Review
Why is it that some churches have survived hundreds of years while other s are struck down in the "prime of the lives"? Dr. C. Peter Wagner (professor of church growth at Fuller Theological Seminary, School of World Mission, Pasadena, California) answers this question by examining nine spiritual 'diseases" that can attack any church. Here is a model of the diagnosis and prescription that you can follow to restore the rosy glow of vitality to your congregation, whether it is feeling the effects of old age or has had its growth stunted from an unbalanced diet. The Healthy Church tackles the problems of "Ethnikitis" (a static church in a changing neighborhood); "Ghost Town" syndrome (a deteriorating community); "People Blindness" (cultural differences existing between groups of people living in geographical proximity to one another); "Hyper-Cooperativism" (when interdenominational unity hinders evangelism); "Koinonitis" (spiritual navel-gazing); "Sociological Strangulation" (the flow of people into a church exceeding the capacity of the facilities to accommodate their numbers); "Arrested Spiritual Development" (people in the church are not growing in the things of God or in their relationships with one another); "St. John's Syndrome" (Christians in name only); and "Hypopneumia" (a subnormal level of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in the life and ministry of the church). The Healthy Church is fascinating, informative, and a wealth of good information to counteract these maladies. -- Midwest Book Review
