When Robert Chesnut became pastor in 1988, East Liberty Presbyterian Church was a declining and graying congregation. Over the next ten years, Chesnut sparked a remarkable – and often controversial – turnaround in membership, ministry, and finances. Transforming the Mainline Church gives the inside story of that renewal, and also provides valuable lessons for other beleaguered congregations. This dramatic account urges all congregations to be more open to diversity; to emphasize the arts and a broad range of music; to support aggressive entrepreneurial leadership; and to move beyond narrow denominational concerns in favor of an approach that responds to the religious hungers of a new generation.
