Culture Shift: Transforming Your Church from the Inside Out (J-B Leadership Network Series) (Hardcover)

by Robert Lewis (Author), Wayne Cordeiro (Author), Warren Bird (Author) "CULTURE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT SOCIAL REALITY IN your church..." (more)
Key Phrases: directional leader, courageous adjustments, culture setter, Holy Spirit, New Hope, Fellowship Bible Church (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"Like snowflakes and fingerprints, every church’s culture is unique. Learning the art of cultural analysis and cultural formation shown in Culture Shift is indispensable for church leaders."
--John Ortberg, teaching pastor, Menlo Park Presbyterian Church, and author, If You Want to Walk on Water, You’ve Got to Get Out of the Boat, and The Life You’ve Always Wanted

"If you are looking for a quick fix, don’t buy this book. But if you’re looking for the secret to a faithful, thriving church, then buy out the store."
--Bill Easum, president, Bandy & Associates; author, Leadership on the Other Side

"We desperately need this learn-and-listen approach to changing your world by changing your culture. The authors’ mantra of ‘it’s easier to duplicate than incarnate’ is destined to become an open sesame to new directions for churches of all sizes, and new outpourings of the Spirit."
--Leonard Sweet, Drew Theological School, George Fox University; author, Post-Modern Pilgrims

"This book is to the church world what the best corporate culture book is to the business world. It doesn’t tell you to copy the best practices from corporate America. Instead, it invites you to create your own authentic culture."
--Bob Buford, founder, Leadership Network; author, Finishing Well and Halftime

"Culture Shift is exactly what happens to all healthy churches. The authors are like expert cultural geneticists. They skillfully model how to adjust the culture of your church until it births kingdom values in accordance with the Holy Spirit."
Kirbyjon Caldwell, senior pastor, Windsor Village United Methodist Church; coauthor, Entrepreneurial Faith

"Every local church has a unique calling and a unique DNA. The leader is responsible for creating the culture that activates God’s calling and replicates apostolic DNA in the congregation. This is a must read for twenty-first century leaders."
--Michael Slaughter, senior pastor, Ginghamsburg United Methodist Church; author, Spiritual Entrepreneurs

"We often need to re-language our problems in order to get better solutions. Culture Shift provides us with a vocabulary to reshape the leadership discussion. You won’t think about your congregation or your leadership challenge the same way after reading this book."
--Reggie McNeal, director of leadership development, South Carolina Baptist Convention (ww.scbbaptist.org)

"Every church I’ve seen that’s effective in reaching people has a leader who intentionally or instinctively understands what this book shows you—the importance of creating a kingdom culture. Robert Lewis and Wayne Cordeiro are the best leaders I know for changing their own church culture into one of incarnational ministry that transforms lives."
--Dale Galloway, dean, Beeson Institute for Advanced Church Leadership (www.beesoninstitute.org)

"This book is an awesome tool for everyone involved in ministry. It will empower the body of Christ to look past ethnic differences and to embrace the needs of the different people that make up the modern church. It’s thoroughly enjoyable and thought provoking form cover to cover."
--Matthew Barnett, senior pastor, Los Angeles Dream Center (www.dreamcenter.org)

Product Description
Culture Shift, written for church leaders, ministers, pastors, ministry teams, and lay leaders, leads you through the process of identifying your church’s distinctive culture, gives you practical tools to change it from the inside-out, and provides steps to keep your new culture aligned with your church’s mission. Real transformation is not about working harder at what you’re already doing or even copying another church’s approach but about changing church culture at a foundational level.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 1 edition (April 13, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0787975303
• ISBN-13: 978-0787975302
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #74,864 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Culture changes everything, including the future!, November 10, 2006

By	Gerald Khoo (Singapore) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is about how to think, not what to think. It is a great book that helps pastors and leaders see the importance of setting the culture rather than trying to do patchwork quick-fixes on the church. Because culture has a way of communicating itself, if culture is not changed, things would slide back to what they were, and may continue to deteriorate.

Your culture is the lens through which you view your life. If you change the lens, you change your outlook. Change the culture, and everything else changes, including the future. Changing a culture is an inside-out approach that transforms the place. Transformation can never be brought in from the outside. Transformation is inside work, and every church already possess the elements that can bring it about.

Because culture shapes the church, and leaders make the culture, this book helps leaders work through cultural issues in their church, and to find ways to change and incarnate the godly culture that they would want. In this book are also questions and suggesstions that guide the reader into looking at how things are, working out where you want to go, and areas to focus on to take you there. In general, a church that goes through a culture shift would likely go through the following (pg. 183-4):

1. Identify and believe God's promises about your church's potential.
2. Model kingdom culture personally.
3. Enlist allies to champion the culture shift.
4. Focus on "what we're becoming."
5. Compare the vision of the future to present reality.
6. Outline a specific, doable pathway.
7. Help it filter through the church, and learn from feedback you receive.
8. Stay focused on transformed people, and on those receptive to change.
9. Make heroes of people who best represent the kingdom values.
10. Celebrate every success, and give God the glory.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fresh Outlook, November 10, 2006

By	Calvin S. Uyeda "papa" (Hawaii) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book was eye-opening for me, and gave me a fresh new prespective on the life of a church. We need to focus less on self and on the future of the church to bring life and vitality to the church.