Name: What Do We Do When Church Stops Working?: A Day with Dr Andrew Root
Start: 2025-03-03T10:00:00+00:00
End: 2025-03-03T16:15:00+00:00
Location: St Helen's Church

What Do We Do When Church Stops Working?: A Day with Dr Andrew Root

A study day with Andrew Root, the Carrie Olson Baalson Professor of Youth & Family Ministry at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota.
About this Event

Narratives of church decline, especially the loss of younger generations, are everywhere. But what if our cultural assumptions have informed our view of ministry and church so much we’ve become blind to what God’s doing? What if this ‘dying’ church is actually where we might find the very ministry of God?

We invite you to a study day with Andrew Root, the Carrie Olson Baalson professor of youth and family ministry at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota. Alongside various Youth Ministry publications, Andrew has recently completed a 7 part series, reflecting theologically on topics like evangelism, church decline, secular mysticism and congregations within a secular age.

During the day, Andrew will guide us through secularity in the West, and understanding why ministry feels so hard. He will explore the present pace of Western life, the ‘accelerated age,’ and how the church functions within it. He will explore the narratives of church decline, and where we might discover God within it. He will also unpack the particularity of Youth Ministry provision in this age, and how we might move beyond narratives of attrition to a praxis of fruitfulness.

Refreshments and snacks will be provided throughout the day. You are welcome to bring a packed lunch to eat at St. Helen's church, or make use of the various eateries in the center of Worcester.

£12 Early Bird Tickets / £15 after 31st January.

Andrew Root

For more information on Andrew check out his website: www.andrewroot.org

Relevant Publications

Root, Andrew. Evangelism in an Age of Despair (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2025).

Root, Andrew, & Blair D. Bertrand. When Church Stops Working (Grand Rapids: Brazos, 2023).

Root, Andrew. The Church in an Age of Secular Mysticisms (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2023).

———. The Church after Innovation (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2022).

———. Churches and the Crisis of Decline (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2022).

———. The Congregation in a Secular Age (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2021).

———. The Pastor in a Secular Age (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2019).

———. Faith Formation in a Secular Age (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2017).