Books @ Leadership Network

Talk with The Big Idea Authors

Join us on Tuesday, June 26 at 10:00 a.m. CST for an online experience where you’ll have the opportunity to interact with the authors of The BIG IDEA: Dave Ferguson, Jon Ferguson and Eric Bramlett. Listen in and log on as they discuss the "Genius of the AND" and discover the benefits of creating The BIG IDEA in your own context. Also, receive a $20 registration discount on the brand NEW BIG IDEA Practicum at Community Christian Church on September 17-18, 2007.

Here's the registration link for the FREE webinar: https://www.gotomeeting.com/register/553466341

a dozen books we're reading this summer

Here is a sampling of a dozen book titles that Leadership Network's directors are reading to round out your library. The topics range from leadership to culture to devotional. Most but not all are religious in topic. They make for good reading not just on the beach or vacation, but anytime.


11 Innovations in the Local Church: How Today's Leaders Can Learn, Discern and Move Into the Future by Elmer Towns, Ed Stetzer and Warren Bird

This easy-reading book walks church leaders through eleven emphases seen in today's churches, offering pros and cons to each. The recovery ministry chapter looks at churches that place heavy emphasis on Christ-centered recovery. The house church chapter explores the different ways churches approach home-based groups. The multi-site chapter reviews the movement of becoming one church in many locations.

Direct Hit: Aiming Real Leaders at the Mission Field by Paul Borden

Paul Borden is a consultant with an amazing record of helping churches turn around from maintenance to mission and ministry. He writes as someone who understands long-term, deep set problems in churches, but also offers hope: "Healthy congregations are defined by sacrifice," he says. "They exist more for those who are currently not part of the group than for those who comprise the current congregation."

A Contrarian's Guide to Knowing God: Spirituality for the Rest of Us by Larry Osborne

Osborne, veteran pastor of North Coast Church, is a pioneer in such movements as multi-site and sermon-based small groups. He is a contrarian because he is good at asking, "Is it really true?" He challenges a one-size-fits-all spirituality, asking what actually produces spirituality. He appeals to those whose deepest desire is to know God more and to avoid cookie-cutter answers.

God's Continent: Christianity, Islam, and Europe's Religious Crisis by Philip Jenkins

Will Islam dominate Europe in the coming years? Jenkins offers a qualified "no." He observes that independent congregations are mushrooming and a sizable proportion of new immigrants are Christian. He is a readable scholar whose two previous books (New Faces of Global Christianity, 2006, and The Next Christendom, 2002) present the idea that Christianity is growing today on every continent except North America.




The Forgotten Ways: Reactivating the Missional Church by Alan Hirsch

Alan Hirsch is convinced that the inherited formulas for growing the Body of Christ do not work anymore. Rather than relying on slightly revised solutions from the past, he sees a vision of the future growth of the church coming about by harnessing the power of the early church--the forgotten, apostolic-era ways of passion, prayer, and incarnational practice.

Giving as an Act of Worship: Faith for Living by Michael Milton

The author, a U.S. Army reserve chaplain and pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Chattanooga, TN, makes the case that God doesn't need our money, but rather we should give because it is an act of worship. It is both practical and biblical. As we respond gratefully to His provision in our lives, God chooses to use our gifts to advance His kingdom so that we may know more deeply his gracious gift of salvation in Christ.




Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith by Rob Bell

The author pastors one of the fast-growing churches in America. He is a strong communicator to post-modern people, with a major emphasis on Bible teaching, and this creative book offers a fresh look at how the gospel can be best communicated today. He begins with the assertion that Jesus wanted to "call people to live in tune with reality" and that he "had no use for religion."




The Boomer Century 1946-2046: How America's Most Influential Generation Changed Everything by Richard Croker

This research-rich book can inspire Baby Boomer-aged Americans to think more positively about aging. In the third of three sections, Croker's experts speculate about how boomers will change our notions of retirement and old age. They show how Boomers have lots of capacity to make a difference with their lives, and often have an untapped desire to give back to their communities.




Words That Work by Frank Luntz

With a subtitle of It's Not What You Say It's What People Hear, the business consultant author has much to say that's directly relevant to pastors and teachers in the church. He shows the power of the words chosen for vision casting and interpersonal communication. He also shows what we do that backfires without our awareness.




The Culturally Savvy Christian: A Manifesto for Deepening Faith and Enriching Popular Culture in an Age of Christianity-Lite by Dick Staub

Cultural commentator and radio personality Staub asks how the culture of the church should influence popular culture. His answer is that followers of Christ should not cocoon, combat or conform in relation to popular culture, but transform it. His model of what a culturally savvy Christian should be is C.S. Lewis, who "enriched culture by countering culture, communicating within it, and also creating it."




Change Your Church for Good: the Art of Sacred Cow Tipping by Brad Powell

The author is pastor of Northridge Church, and he argues that it is possible for a church to transition from non-relevant to culturally relevant without compromising Scripture. Because every church struggles with transition, every church leader can learn something from Powell's hope-filled insight on how all churches can and should be transitioned to a new life.




Facing Your Giants: The God Who Made a Miracle Out of David Stands Ready to Make One Out of You by Max Lucado

What reading list today would be complete without a title by America's best-selling pastor? The idea here is simple: When David focused on God instead of the "giants," he won. But when he fixed on the "giant," he fell. Lucado's words, written to all followers of Christ, encourage us to focus on God. He is the victor!

What are you reading this summer? (This list was compiled by Dr. Warren Bird, Director of Research and Intellectual Capital for Leadership Network. Reprinted from Leadership Network Advance, a FREE twice-monthly e-newsletter featuring the best in innovative church strategies -- subscribe here.)

Beyond Megachurch Myths - pre-order it now

Beyond Megachurch Myths: What We Can Learn from America's Largest Churches by Scott Thumma and Dave Travis is releasing this summer! It's an incredible read, with lots of myths to debunk, but more importantly, lots of practical insights for churches of any size. Here's its official description:

This data-driven description of American megachurches is aimed at leaders and members of smaller congregations who may harbor apprehensions about this growing phenomenon. Chapter by chapter, the authors tackle common misconceptions of churches with more than 2,000 attendees and suggest that they are simply Christian neighbors with a different-looking storefront who are here to stay a while and who have much to offer smaller churches willing to learn. However, the collaboration of the two writers (one an academic and the other a consultant for church leadership) is disjointed, with the applying what you have read sections at the end of each chapter feeling tacked on to the richer content of the main text. One of the strongest chapters confronts the myth that megachurches are akin to Wal-Mart in that they grow at the expense of existing congregations. The authors argue that megachurches feed a constant cycle of birth, growth, maturity and decline needed to help keep churches and religion in America strong and vital. Readers are reminded that Christianity comes in many different packages and that the market for religion can and should be tapped in a variety of ways.

Plus, Michael Duduit, editor of Preaching magazine and LeaderLinks, cites this Christian Post article, Researchers Paint Latest Portrait of U.S. Megachurches::

Megachurches together have the same number of attendees at weekly services (roughly 4.5 million) as the smallest 35 percent of churches in the country, wrote Scott Thumma and Dave Travis in Beyond Megachurch Myths, a soon-to-be-released book about megachurches. Across the whole of Protestantism, the largest 20 percent of the churches have around 65 percent of the worshippers, finances and staff in America. Yet megachurches only make up one-half of 1 percent of all the religious congregations in the nation.

Read the full article and pre-order the book for convenient home delivery!

connecting people and churches on the web

Time and again, in my conversations with organizations and groups of all kinds, people want to figure out how to use the internet more effectively to connect their organization with potential constituents. In this recent article from Northwestern University, Religious Practice by PC, several good examples are cited for connecting churches more effectively with people via the Web:

Pilsen Community Christian Church also uses the Web to attract new members... many people report that they first heard about the church through its Web site.

"People just Google 'Pilsen Christian' and we're in the first five results," Orozco said.

... Some of the church's members started an organization, A New Thing, which provides worship materials in video, PowerPoint and mp3 form for the various church sites.

Orozco translates resources for his church's Sunday services in English and Spanish, which are attended by about 140 people, but also translates traditional worship styles for people who are increasingly used to the interactivity the Web and multimedia provide.

"We have to find ways to be relevant, to be that church that people need," Orozco said.

... Community Christian Church offers its multimedia resources on its main Web site, for those who want to access them at home, but they emphasize that meeting with other believers is key to getting a full experience, Orozco said.

To dig into more about how Community Christian Church develops its programming and messages to be in sync, be sure to read The Big Idea: Focus the Message-- Multiply the Impact. To see how blogging can be used to open up the conversations between your church, its members, and its surrounding neighborhood and even the world, read The Blogging Church for detailed insights and examples!