Church Ministry

Church Planting Thresholds explores both the why's and the how's of church planting, providing "Thresholds" that serve as progress mileposts along the church-planting journey. This simple guide will encourage ordinary Christians as they seek to fulfill the great commission through planting churches.

With deep understanding born from her own painful experiences, Melissa Fisher shows that somewhere between the extremes of condemning and condoning is compassion. In this audiobook she aims to equip the church to make a positive difference in the lives of those hurting from relational or sexual brokenness. Perfect for pastors, parents, siblings, and friends of the 10 million people in America who identify as LGBTQ, who long to love them well.

The Catholic Church is on the threshold of a bold new era in its two-thousand-year history. As the curtain comes down on the church defined by the 16th century Counter-Reformation, the curtain is rising on the Evangelical Catholicism of the third millennium: a way of being Catholic that comes from over a century of Catholic reform; a mission-centered renewal honed by the Second Vatican Council and given compelling expression by Blessed John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI.

A young Christian from Ireland moves to India - not to evangelize but to help girls escape prostitution. A retiring missionary in Brazil, who long ago left all remnants of home, encounters a 30-year-old, laptop-carrying family man who rarely stops texting friends in the States. A Kenyan pastor struggles to connect with a congregation that watches a mega church pastor on the Internet every Sunday morning. But what is happening to the Church as technology, generational transitions, and cultural shifts make their mark?

For every person who has felt lonely or isolated, The Sacred Us explores a new way of living through the practice of biblical community. In a world that celebrates individuality and autonomy, too many of us struggle to form deep, meaningful relationships. Loneliness is the norm, rich friendships are rare, and the church is no exception. We long for real community but often don’t know how to get there. What will it take to develop healthy friendships?

Long before the New Testament was a document, it was a sacrament. Jesus called the Eucharist by the name Christians subsequently gave to the latter books of the Holy Bible. It was the "New Covenant," the "New Testament," in his blood. Christians later extended the phrase to cover the books produced by the apostles and their companions; but they did so because these were the books that could be read at Mass.

Digital is a confusing concept, and many churches struggle to understand it, with most limiting their digital experience to streaming their church services and nothing more. In this book, you'll learn how to think strategically about digital strategy and how to best integrate digital ideas into your church that align with your ministry's in-person objectives. The goal is to disciple more people and not just get an online audience.

In this provocative book, author, consultant, and church leadership developer Reggie McNeal debunks these and other old assumptions and provides an overall strategy to help church leaders move forward in an entirely different and much more effective way.

More people live in cities now than at any other time in human history, presenting a historic opportunity for Christians to influence the majority of the world. Unfortunately, most Christian literature about the city focuses solely on its problems (crime, homelessness, etc.), rather than providing a comprehensive analysis of the city that informs, instructs, and inspires. Using sociological research and data, urban pastors Justin Buzzard and Stephen Um lay out the vision and rationale for church planting, cultural engagement, and missionary impulses in our world’s cities as they provide a solid foundation for motivation.

The Reformers viewed the gospel as not merely one thing among many in the life of a church but rather the means by which the church exists. When the gospel is rightly declared and applied to God’s people, the church becomes "a creature of the Word". She understands, embraces, and lives out the reality of Christ’s birth, life, death, and resurrection in more than her doctrinal statement. The gospel impacts all the church is and does.

What is there about a dying church that brings glory to God? Mark Clifton's convicting answer is "nothing". Because a local church is intended to represent the work of God in a community, when that church "loses it saltiness", not only is God's work pictured as irrelevant in that community, but also dishonor and disrepute may well become associated with God's name as a result.

The Five Hazardous Attitudes are Anti-authority, Invulnerability, Macho, Impulsivity, and Resignation. Aircraft accident investigators have found that at least one of these hazardous attitudes have played a role in almost every aircraft accident. But pilots are not the only people who sometimes crash.

Here is a perceptive evaluation of the new “emerging church” movement showing how we must not only interact with a fast-changing culture but also have our vision and practice of ministry shaped by biblical theology with Scripture as the norm.

Winner of the 2008 Christian Book Award and written by Ruth Graham, the daughter of today's most beloved evangelist, Billy Graham, this is a beautiful four-color family devotion with over 300 photographs that retells 100 important Bible stories and helps parents and children walk together on their faith journey. Each devotion takes approximately 10 minutes to complete and has been used by four generations of the Graham family.

Perhaps no subject about church generates more opinion and passion than worship. Walk with the typical church-going family on their way to the car after the service and just listen. Everybody really does talk about worship. Now, veteran worship leader and experienced ministry coach Mike Harland offers the tools worship leaders need to build biblically-faithful and effective worship ministries without bringing the disruption that often accompanies change.

Your senior pastor has just stepped down. Your church is at a loss. Where do you go from here? This book is a product of more than three decades of full-time, pastoral ministry from Frank Page. This is truly one of the most practical works on the subject that has ever been published. Using scripture as the foundation and real-life examples of searches done well and searches gone bad, Frank Page gives advice on what to look for, what to ask, and what to do.

The Honest Guide to Church Planting is for those toiling in the trenches, those about to bail out, and those considering jumping into the work of planting churches. Tom Bennardo writes candidly of the challenges so planters and sending agencies can embrace a realistic picture of church planting that leads to thriving, fruitful ministry.

What can we learn about leadership and influence from Paul? Most Christians know something of the Apostle Paul's life and ministry, but what about the incredible team of influencers he assembled and mobilized? Who were they, and how did Paul lead this team to accomplish God's purposes? Even more, what can we learn from their successes and failures, and how can we imitate their qualities?

Lost and Found is written to the church, using often-surprising results from the copious research here to strike another nerve and break some long established assumptions about how to effectively engage the lost. Leading missiologist Ed Stetzer and his associates first offer a detailed investigation of the four younger unchurched types.

“An indispensible study” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) drawing on history, public opinion surveys, and personal experience that presents a provocative examination of the unholy relationship between American Christianity and white supremacy, and issues an urgent call for White Christians to reckon with this legacy for the sake of themselves and the nation.