The Habits of Highly Effective Churches: Being Strategic in Your God Given Ministry

by George Barna

George Barna reveals nine critical habits proven to make a church an effective local body. The Habits of Highly Effective Churches dispels popular myths and wrong beliefs as to what constitutes a thriving church in today's society and is an excellent resource for ministry leaders who are seeking or willing to re-evaluate and restructure a church.

Genres: Church, Leadership, Theology

192 pages, Paperback

First published November 30, 1997

About the author

George Barna was raised and educated on the East Coast before moving to California in the early 1980s. He held executive positions in advertising, public policy, political campaigns, and media/marketing research before beginning his own company, the Barna Research Group (now The Barna Group), in 1984. The firm analyzes American culture and creates resources and experiences designed to facilitate moral and spiritual transformation. Located in Ventura, California, The Barna Group provides primary research as well as developmental resources and analytic diagnostics. The company has served several hundred parachurch ministries and thousands of Christian churches throughout the country. It has also supplied research to for-profit corporations such as Ford Motor Company, The Walt Disney Company, Visa USA, and Prudential, and has assisted the U.S. Navy and U.S. Army as well.

To date, George Barna has written more than 40 books, predominantly in the areas of leadership, trends, spiritual development, and church health. Included among them are bestsellers such as Revolution, Transforming Children into Spiritual Champions, The Frog in the Kettle, The Power of Vision, and Pagan Christianity? Several of his books have received national awards. He has also written for numerous periodicals and has published various syndicated reports on topics related to faith and lifestyle. He also writes a bimonthly research report, The Barna Update, which is accessed by hundreds of thousands of people through his firm's Web site (www.barna.org). His work is frequently cited as an authoritative source by the media. He has been hailed as "the most quoted person in the Christian church today" and is counted among its most influential leaders. In 2009, George initiated Metaformation, a new organization designed to help people maximize their potential. More information about his current projects is available from www.georgebarna.com.

Barna is a popular speaker at ministry conferences around the world and has taught at several universities and seminaries. He has served as a pastor of a large multiethnic church, has been involved in several church plants, and currently leads an organic church. He has served on the board of directors of various organizations. After graduating summa cum laude from Boston College, Barna earned two master's degrees from Rutgers University. At Rutgers, he was awarded the Eagleton Fellowship. He also received a doctorate from Dallas Baptist University. He lives with his wife and their three daughters in Southern California. He enjoys spending time with his family, writing, reading novels, playing and listening to guitar, relaxing on the beach, visiting bookstores, and eating pizza.

Reviews

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

His insights inspired me to take a survey on prayer to better understand the needs of our Body. The results brought about a class on prayer as well as many conversations with people who were actually struggling with different issues of prayer. I also made several suggestions to enhance our worship such as offering contrasts in the service to hold peoples interests and involvement, enlisting more greeters to not only greet but to engage the people as they come in and depart, implemented the use of name tags, and to provide more testimonies of how God has acted on other’s behalf has all originated from this reading.

[John Bober · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very thought provoking book. Appreciate that it was based on interviews and observations of “highly effective” churches. Would have been nice to understand how these “highly effective” churches were identified, how many there were and what methodology was used to gather the information. All of that may be contained on the Barna website which I haven’t accessed yet. There are some aspects, such as Worship Music, that I don’t know how it could be applied to an Orthodox Christian Church parish, such as the one I attend.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit dated (1999), but still relevant. Points churches in a clear direction for transformational ministry effectiveness. Buy it. Won't be a waste of time.