11 Innovations in the Local Church: How Today's Leaders Can Learn, Discern and Move into the Future [Paperback]

Elmer Towns (Author), Ed Stetzer (Author), Warren Bird (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 5, 2007

Join three seasoned church-ministry experts on an insider’s tour of the most innovative churches today! Discover a dozen types of innovation, each with profiles of congregations that have implemented that innovation. This is more than a show and tell tour, however. Each chapter offers a solid take-away for church leaders on how to learn and apply the appropriate innovation profiled. The authors also offer scripturally-based assessments of both the positive and negatives implications of implementing each innovation, providing guidance and wisdom. There are many ways to present the Gospel, and this timely book will serve as a springboard for church leaders scratching their heads and asking themselves, “What should we do next?” By learning from a dozen different church types, church leaders can become more intentional about exploring new directions and reaching more of the world for Christ. 

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

The church of today doesn’t look or act like it once did. Take a look around communities nationwide and you’ll see local churches taking on a variety of forms and expressing themselves in a multitude of ways. Now you can join three seasoned church-ministry experts on an insider’s tour of the most exciting innovations in churches today! Throughout this engaging book, you’ll discover multiple profiles of cutting-edge churches that have implemented each innovation in their own way.You’ll explore churches that have dared to be different, from Ancient-Future Postmodern Churches to Cyber-Enhanced Churches to churches that are intentionally multicultural. More than a show-and-tell tour, each chapter offers solid takeaways as you learn from the innovative direction that other churches have taken and come up with your own. The authors also provide guidance and wisdom through scripturally based assessments of both the positive and negative implications of implementing any given innovation in your church.There are many ways to present the gospel. God is using innovative expressions of the church today to reach many different types of people. Come discover with Towns, Stetzer and Bird, how God has blessed churches such as yours as they have stepped out to find fresh ways to make better disciples. There’s never been a better time to explore innovative new directions for your church and reach more people for Christ.

About the Author

ELMER TOWNS is the cofounder of Liberty University and the Church Growth Institute in Lynchburg, VA. He is an authority on Sunday school and church health. He is the author of more than 50 books and winner of the Gold Medallion Award. Towns earned degrees from Northwestern College, Southern Methodist University, Dallas Theological Seminary, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, and Fuller Theological Seminary. ED STETZER, a pastor for many years, is research team director and missiologist at the North American Mission Board for the Southern Baptist Convention. A former seminary professor, he has trained pastors and other church planters on five continents. He is the author of several books and has two masters and two doctoral degrees. WARREN BIRD is the research director for Leadership Network, a think tank that works with America’s most innovative churches. There, he researches cutting-edge churches and works with their leaders to multiply their evangelistic and disciple-making influence. Bird has served churches for more than 15 years in various roles from pastor to church planter. A seminary adjunct professor, he is the editor or coauthor of 17 books and a Gold Medallion Award winner.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Regal (June 5, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0830743782
• ISBN-13: 978-0830743780
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #452,967 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Church Innovations, December 8, 2009

By 

John Gibbs (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: 11 Innovations in the Local Church: How Today's Leaders Can Learn, Discern and Move Into the Future (Paperback)

What are the most effective new ways of communicating the Good News of Jesus? That's essentially the question addressed in this book by Elmer Towns, Ed Stetzer and Warren Bird. The book describes different strategies adopted by churches, and attempts to identify what we can learn from each one, and also things we should be cautious about.

The specific types of churches described are organic house churches, recovery churches, multi-site churches, ancient-future churches, city-reaching churches, community transformation churches, cyber-enhanced churches, Nickelodeon-style children-focused churches, intentionally multicultural churches, decision-journey churches, and attractional churches. The authors suggest that we can learn important ideas from all of these styles of churches, and I tend to agree, although I think it is more important for a church to do one thing well than to attempt many things poorly.

The ideas which appealed most to me as likely to be effective were community transformation (where the church invests significant resources in the local community), intentionally multicultural churches (where the church deliberately chooses to embrace multiple cultures), and children-focused churches (where the church invests significant resources in making the children's programs compelling).

4.0 out of 5 stars Good research, May 28, 2009

By 

Farid Awad "CH. Awad" (Fayetteville NC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 11 Innovations in the Local Church: How Today's Leaders Can Learn, Discern and Move into the Future (Paperback)

Great book if you are interested in expanding your church's methods of reaching the lost. Allows you to look at other churches and their methodology while examining the strenght and weakness of each method.