Living Your Strengths

American churches are experiencing a power shortage, declare the authors of Living Your Strengths. "People aren't harnessing the power of their innate gifts."

Does their message sound familiar? Have you felt disconnected from your church lately? Are you not attending as much? Or maybe you're a passionate member who wants to become even more involved, and would also like to inspire others.

Whatever the case, more than half of churchgoers report that they don't get to do what they do best in their congregations or parishes. And this is driving people away.

But it doesn't have to be this way. Living Your Strengths shows all members how to use their innate gifts to enrich their congregations and parishes-- right now. It teaches you to identify and affirm your talents, and how to use them for growth and service. Every church member plays a role in energizing and shaping the church. Living Your Strengths will help you find your role -- and, most importantly, it will inspire you to discover your true calling.

About the Authors
Albert L. Winseman is Gallup's Principal Consultant for faith-based organizations. He consults with congregations and parishes, denominations, dioceses, and religious organizations across the country, helping them put the power of engagement to work to improve their effectiveness. Winseman is also the author of Growing an Engaged Church. Prior to joining Gallup, Winseman served as a pastor in the United Methodist Church for 15 years. He lives in Lincoln, Nebraska, with his wife, Jane.

Donald O. Clifton, Ph.D. (1924-2003), was the coauthor of the national bestseller Now, Discover Your Strengths and was named the Father of Strengths Psychology by the American Psychological Association. He was Chairman of Gallup, Inc.

Curt Liesveld, M.Div., M.A., is an Advanced Learning and Development Consultant with Gallup. An expert on strengths-based performance coaching, he trains coaches for client organizations and within Gallup on best practices and strategies that maximize individual talents. He was a church leader and pastor in the Reformed Church in America for 23 years.

Praise for Living Your Strengths
"I didn't write this book, but I wish I had. Living Your Strengths allows you to discover the God-given talents of your congregation in the most objective and accurate way. This information is invaluable if you are serious about building a world-class congregation. Everybody should have a copy."

• John C. Maxwell
  Best-selling author of The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership
  And founder of INJOY, ISS and EQUIP

"This volume gives the church culture a much-needed new language for personal discovery and development. It is the language of strengths, the joyful sound of people who are learning to live abundantly."

• Reggie McNeal
  Director of Leadership Development for the South Carolina Baptist Convention

"Living Your Strengths works because it's practical; it inspires because it's scriptural; and it's reliable because it's so broadly empirical."

• Monsignor Bill Hanson
  Pastor, Church of St. Gerard Majella
  Port Jefferson Station, New York

"Living Your Strengths offers us a combination of human talents and insights that will help any Christian community realize its potential through a renewal of the spirit and a deepening of commitment to live one's faith."

• Most Reverend William F. Murphy
  Bishop of Rockville Centre, New York