LOUISVILLE, Ky.  Dr. Thom S. Rainer made a startling discovery in his study of 13 mediocre congregations that grew to become vibrant, healthy churches without changing pastors - a lack of leadership.
In previous research Rainer found that a strong pastor is one of the critical factors for church growth. So he was more than a little surprised when during his latest investigation of breakout churches he found struggling leaders. In fact, he said the leadership issues he uncovered were the most shocking aspect of his findings.
"The most surprising aspect of my study was learning that most of the leaders of these [breakout] churches had struggled for some time in their own leadership abilities," Rainer said.
Breakout church leaders were not the kind of people with an instant following. They didn't command attention wherever they went. Instead Rainer said leading was a great effort for them.
"Leadership did not always come easily or naturally," he said. Eventually, however, the problems were overcome in breakout churches.
But while the lack of leadership was a startling revelation from the breakout church research, Rainer said he wants his findings to inspire other struggling leaders. He will share his results first at the "Breakout Churches: Discover How to Make the Leap" conference in Louisville, Ky., Sept. 16. The event is a precursor to the release of his book by the same title due out later this year from Zondervan Publishing.
Rainer said that while he thinks the principles of breakout churches can apply to any church, healthy or unhealthy, they are especially valuable to struggling churches and struggling leaders.
"We studied only churches that had struggled to provide hope for leaders who may think there is little hope for them or their churches," Rainer said. "The breakout church stories will tell them otherwise."
And that is not to say that hope lies only in the strategies uncovered by Rainer's research. "I would be hesitant to say that we have discovered a neat, formulaic approach to becoming a breakout church," Rainer said. But he said the information gained by the study will help.
"I do believe, without reservation, that many of the [Breakout Church] principles can be used by God for great work in many struggling churches as well as healthy churches," he said.
Rainer is a widely respected expert on church health and leadership. He has written 15 books on church health and leads one of the premier church research teams in the country.
He serves as Dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism and Church Growth at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville and is president of the Rainer Group, a successful consulting firm. He and his colleagues have consulted more than 500 churches on church health and growth.
Thousands of church leaders annually attend Dr. Rainer's conferences, and he often is asked to give keynote addresses at major denominational events.
Click here for more information and registration about "Breakout Churches: Discover how to Make the Leap."
