Gary McIntosh and Glen Martin, Finding Them, Keeping Them: Effective Strategies for Evangelism and Assimilation in the Local Church. Broadman and Holman, 1992.
Referenced in: Welcoming and New Member Ministry
LifeandLeadership.com Summary
This is an older volume, yet it offers a good conceptualization of five simple strategies for finding people (evangelism) and keeping people (assimilation). The evangelistic strategies present nothing unique to the attractional perspective of church development, but the five assimilation strategies are most valuable. These include friendship (Am I liked?), involvement (Am I valuable?), belonging/small groups (Am I accepted?), discipleship (Am I challenged?) and spiritual growth (Am I growing?). This is a quick read to understand what helps persons stay connected to a church.
From the Publisher
This book is an excellent step to help laypeople understand the science of church growth and apply it to their local church. McIntosh and Martin have taken the traditional concepts of church growth and written them so the average layperson can understand them…For many years church growth has been in the hands of scholars and pastors. This book attempts to help laypeople and church leaders understand the terms and apply them to their church.
About the Author
Gary L. McIntosh is professor of Christian Ministry and Leadership at Talbot School of Theology, Biola University. He is a former pastor with many years as a church consultant. He is the author or coauthor of thirteen books on church leadership and growth, and the editor of Church Growth Network and Journal of the American Society of Church Growth.
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