"Davida Crabtree's account of what has been going on at Colchester Fed-erated Church is exciting. It suggests how American churches can struc-ture themselves to affirm, equip, and support all their members for ministry in daily life. While the transformation of her congregation is not yet complete, we can give thanks for the learnings Pastor Crabtree can share with readers at this point. This book offers real hope that the minis-try of the laity can finally move from rhetoric to reality."

William E. Diehl, President

Riverbend Resource Center

Allentown, Pennsylvania

"Davida Foy Crabtree's short but concise book on the mobilization of the ministry of the laity in the local congregation is a testimony to both the power of vision and the result of structural change. There have been many books on the importance of the ministry of the laity in the last ten years, but there is no book that I have read that does a better job of de-scribing ministry of the laity in the world where people live and work. The Empowering Church is the story of how the Colchester Federated Church in Colchester, Connecticut did just this. With refreshing honesty about what worked and what didn't, Dee Crabtree's book is a valuable ad-dition to the literature which addresses a central concern in the revitaliz-ation of the mission of the church in today's world."

James C. Fenhagen, Dean The General Seminary New York