PREFACE Two startling facts prompted me to write this book. First, 80 percent of the Protestant churches in North America are plateaued or declining in number. This is a frightening statistic. If this trend continues, our churches will soon resemble the churches of Western Europe—beautiful edifices that are almost empty on Sundays. Clearly, our churches need to make changes and do things differently. In this book I will suggest several ways to do things differently or at least more effectively.