Counting People In: Changing the Way We Think About Membership and the Church

by Richard Thomas

Many people count themselves as Christian today yet do not necessarily attend church regularly. So what makes a Christian? Do you have to go to church regularly? Do have to be baptized! Do you have to understand and believe certain doctrines? The author reminds us that Jesus did not intend to create a loyal band of church gores, but to transform and enrich the whole of society. He questions the fact that the church spends such a large proportion of its resources on those that already go to church, and explores new ways of belonging, such as internet churches.

176 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2003

About the author

Nationally recognized for his portrayal of John "John-Boy" Walton, Jr., in the 1970s TV series The Waltons.
Thomas was born Richard Earl Thomas in New York, the son of Barbara (née Fallis) and Richard S. Thomas.[1] in 1951(according to imdb.com). His parents were dancers with the New York City Ballet and owned the New York School of Ballet. He attended The Allen Stevenson School and The McBurney School in Manhattan. Thomas was seven when he made his Broadway debut in Sunrise at Campobello (1958) playing John Roosevelt, son of future U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.