People in the pew call it church shopping. William Chadwick calls it one of the most dangerous trends to face the body of Christ in decades. He calls it sheep stealing.

All around us churches are seeking better and more creative ways to attract people-more dynamic preaching, better worship, more of the Spirit, better drama, Great effort is being expended, but few are actually turning to Christ for the first time. Instead, the faithful are mostly just changing churches.

How widespread is this trend? Can the causes be pinpointed? How has the prevalence of sheep stealing actually hurt the growth of churches overall? What are the ethical issues that pastors need to face head-on? These are just a few of the many challenging questions that are boldly considered in this book that is must reading for every church that wants to grow.

"Every page of Chadwick's book forces the reader to deal with the question, Is sheep steal-ing unbiblical He helps us refocus on the ultimate purpose of a healthy church-leading people into faith in Christ-and challenges his church growth peers to reconsider whether the methods of building up one congregation may in fact produce unintended consequences for others. A must read for today's church leader who truly cares about the entire sheepfold of God's kingdom"

DR. STEPHEN A. MACCHIA, author of Becoming a Healthy Church

"Finally the truth has been told. During the 1980s, the 'decade of church growth when churches of all denominations put these principles into practice, there was, in fact, по chunch growth! In his perceptive and original study, Bill Chadwick shows how transfer growth gives a false reading on the health of a church. He goes on to remind us of the primacy of outreach to those who do not know Jesus and of the nature of community, which is the true foundation of the church"

RICHARD PEACE, Fuller Theological Seminary