New book about to be released…

Posted by smithakd on 7 July, 2011 · Comments Off 

Article by Andrew Smith : Image courtesy graur codrin (FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

I’m very excited.  After the success of my first book, Introduction to Orthodox Christianity, I’m very close to publishing my second book.

In fact, I’m so close that I can put a date on it: my second book will be released on July 14, 2011.

So what’s it about?  Let me tell a story first…

When doing research into this area, I found far more books than I could handle on this subject.  There were big books, small books…every kind of book, in fact, except one that would be of terribly much practical use to Orthodox parishes.

The book is about church growth – that is, how to let people know about Christ and the Church that He established, and how to bring them into the church community.

I’ve spent months bringing this book to life, through a combination of research and things that I have seen that worked.  I can’t wait to share the fruits of that with you.

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Last week, someone asked me to summarise my book.

I found it really difficult.  It’s over 100 ways to bring people to an Orthodox church – how do you summarise that?

I can break it down a bit, though.

Firstly, take care of the people that God is giving you.  Be kind and loving, welcoming into the community.  There’s three groups here:

  1. Orthodox who are part of the parish, except that they’re not.  They’re on the fringe, but could be a greater part of the parish if someone were able to bring them in.
  2. Orthodox who are travelling.  These can be temporary (passing through), and can be permanent (moved into the area).  It doesn’t matter – a parish welcoming them when they show up on the doorstep is important.
  3. People who aren’t Orthodox, but would like to be, and show up one Sunday morning to check it out.  They also need to be welcomed.

All three of these groups need to be welcomed, and the book has plenty of ways to do just that.

Secondly, once the welcoming aspect has been taken care of, start looking at being welcoming to people who aren’t yet part of the community.  This can be a daunting step, but the book is able to steer you in the right direction.

After that, a parish is able to see what it can do next.  Is it evangelism?  Is it some form of ministry – college, prison, etc?  That’s for the parish to decide – I’ve put in some suggestions here, too.

Wherever your parish is at when it comes to church growth or evangelism, this book can help you.

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Interested in what this book has to offer you and your parish?  Great!  Send me an e-mail, and I’ll make sure that you’ll be the first to hear that the book is published.

You can also follow me on Twitter: @Intro2Orthodoxy, and leave a message below in the comments.

<p><a href=”http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=982″>Image: graur codrin / FreeDigitalPhotos.net</a></p>

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