Access the full text.
Sign up today, get DeepDyve free for 14 days.
References for this paper are not available at this time. We will be adding them shortly, thank you for your patience.
(Farnham, Surrey and Burlington, vt: Ashgate, 2015), 248 pp. isbn 978-1-4724-1400-7 (pbk). £19.99.The pioneer of the Church Growth Movement was Donald McGavran. His championing of the ‘homogenous unit principle’ (i.e., like attracts like) for church numerical growth – popularised in the post-war era, and promoted strongly by some missionaries – has been adopted by numerous pragmatic brands of evangelicalism throughout the world. In McGavran’s thinking, the less ‘cultural’ differences people had to overcome in order to become ‘members’ of a church or association, the more likely it was to grow numerically. Critics of McGavran’s ‘homogenous unit principle’ have always been fierce. A church for working class Hispanics in a tough urban neighbourhood of America – intentionally tribal, as it were – may do well numerically. But is it a church? Or, is a congregation that seeks to be focussed solely on elite aspirational wealthy middle class Caucasians in the suburbs a church – or a kind of ‘members-only religious club’?McGavran’s success drew – indirectly – on the likes of Dale Carnegie (How to Win Friends and Influence People, 1936). It is no surprise, therefore, to see the usa leading the way with health, wealth and prosperity commandeered into the
Ecclesiology – Brill
Published: Jan 25, 2017
Read and print from thousands of top scholarly journals.
Already have an account? Log in
Bookmark this article. You can see your Bookmarks on your DeepDyve Library.
To save an article, log in first, or sign up for a DeepDyve account if you don’t already have one.
Copy and paste the desired citation format or use the link below to download a file formatted for EndNote
Access the full text.
Sign up today, get DeepDyve free for 14 days.
All DeepDyve websites use cookies to improve your online experience. They were placed on your computer when you launched this website. You can change your cookie settings through your browser.