includes index: 281p - 293p.

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

The four P's -- Beginning the work -- Doing responsible evangelism -- Taking in new members -- Doing church discipline -- Understanding the regulative principle -- Applying the regulative principle -- The role of the pastor -- Evangelistic exposition -- The roles of different gatherings -- The role of the ordinances -- Loving each other -- Music -- The importance of elders -- Looking for a few good men -- Assessment -- Why character is crucial -- Getting started -- Staffing -- The word and prayer -- The agenda : what to talk about -- Decision making : how to talk about it.

"How to Build a Healthy Church is a consideration of what the principles laid out in Nine Marks of a Healthy Church (Mark Dever) have looked like, at least in some of their practical details, in the life of the local church. American evangelicalism is dripping with different kinds of churches: The Emerging Church, The Purpose Driven Church, The Connecting Church, The Disciple-Making Church, a critical assessment called The Market Driven Church, and almost any other kind of church you could possibly want. The aim of this book is to hold up a way of doing things that has been recovered from centuries past-a church driven and governed by the gospel"--