William H. Harrison is president of Lutheran Theological Seminary, Saskatoon. He is a priest in the Anglican Church of Canada and rostered pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada. Dr. Harrison has served in a variety of leadership and teaching roles with the church in educational, diocesan, and parish contexts. He has a PhD in Systematic Theology, along with other credentials in Political Science, English Literature, Theology, and Leadership. He has written two previous books in theology and religion. He lives in Kelowna, Canada.

"Who wants to hold a position of leadership in the context of decline? When 'change and decay in all around I see' is the norm, how can one talk about being a leader? It is to the credit of the writer that he not only grasped the nettle of leadership in the seminary that he is currently serving but also used his manifold experiences and learnings to remind us about how leadership is not about a numbers game, nor about a measure of outcomes dovetailed to societal expectations of success, but about faithfulness and commitment to God’s church. We are invited to honestly, courageously, and pragmatically examine and evaluate what evangelization in this context would look like. Each chapter is accompanied by exercises that seek to engage the readers and various circles in which the reader is engaged to explore one’s life, the organization, and the world situation in light of the commitment to live a ‘transformed life’ not despite, but alongside, the reality of a shrinking church."—Jayakiran Sebastian, H. George Anderson Chair and Professor of Mission and Cultures, United Lutheran Seminary

"It is a fact that churches and religious organizations are diminishing. Fully to acknowledge that fact is difficult, and for church leaders it is still more difficult to discern what will consequently have to be changed, and what they might do to bring about changes that are realistic and at the same time faithful to the values their churches uphold.  "Such is the context of Leadership in a Shrinking Church. To put it so, however, is to put it abstractly, and this remarkable book is not at all abstract. It deals with concrete issues and offers specific recommendations. William Harrison’s approach throughout is historically informed and theologically grounded, but above all it is pragmatic. This is a workbook as much as a guidebook. There are no simple recipes for institutional transformation such as Harrison envisions, for it depends on the transformation, the personal commitment, the honest engagement of those who are willing to take the lead in moving hopefully through difficult times. The questions those leaders would do well to take seriously are many and challenging. Here is a book that will help them meet the challenge."—Charles Hefling, Theology Department, Boston College

"The religious landscape in Canada, the United States, and Europe is characterized by declining participation in religious institutions across Christian traditions. Facing this reality with refreshing candor and sensitivity, Leadership in a Shrinking Church challenges the pervasive and poisonous focus on numerical growth that so often emerges in the face of decline. Harrison invites leaders to help churches learn to be small—faithfully, lovingly, and hopefully. If you are leading a shrinking religious community, this book will reassure you that this reality is likely not your fault, yet it is still your responsibility to respond. Through scripture, story, and practical exercises, this guide invites you to transform yourself and your organization, not through numerical growth, but through a vision to participate in God’s reconciling work in the world."—Rev. Sarah Kathleen Johnson, PhD, Director of Anglican Studies at Saint Paul University and author of Occasional Religious Practice: Valuing a Very Ordinary Religious Experience

“‘If the church were another kind of organization, I would recommend that we shut down.’ Four chapters into this study, Dr. Harrison begins the chapter entitled Leadership in a Shrinking Church with these words. They are daunting words, but I wish I had had this study 20 years ago, as the diocese of which I was Bishop entered into major discussion and decisions about its future. Our discussions were focused on declining numbers and the stress experienced by clergy and lay leaders working harder but seeing largely negative results. Dr. Harrison’s study shows why our focus should have been otherwhere! Consolidation may have been the right thing to do, but experiencing personal and corporate transformation, really seeing God active in all that is, and engaging in a form of evangelism that begins with listening to, and hearing,the other, would have been important places to have begun the process.   “Dr. Harrison asks us ‘to redefine the meaning of ‘thrive’ for the church,’ then proceeds to open us to an understanding of an Adaptive Leadership that is able to ‘experience, understand, judge, and decide well,’ and is essential to this redefinition and to our ability to assist in God’s intellectual, psychic, moral, and religious transformation of both ourselves and the world. We are to find the ability to differentiate between a mission statement and a Gospel Vision Statement (GVS), in which we live out what it is to be ambassadors of Christ and diaconal.   “If your understanding of what it is to be Christian, and Church, is not changed by this study, then you haven’t read it properly. Read it. Integrate it. Actively apply it. . . and become an active participant in God’s transformation of the world!”  —The Right Reverend James A.J. Cowan, 12th Bishop of the Diocese of British Columbia

"Leadership in a Shrinking Church refuses either to rely on a false optimism ('if we just get it right, the Church will be fine') or a fatalistic pessimism ('there’s nothing we can do, the church is dying, last one out can turn off the lights'). Bill Harrison brings together sociological insight, lived ministry experience and his always thoughtful theological reflection, acknowledges where we are as a 'Shrinking Church' as simply fact, and then gives leaders ways to move forward faithfully and effectively. The discussion questions make it a valuable tool for church boards and a must-read for those preparing for ministry."—The Reverend Dr. Heather McCance, President, Atlantic School of Theology, Nova Scotia, Canada