Thom Rainer Quotes & Sayings

So if we approach church membership from the perspective of entitlement, we have it upside down. You always ask first what you can do for your church. — Thom S. Rainer

In his work The Book of Church Growth, Thom Rainer explained, "Prayer is the power behind the principles. There simply is no more important principle in church growth than prayer. The prayers of the early church unleashed the power of God to add thousands to the church. It happened then. It is happening in some churches today. And it can happen in your church."13 — Ed Stetzer

Passion is hard to define, but I know it when I see it. — Thom S. Rainer

Church burnout will not take place if we are seeking to please God in our service rather than to please people. — Thom S. Rainer

Healthy church membership means you find your joy in being last, instead of seeking your way and being first. — Thom S. Rainer

As a church member, I am responsible for encouraging and leading my entire family to worship together in the church. — Thom S. Rainer

So, unlike the heroes of Hebrews 11 who held onto nothing of this life, these dying churches held onto everything, at least everything that made them comfortable and happy. Such is the reason we speak of them in the past. — Thom S. Rainer

Make me the father, O Lord, who will show my sons enough of a sense of humor, so that they will always be serious, but never take themselves too seriously. Give them humility, so they will always remember the simplicity of true greatness, the open mind of true wisdom, the meekness of true strength. — Thom S. Rainer

If you have been expending lots of energy mingling, counseling, or socializing, you need some down time to recover. Put it on your calendar so you can be intentional about it. And for an hour or so, go to a place by yourself. Read, relax, or do nothing. No one is there to talk to you for those minutes. Enjoy your blessed aloneness for a brief season. — Thom S. Rainer

Nine out of ten churches in North America are losing ground in the communities in which they are located. They are declining or growing more slowly than their respective communities. — Thom S. Rainer

Faith and optimism are contagious. — Thom S. Rainer

The concept of an inactive church member is an oxymoron. Biblically, no such church member really exists. — Thom S. Rainer

A church without a gospel-centered purpose is no longer a church at all. — Thom S. Rainer

the health of the church is directly tied to the health of groups in the church. If you are not in a small group, a Sunday school class, or some other type of group, you are not contributing to the health of the church. — Thom S. Rainer

We church members must cease and desist becoming "I want" members and become "I will" members. — Thom S. Rainer

Introverts don't like small talk conversation, but they typically don't mind writing. The more people can "see" you on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or a blog, the more they will feel like they know you, even though you don't have one-on-one interaction with them. — Thom S. Rainer

Membership in the church is not country club membership. It's not about paying your dues and getting perks. — Thom S. Rainer

If outside forces and culture were the reasons behind declining and non-influential churches, we would likely have no churches today. The greatest periods of growth, particularly the first-century growth, took place in adversarial cultures. We are not hindered by external forces; we are hindered by our own lack of commitment and selflessness. — Thom S. Rainer

When the early Jerusalem church members devoted themselves to prayer, they were doing a lot more than reading names off a list. They were fervent, intense, and passionate about prayer. — Thom S. Rainer

And when any internal or external force tried to change the past, they responded with anger and resolution: "We will die before we change." And they did. — Thom S. Rainer

I am suggesting that congregations across America are weak because many of us church members have lost the biblical understanding of what it means to be a part of the body of Christ. — Thom S. Rainer

Weak leaders of churches blame people and circumstances. Breakout church leaders accept responsibility and see God's possibilities in even difficult situations. — Thom S. Rainer

When the church is engaged in meaningful prayer, it becomes both the cause and the result of greater church health. — Thom S. Rainer

The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just. - Abraham Lincoln — Thom S. Rainer

Fearful leaders love to stay in the morass of insignificant details. Because the details are usually unimportant, it is difficult to make a mistake of consequence. Of course, it's impossible to do anything of consequence when your focus is on those things that really don't make a difference. — Thom S. Rainer

Confident and courageous leaders have no problems pointing out their own weaknesses and ignorance. — Thom S. Rainer

Being a good steward of those material things that God has given our churches is good. Becoming obsessed with any one item to the neglect of His mission is idolatry. — Thom S. Rainer

Passion means making the choice to do that for which we can make the greatest difference. It means saying no to opportunities that may be good but not the best. It means that the best path is not always the easiest path. — Thom S. Rainer

We will never find joy in church membership when we are constantly seeking things our way. But paradoxically, we will find the greatest joy when we choose to be last. That's what Jesus meant when He said the last will be first. True joy means giving up our rights and preferences and serving everyone else. — Thom S. Rainer

He placed us in churches to serve, to care for others, to pray for leaders, to learn, to teach, to give, and, in some cases, to die for the sake of the gospel. Many churches are weak because we have members who have turned the meaning of membership upside down. It's time to get it right. It's time to become a church member as God intended. It's time to give instead of being entitled. — Thom S. Rainer

Some churches would rather die than to get out of the comfort of the past. — Thom S. Rainer

Members of the dying churches really didn't want growth unless that growth met their preferences and allowed them to remain comfortable. — Thom S. Rainer

To be simple is to be great. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson — Thom S. Rainer

Even if the church began to grow on its own, the members of the dying church would only accept the growth if the new members were like them and if the church would continue to "do church" the way they wanted it. — Thom S. Rainer

Churches should evaluate everything they do to determine how it can be done better. — Thom S. Rainer

Where the money of the church goes, so goes its heart. — Thom S. Rainer