(The following account is used by permission from the GoodSeed publishers.)
Many years ago, a pastor stood in front of a congregation that bore the hallmarks of a dying church. The pews were sparsely filled with grey heads. New believers were a rarity, attendance dwindling. It seemed inevitable that the church would soon have to shut its doors.
In a last-ditch effort to turn things around, the pastor attended a GoodSeed seminar, where he learned how to teach others through the Bible from creation to Christ.
He taught his tiny congregation through the content of The Stranger on the Road to Emmaus. While he hoped for improvement, he wasn't prepared for how his church would completely transform over the next few years.
Each time they met, the group read out loud through another portion of The Stranger. While many find this method unimpressive from the outside, it has numerous advantages. Here's what happened:
Retention and Understanding: Because reading aloud uses multiple senses (hearing, seeing, speaking), the group had high levels of comprehension and retention. Transferability: By example, the study also modelled the group how to teach their own studies. Because simply reading through a book was so doable, various members of the group began their own studies with ones or twos. Others gave away copies of the book to their friends and family. Multiplication: When even a few people feel equipped and begin to share the gospel with others, it doesn't take long to see growth.
Several years later, the church was bursting at the seams with new attendees. When the pastor looked over his congregation, he saw a healthy spectrum of ages. This church continues to add to its numbers, with much of its growth coming through evangelism. Regular Stranger studies are still a part of its evangelistic and discipleship approach. | 
