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.

Jack Reese, PhD

Author of At the Blue Hole: Elegy for a Church on the Edge (Eerdmans, 2021)

This is a wonderfully comprehensive book and what you will need in the new normal to lead a turnaround church. Everyone realizes we are facing a new reality: skepticism on the rise and church attendance on the decline. I have found few books this comprehensive at addressing this reality as the book Empty Church by Stanley Granberg. Get this book if you want a book that covers all the bases clearly and concisely and that all church attendees can understand. You need it. And, you will use it!

Gary Rohrmayer

Author Spiritual Conversations
President Converge MidAmerica

Empty Church came at the perfect time for me and my ministry! Thanks, Stan, for shedding light on the changes that have been happening in churches across the country. More than that, Empty Church brings real, practical help - biblical insights and strategies to help church leaders be faithful in times of great challenge. This is a book I want in the hands of every church leader where I serve.

Gordon Dabbs, PhD

Preaching Minister, Prestoncrest Church of Christ, Dallas, Texas

With the mind of a scholar (Open University Ph.D.) and years of practical experience (church planter and leader), Stan Granberg adds value to the ministry of all who have a heart for helping churches navigate this uniquely challenging season. Empty Church is full of especially practical and well-researched observations and options for the future. Stan does not simply diagnose the difficulties, he realistically points church leaders to a range of solutions for their contexts. Most churches are prime for Revisioning, Renewal, Redevelopment, or Repurposing. Stan and Heritage 21 are valuable kingdom partners for discerning the next steps! I heartily recommend Stan Granberg’s Empty Church!

Grady D. King, DMin

Leader: HOPE Network

Sometimes faithfulness looks like the strength and speed of a sprinter; at other times, it’s more like the steady endurance of the marathoner. But, sometimes, in church life, faithfulness looks like the handing of a baton. That is an act of trust—trust in others, but more importantly in God. In this book, Granberg—from his decades of experience in mission work, church planting, and working with church leaders—helps churches who may be at that point.”

Mike Cope

Director of Ministry Outreach, Pepperdine University

WARNING: This book will irritate you! With characteristic clarity, challenge, and compassion, Stan outlines where the Church - specifically your Church - needs to own its failures and let go of sacred cows from the past. That’s no easy thing! Packed full of stats, tools, self-assessments, and tactics, Stan gives strategy and direction to reshape your Church into a revitalized and effective disciple-making community that reaches the lost for Christ. If leaders and churches properly engage with these resources, it will be like receiving a personal consultation from Stan!

Alex Absalom

Dean, Harding School of Theology

Stan Granberg’s book, Empty Church, is truly outstanding. In brief form, he has insightfully outlined the challenges facing today’s Church and has offered a practical way forward. I will recommend this book to small churches discerning their future and larger churches that want to have a greater impact.

Jimmy Adcox

Minister, Southwest Church of Christ, Jonesboro, Arkansas

Stan is a wise guide after all of his years of ministry, coaching, and teaching. I recommend this book, especially the emphasis on disciple-making.

Matt Dabbs

Editor, Wineskins Magazine, Wineskins.org

I enjoyed reading Empty Church immensely. Even though it is focused primarily on churches of 75 members or less, it is extremely relevant to my congregation of 500 or so. Empty Church is a compelling account of why so many churches are dying and how bold and godly leadership can create, with God’s help, a more faithful and enduring community of faith. Granberg’s assessment of the crisis most churches are facing is spot on. His language is clear, visionary, and engaging. His solutions are both doable and urgent. It is an essential book for Christians seeking to understand their predicament, revive their hope, and transform their future.

Jared King

Dr. Granberg does a great job giving direct, applicable, and relevant advice for any church leader as they navigate the challenges of a post-Christian, post-COVID church world. Particularly his chapter on discipleship was helpful in defining a practice that has seemed to be difficult to define and is certainly an idea that churches have struggled to know how to participate in. I greatly appreciate this book and the nugget after nugget of advice, insight, and ideas that any leader in any church will benefit greatly from.

Burt Miller

Church Elder

The book is relevant and practical. The observations and data bring into clear focus what I have been observing, but not collating, over the past 50 years. Chapter 2 is a must read for all Christians trying to evangelize into today’s world. I have seen chapter 2 lived out through my children and their friends.

Your comments about Transformation change in chapter 3 are eye openers. I have never thought about change needing to be transformational. But your comments about post-modernism and the supporting statistical information support your thesis for transformational change.

Scott Lambert

The chapter concerning evangelism caught my attention immediately. Many churches and individuals have experienced what Granberg identifies as evangelistic entropy, meaning that the value of evangelism diminishes to the point that it is normal to not reach out with the good news of Jesus. After providing a few self assessment questions the focus shifts to the transformative work of engaging with God by sharing the good news of Christ. Stan’s exploration of the topic is theologically sound and honors the value of each person on a spiritual journey while encouraging Christians to act as spiritual guides. His practical approach is very helpful as one engages in the life of another person created in the image of God.

Dan Bouchelle

In this very accessible resource, Dr. Granberg does a great job of helping church leaders understand the lifecycle of churches and given them practical tools to determine what faithfulness looks like at each stage. For churches who have been in decline and need hope and direction, this can be just what they need. Congregations don’t live forever, but the kingdom of God does. Dr. Granberg helps us reframe the mission of the church around God’s purpose and find creatives ways to expand the kingdom. If that means renewing our congregation, great. But, that is hardly the only way to be faithful. I’ll be recommending this book to church leaders routinely and am glad for the helpful resource. — Dr. Dan Bouchelle, President of Mission Resource Network.