About
the book
On Sunday, March 15, 2020, churches across America were empty. The Covid-19 pandemic engulfed the world, accelerating the technological, social, and spiritual trends that are changing how churches must engage our world.
With clear, documented insights, Empty Church explains why leading a healthy church is so much more difficult today. But Empty Church doesn’t stop there. With the education of a missiologist and the experience of a churchman, Stanley E. Granberg, Ph.D., provides practical, actionable steps the church can take to address the challenge of empty churches.
About
the author
Dr. Stanley E. Granberg serves on the Heritage 21 board and is a founding member of the Heritage 21 Foundation. He served for 15 years as the director of Kairos Church Planting, a ministry that recruits, trains, and supports church planting leaders across the United States.
Stan was born in Seattle, Washington, and raised in the fellowship of the Churches of Christ. He attended Harding University (BS 1978), Harding Graduate School of Religion (MTh 1983), Fuller Theological Seminary (ThM 1996), and the Open University/Oxford Centre for Mission Studies (Ph.D. 2000). He is a trained StratOp and Life Plan facilitator through the Paterson Center and a CoachNet-trained coach.
Testimonials
client words
Mike E. O’Neal, JD
Chair, Heritage 21 Foundation
President Emeritus, Oklahoma Christian University
In Empty Church, Stan Granberg lays a foundation for understanding a few crucial things for church leaders in a time of shrinking churches. In rapid succession, Stan explains the cultural state of churches, the cultural state of our world, and the growing gap between them. This book will prepare you to make sense of your Church’s situation and what options you can explore for the future. Stan has done a masterful job at being both prophet and pastor...challenger and comforter...as he guides us on a difficult journey to discover what is next for our churches.
Bob Whitesel DMin PhD
Award-winning author and directional leader of the Missional Coaches. Network, Church Leadership. university, and leadership. church
Empty Church is a book written by a serious missiologist, a great practitioner, and a leader with a shepherd’s heart. In his current offering, Dr. Stanley Granberg takes us through a journey we are all watching, the emptying of the North American Church. His refresh data, practical steps, and reflective questions provide an excellent tool for the local church leadership to address the issue. Yet the best part of this book is the hopeful tone throughout its pages as the author challenges you to see your Church from a God’s kingdom-building perspective.
Dr. Doug Peters
Interim Ministry Partners
Stan Granberg is a church leader’s friend. And real friends always tell you the truth—like it or not. It’s no secret that the American Church is experiencing empty pews. Cultural winds and tides have been shifting for decades against the Christian faith more than the pandemic. The Church has some choices to make, and in these eighty-eight pages, you’ll be given choices. Empty Church is not theory, rather, it provides practical tools grounded in the mission of God. With the heart of a missionary, the tools of a church planter, and the analysis of a researcher Granberg systematically shares help and hope for your Church.
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