High Expectations: The Remarkable Secret for Keeping People in Your Church

by Thom S. Rainer

For over a quarter of a century the problem of losing church members has progressively increased. Today the situation is so bad that less than one-third of the members in some churches attend worship services. Church leaders are crying for help.In an effort to help church leaders, the Billy Graham School of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary conducted a massive research project involving nearly 287 churches. The most revealing aspect of the study was that the higher expectations placed on members, the greater the likelihood that the members would stay and be involved with the church. Using the data gathered from this project, Thom Rainer presents the first-ever comprehensive study about 'closing the back door.' Rainer looks at why people are leaving the church and how church leaders can keep the members.

Genres: Church, Christianity, Leadership, Ecclesiology

240 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1999

About the author

Thom S. Rainer is the founder and CEO of Church Answers and Executive Director of Revitalize Network. He is a graduate of the University of Alabama where he received his degree in business administration. He received both the master of divinity and the Ph.D. degrees from Southern Seminary.

Dr. Rainer has served as pastor of four churches. He is the former president of Rainer
Group consulting. He served for twelve years as dean at Southern Seminary and for thirteen years as the president and CEO of LifeWay Çhristian Resources.

Dr. Rainer has authored or co-authored 33 books. Among his greatest joys are his family: his wife Nellie Jo; three sons, Sam, Art, and Jess; and eleven grandchildren.

Reviews

[James Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Retention Is As Important As Recruiting
"High Expectations" may be one of the best and most practical works that I have read about church growth. Instead of focusing on recruiting new church members, it focuses on retaining the ones you already have. Rainer’s research shows that less than one-third of church members attend services each week. Where are all the rest? How do you bring people in the front door while closing the back door? According to Dr. Rainer, the answer is setting high expectations. Let the member know what it means to be a part of a local church. Communicate commitment to the local church and let them know that membership means more than attendance. Let them know that there is a covenant between them and the church. Then effectively use small groups such as cells and the Sunday School to help them stay committed.

[Tim Peterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I decided to read this book after someone mentioned it in a review of Sticky Church. I liked this book much better because it shows data to backup what the author is claiming, as well as shows multiple ways to close the back door of your church. The biggest thing the author suggests is creating “High Expectations” among a church’s members to be gospel spreading Christian’s.

[Bryan Begley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rainer makes the point most all local congregations miss today and the problem seems to get worse as the attendance grows.

[Chris Risley · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this book needs some adaptation for my specific church, I appreciate and agree with the findings.

[Bobby Braswell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a formative book for me in thinking through standards for formal church membership.

[Jake Baur · Rating 1 out of 5]

Terribly written to the point of being difficult to read

[Randy Elster · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book about how to best connect people into the life of the church so that they become and remain committed, involved members. It's a little dated (1999) but still has some good thoughts relevant to 2014. The main idea of the book is that churches that expect much of their members and state that up front in a membership class tend to keep more people active and attending.

[Joe Cassada · Rating 3 out of 5]

I find Rainer's research interesting, even compelling. This book was written better than Breakout Churches, which I think was cheapened by his dependence on another author's work.

It was good. A smidgen of needless redundancy, but a good book. I'll probably read it again in a few years.

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book addressing the revolving back door in most churches. Rainer is sort of guru on this sort of stuff (in a good way). If you don't have a process for assimilation it is way to easy to lose people. Using research, Rainer outlines some best practices.

[Daniel Alvers · Rating 3 out of 5]

good book

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got a lot out of this book.

[Rand Hall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Valuable but dated.