Power Surge: 6 Marks of Discipleship for a Changing Church

Drawn from his own experience, Michael W. Foss presents a strong case for transforming congregations from a membership model to a discipleship model of church affiliation. Beginning with a careful analysis of recent patterns in church membership/demographics that argue for this paradigm shift, subsequent chapters detail the unique leadership and organizational needs of a discipleship model, explore the building and maintaining of fundamental trust—in God and in God's people—as the cornerstone of the model, and provide practical help for assessing the present and developing strategies for moving into the future.

Addressed to professional and non-professional church leaders interested in transforming their churches into centers for discipleship and mission, it proposes a grace-centered rather than legalistic model of discipleship, builds a bridge through transferable principles between congregational mission mindedness and the individual Christian's life of faith, and offers practical helps so congregations can make the transition between membership and discipleship paradigms.