not a pastor, but am involved in worship and several ministries of the church. You may need to keep a dictionary handy, but it helps you understand the need to keep balance among the many aspects of your congregation's life. Recommend it for any mainline church leaders, pastors or potential pastors!

[Pamela Schroder · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reading this for our Lenten book study. Very boring and hard to read and understand. Too many words that need to be looked up for meaning. I’m sure this is an excellent book to read if you are in seminary or are a pastor/church leader, but to a layman it’s very hard to get through. I’m giving up at chapter 4!!