When Steeples Cry: Leading Congregations Through Loss And Change

by Jaco J. Hamman

When Steeples Cry is a book about embodiment--yours and mine--and the nature of loss occurring in North American church contexts. It is not meant to be a "how to" book, but it envisions you being a different kind of leader to your community. Written especially for church leaders and those seminarians who will serve in mainline Protestant churches, When Steeples Cry identifies the work of mourning as a significant aspect of being a church leader in North America today.

When Steeples Cry explores numerical, relationship, material, identity, functional, role, and systemic losses, and suggests how to grieve well and move on in healthy, life-giving ways. The United Methodist Church (USA) has lost more than 3.3 million members. The Presbyterian Church (USA) has lost more than 2.3 million members since 1971. The Episcopal Church (USA) has lost more than 1.1 million members. The Evangelical Lutheran Church (USA) has lost more than 540,000 members, including a loss of 61,871 members between 2001-2002. Forty-five churches closed their doors in 2002. The majority of North American Protestant congregations and denominations, says Hamman, have experienced significant losses since the 1960s. Moreover, the dynamic and growing churches that are changing their traditions experience the loss of what was familiar to them. In many churches, losses past and present remain unnamed and unmourned.

190 pages, Paperback

First published November 30, 2005

Reviews

[Margaret D'Anieri · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is aimed at parish leaders who themselves experience loss alongside the congregations they serve, and gives practical advice about how to mourn, suggesting that part of our work is to provide space to grieve our losses - not just the obvious ones, but those that come day in and day out as God's people in the world today. I found it very helpful personally - if we as leaders can't lament, then we are not likely to help those in our care to do so as well.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a powerful book that looks at the fall out of change that inevitable happens all around us, but few people address or acknowledge. It asks for Christian leaders to prayerfully engage in listening, and talking together through changes. Hamman believes that if this is done right it will in fact lead to a process that is focused on the future, as counterintuitive as it sounds.