"think outside the box" ideas for many church problems

I "had" to read this book because I am on the church board. I was pleasantly surprised by it. It is an easy-reading book that offers unique "think outside the box" ideas for solving a variety of church problems. Even if you are NOT thinking about building, many of the ideas in this book may be useful to your church!^M

every pastor and church leader - please read this book!

i bought this book b/c the church where my husband is a minister built nearly 3 years ago and now the church is so in debt my husband and the other associate minister are about to lose their job so they can pay the mortgage. what a wealth of wisdom is in this book! and a quick read, too. if every church going through growing pains read this book, i believe the face of american churches would be completely different. what i especially love is the common sense advice for how to reorganize ministries to use space better, take the burden off the volunteers, etc. ^M

Most churches thinking of building have better alternatives.

After 30 years as a church architect and almost 20 as a church facilities consultant, Ray Bowman estimates that 90% of the churches that contact him thinking they need to build have a better alternative--one that requires less of the churches time, money, and energy. Since turning consultant in 1980, Bowman has pioneered a new way of thinking about, using, and modifying traditional church buildings so that a congregation that uses his approach can usually grow to three times or more the size for which the building was originally designed before needing a major building program. This book describes this revolutionary approach to church facility planning giving many examples of how churches are putting these concepts to practical use. I worked with Bowman for ten years as his writer before joining Ray as an associate in his church consulting work. I am now putting these concepts to use in my work as a full-time church consultant and can testify from my own experience that they really work. This book is changing how North American churches think about, use, and pay for church buildings.