Bearing Fruit: Ministry with Real Results - Softcover

Berlin, Tom; Weems JR., Lovett H.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1426715900 ISBN 13: 9781426715907

Publisher: Abingdon Press, 2011

Synopsis

Thousands of congregations are in serious trouble. Children are not being taught the faith. Disciples are not being made. Lives are not being transformed. The poor are not being blessed. Communities are not being redeemed. These congregations know something is terribly wrong. And in most cases, the problems have little to do with the pastor's prayer life or whether the pastor takes weekly Sabbath time. In fact, in many of these churches members deeply respect their pastors as sincerely spiritual people of utmost personal faith and integrity. But they need more from their pastoral leaders.  

They need leaders who define ministry in terms of fruitfulness as well as faithfulness. They need pastors and lay leaders who ask about the outcomes of any given ministry or program, not just its process. Mostly, they need a vision of ministry that focuses on changing people’s lives. Absent that vision, ministry will fail.  

In Bearing Fruit, Lovett Weems and Tom Berlin provide readers with the tools they need to assess the fruit their ministry bears in the lives of their congregations, their communities, and the world.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

Jesus uses fruitfulness to draw our attention toward the results, outcomes, impact, and effect of our ministry.  In Bearing Fruit, Lovett Weems and Tom Berlin focus the church on changing lives rather than on merely maintaining or surviving.  With unapologetic candor, honest passion, and helpful examples, Bearing Fruit weaves practical experience with biblical mandate to help us fulfill God's mission for the church.  A helpful, hopeful tool for rethinking ministry. -- Robert Schnase, author of Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations

Bearing Fruit is an excellent book on leadership and the local church!  It reminded me of things I know but had forgotten, it renewed my passion for leadership, and it inspired new ideas and insights for the church I serve.  This is the one book we've asked our leaders to read together before our strategic planning process this year. -- Adam Hamilton, Senior Pastor, The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection

Churches are created to be fruitful.  The faith, knowledge, and actions of Christian leaders can be shaped toward fruitfulness.  As guides of our spirits and mentors of our practice, Berlin and Weems lead us beyond frenzy, lethargy, excuses, and denial.  Our work matters, and we dare not engage it without an eye to the quantifiable contribution that we make. -- Hope Morgan Ward, Resident Bishop, Mississippi Conference, The United Methodist Church

About the Author:

Lovett H. Weems Jr. is Distinguished Professor of Church Leadership and Director of the Lewis Center for Church Leadership at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. A local church pastor and seminary president for many years, he is the author of Church Leadership: Vision, Team, Culture and Integrity, Leadership in the Wesleyan Spirit., and Take the Next Step: Leading Lasting Change in the Church, all published by Abingdon Press.

Tom Berlin is the Senior Pastor of Floris United Methodist Church in Herndon, Virginia, near Washington, DC, where he has served since 1997.  The story of this long-established yet growing and mission-shaped church unfolds in Bearing Fruit.  Tom is a graduate of Virginia Tech and Candler School of Theology at Emory University.  He and his wife, Karen, have four daughters.
 

About this edition

• Publisher: Abingdon Press
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1426715900
• ISBN 13: 9781426715907
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 128