“Becoming a Welcoming Church,” by Thom Rainer, is a must read for anyone in church leadership. I picked it up thinking it might be worth checking out; loved it so much the rest of our Ministry Leadership Team got copies, and now we have a case of them on the way to give to our board of deacons and other leaders who are interested. It’s that good.

Basically, Thom Rainer set out to answer the question of how to become a welcoming church by interviewing people who visited churches one time and didn’t come back. He went after the reasons they didn’t return; what were the barriers to connecting? The result? This short little book (only 128 pages) packed with critically important observations for the church. Some of the things he pointed out were already on our radar to deal with; other things were areas we hadn’t even considered. Either way, it’s great having such a solid resource based on current research, to help inform decisions we make as a church in our pursuit of reaching this region.

It’s an easy read, packed with solid advice and insight, based on decades of church consulting and solid research, and a must read for those in church leadership. You can buy individual copies on Amazon, or get it in bulk on Thom Rainer’s website for a significant discount.