Activating the Passive Church

Diagnosis & Treatment

About the Author 

Long before Lyle Edwin Schaller died on March 18, 2015, he had become a very influential figure in the Protestant circles. He was known as “the dean of church consultants” due to his keenness in consulting with churches at the Yokefellow Institute in Richmond, Indiana. A prolific writer, Schaller was educated at the University of Wisconsin and Garrett Theological Seminary. 

About the Book 

Activating the Passive Church was published in 1981 by Abingdon Press in Nashville as a 159-page book that is intended to help diagnose the causes of church passivity and formulate a method for combating the problem. Schaller categorizes churches according to their internal dynamics (rather than denomination or geographical location) and shows how many have overcome the “twenty-year syndrome” – that time when relatively new churches tend to lose their sense of direction. He also shows how churches can have a seamless transition from one pastor to another. 

The aim of this book is help church leaders diagnose the illness of their church a formulate a prescription that can cure it. Schaller sees that passivity is the bane of the church. And that periodically every congregation either redefines its role and identity or it drifts into a passive state. A dozen different systems for classifying churches and five major assumptions about such classifications are presented. 

Schaller has written this book for church leaders and members who are frustrated by the passivity of their church. It is really a challenging study that simplifies seeming difficult concepts for easy understanding. So anyone can read this book with ease. And if the principles well illustrated in this book are followed, a church that has fallen into a predictable routine or drifting without purpose or resolve can become portent in managing its membership and positioning itself for mission. 

Reviewed by John Okpechi