Overflow
Increase Worship Attendance & Bear More Fruit
Published September 2013
Worship attendance matters. Learn how to improve it, so that your congregation bears more fruit.
Our churches exist in order to glorify God and to share God as revealed in Jesus Christ. Thus, worship is at the center of the congregation’s life. And improvements in worship tend to spur improvements in the church’s other ministries. When a church’s worship is not vital, what happens to that church? Church leaders and laity know too well the dismal answer to that question.
In Overflow, Lovett Weems and Tom Berlin share research-based insights and tactical ideas that result in improved worship attendance and in fruitful congregations. The authors identify practices that lead to increased attendance. They offer clear instruction, showing church leaders the areas where we must pay attention throughout the year, and demonstrating new ways to approach worship planning. Weems and Berlin present church leaders with another resource that is at once foundational and practical, convicting and accessible. Church leaders yearn to see more people worshipping God; Overflow provides encouragement and equipping to bear such fruit.
About the Authors
Lovett H. Weems JR.
Lovett H. Weems Jr. is distinguished professor of church leadership and director of the Lewis Center for Church Leadership at WesleyTheological Seminary in Washington, D.C. He came to this position in 2003 after 18 years as president of Saint Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, Missouri. A native of Mississippi, Dr. Weems is a graduate of Millsaps College; Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University; and Wesley Theological Seminary. The author of several books published by Abingdon Press, his most recent includes Bearing Fruit: Ministry with Real Results (with Tom Berlin) and a revised edition of his classic, Church Leadership: Vision, Team, Culture, and Integrity. He co-edits the online newsletter Leading Ideas, available free at ChurchLeadership.com.
Tom Berlin
Tom Berlin serves as a Bishop in the Southeastern Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church. Prior to being elected Bishop, he served as lead pastor of Floris United Methodist Church in suburban Washington, D.C. Tom is a graduate of Virginia Tech and Candler School of Theology at Emory University. He is the author of numerous books, including Reckless Love, Courage, Restored, Defying Gravity, The Generous Church, and the coauthor (with Lovett Weems) of Bearing Fruit, Overflow, and High Yield.
