Fourteen Fridays: A story of baseball, church, data & redemption

by Eric Swanson, Matt Engel

Pastor Tom Briggs is in trouble. He confidently moved to Denver six months ago to revive a dying church, but he’s finding his go -to strategies are falling flat in the shadow of the Rockies. Tom’s wife is ready for a change, his lead elder has turned on him and the elder board is determined to see him replaced. But why? Maybe it’s coincidence, maybe it’s God, but Tom receives an envelope containing tickets to each of the fourteen Friday night games of the Colorado Rockies Baseball season. At the home-opener, Tom finds himself sitting next to a consultant whose expertise is to help businesses turn “we think” into “we know.” Can an understanding of data, analytics and experimentation be what Tom needs to turn things around? Is God to be found in the strategies his new-found friend is introducing? He has six short months to find out. This book is for those explorers who want to learn more about data, analytics and experimentation to accomplish the five things every church must master to thrive and grow.

215 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 28, 2021

Reviews

[Lisa Mathews · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're working and serving in the realm of church leadership or not for profit leadership this accessible story will take the weight off your shoulders of thinking you need to have all the answers. The paradigm is changing and leaders don't need all the answers, they need to build curious teams who are willing to experiment together to find the answers that work in their time and place of ministry. Eric Swanson and Matt Engel outline through an interesting story some very applicable examples of how an understanding of data, analytics and having the courage to experiment may just be a viable strategy for leading in today's ministry context. I highly recommend reading this book as a team or as a curious leader willing to try something new. The timing couldn't be better!