Even in a country as religious as the U.S., many people feel disengaged from their faith communities. More than half report that they really don't get the opportunity in their congregation to do what they do best. People just feel disconnected. Maybe it's because those faith communities make unwitting missteps: Pastors ask shy people to be Greeters, or recruit innately disorganized people to coordinate church events. The problem is simply this: Too many people's talents are going unappreciated. But it doesn't have to be this way. Living Your Strengths shows readers how to use their innate gifts to enrich their faith communities. The book --- written by onetime pastors Albert Winseman and Curt Liesveld, and Donald O. Clifton, co-author of the national bestseller Now, Discover Your Strengths --- shows people how to identify and affirm their talents, and how to use them for growth and service. Most importantly, Living Your Strengths helps people discover their true calling.

Even in a country as religious as the U.S., many people feel disengaged from their faith communities. More than half report that they really don't get the opportunity in their congregation to do what they do best. People just feel disconnected. Maybe it's because those faith communities make unwitting missteps: Pastors ask shy people to be Greeters, or recruit innately disorganised people to coordinate church events. The problem is simply this: Too many people's talents are going unappreciated. But it doesn't have to be this way. Living Your Strengths shows readers how to use their innate gifts to enrich their faith communities. The book - written by onetime pastors Albert Winseman and Curt Liesveld, and Donald O. Clifton, co-author of the national bestseller Now, Discover Your Strengths - shows people how to identify and affirm their talents, and how to use them for growth and service. Most importantly, Living Your Strengths helps people discover their true calling. Grounded in a strengths philosophy already embraced by millions of readers, Living Your Strengths is full of personal stories and actionable advice for the spiritually committed, all rooted in a decades of research. The book also includes an ID code that gives readers access to StrengthsFinder.com, a personality assessment that reveals user's top 5 talent themes. Spiritual enrichment begins with turning talents into strengths. Living Your Strengths is an indispensable guide to help readers to just that.

Growing an Engaged Church offers unique, research-based, often counterintuitive solutions to the challenges facing churches today, including declining congregant participation, decreasing contributions, and slumping membership. Ministers, priests, and church boards will find the evidence and answers in this book provocative, eye-opening, and, most importantly, actionable. What if members of your congregation... were 13 times more likely to have invited someone to participate in your church in the past month? were three times as satisfied with their lives? spent more than two hours per week serving and helping others in their community? tripled their giving to your church? What would your church — your parish — look like? And how would you go about creating this kind of change? One thing is certain: Church leaders are never going to inspire more people to be actively and passionately involved in their congregations by doing the same things over and over again. Pastors and lay leaders need something fresh. Something new. The last thing they need is “just another program” or to set up a laundry list of new activities for members. Based on solid research by The Gallup Organisation, Growing an Engaged Church will appeal to both Protestant and Catholic clergy and lay leaders who are looking for a way to be the Church instead of just “doing church.”