Frank Page, pastor of First Baptist Church, Taylors, and president of the Southern Baptist Convention, is author of a new book entitled “The Incredible Shrinking Church,” published by Broadman and Holman in Nashville.
Page, in his second term as leader of the SBC, says in his book that the church is “under fire and struggling to prove its relevance in a postmodern culture.”
The Taylors pastor is quick to point out, however, that “cultural trends and other outside forces aren’t the true villain here.” Rather, he writes, “churches have in too many cases become lifeless, boring, and emotionally hollow,” that they have “spiritually sputtered to the point where they have nothing left to offer.”
Page contends that in many such churches, “the rich, full, satisfying, supernatural power of Christ has dribbled away like air out of a punctured tire.”
To counter the current condition of churches whose “internal fire has shrunk to a flicker,” Page urges his fellow ministers to embrace inevitable change in church programs, build the right team of leaders, learn from turnaround churches, and reach out from comfort zones into the surrounding community.
“The steps to success,” the SBC president declares in his book, “don’t require big budgets, administrative geniuses, legendary preaching, or dazzling facilities. They are steps any church can take, which means that any church can be a healthy, Spirit-filled one if its leaders will and members will prayerfully and honestly dedicate themselves to the task.”