Emerging from the world of mega-church Xeroxing, author and consultant Will Mancini stands uniquely poised to poise churches uniquely. His book "Church Unique" is ranked in the top ten books of 2008 deemed most valuable by Leadership Journal. His ideas about finding the locally specific purpose of a church lead him in his consulting work with Auxano. He encourages churches toward what they already do best.

"Too many approaches stay in the generic and analytic stages of identifying ‘key factors for health,’" Mancini told Church Central. Instead, he says consultants should focus on the unique vision and purpose of a particular congregation, which frees churches from "trying to be all things to all people."

This month Mancini brings his unique ideas to the Society for Church Consulting advisory board. Joining other prominent consultants and authors, Mancini said he is "excited to enter into the Society’s collaborative efforts to raise awareness of the need and to equip coaches and consultants."

If you haven’t already, you should check out the growing and impressive list of experts now lending their voices to the Society’s efforts. With dozens of books on church health among them, and hundreds of church consultations, this group clearly has the expertise to help thousands of congregations around the country revitalize to effective ministry.

This is great news for both church leaders and consultants. These leaders are training new consultants through the Society for Church Consulting. In addition, they are lending their words of wisdom to ChurchCentral.com in the form of video teachings, book excerpts, articles, and other material.

I’m looking forward to diving into "Church Unique" in the next couple weeks and hopefully to bringing you the wisdom of building on your church’s strength. Meanwhile, I extend a heartfelt welcome to Mancini from all of us at ChurchCentral.com.