Over half of all North Americans live in the suburbs. In The Suburban Church, retired pastor Arthur DeKruyter encourages Christians to go where the people congregate and illustrates how to plant, grow, and renew suburban congregations. Throughout this book, DeKruyter relies on forty-five-plus years of pastoral ministry experience in which his own congregation grew from five families to more than five thousand members.

He demonstrates how to minister successfully, dispels myths about suburbia, and explains how to recruit and support volunteers and how to connect international missions to local church growth, and more. Each chapter concludes with questions for discussion, making the book ideal for pastors and church committees.

Product Information

▼▲

Title: The Suburban Church: Practical Advice for Authentic Ministry
By: Arthur H. DeKruyter, Quentin J. Schultze
Format: Paperback
Number of Pages: 148
Vendor: Westminster John Knox Press
Publication Date: 2008

Dimensions: 8.50 X 5.50 (inches)
Weight: 9 ounces
ISBN: 0664232949
ISBN-13: 9780664232948
Stock No: WW232940

Publisher's Description

▼▲

Over half of all North Americans live in the suburbs. In The Suburban Church, retired pastor Arthur H. DeKruyter encourages Christians to "go where the people congregate" and illustrates how to plant, grow, and renew suburban congregations. Throughout this book, DeKruyter relies on forty-five-plus years of pastoral ministry experience in which his own congregation grew from five families to more than five thousand members. He dispels myths about suburbia and demonstrates how to minister successfully, fit historic preaching and worship to suburban needs, finance church programs, recruit and support volunteers, connect international missions to local church growth, and more. Each chapter concludes with questions for discussion, making the book ideal for pastors and church committees.

Author Bio

▼▲

Arthur H. DeKruyter is Founding Pastor and Senior Pastor Emeritus of Christ Church in Oak Brook, Illinois. His professional honors include the 1996 Gutenberg Award; the establishment of the Arthur DeKruyter/Christ Church of Oak Brook Chair of Preaching at Fuller Theological Seminary; the establishment of the Arthur DeKruyter Chair in Faith and Communications at Calvin College; recognition as the first recipient of the Paul Butler Achievement Award for leadership; and selection as one of the Ten Outstanding Preachers in the Chicago area by the Chicago Tribune in 1981. Quentin J. Schultze is Arthur H. DeKruyter Chair and Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan.