Launch: Starting a New Church from Scratch and over 360,000 other books are available for Amazon Kindle – Amazon’s new wireless reading device. Learn more

 

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
 
Express Checkout with PayPhrase
What's this? | Create PayPhrase
Sorry!
X
More Buying Choices
36 used & new from $7.30
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
Launch: Starting a New Church from Scratch
 
 
Share your own customer images
Search inside this book
Start reading Launch: Starting a New Church from Scratch on your Kindle in under a minute.

Don’t have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here.
 
  

Launch: Starting a New Church from Scratch (Paperback)

~ Nelson Searcy; Kerrick Thomas (Author)
Key Phrases: healthy launch, many church planters, comeback events, New York, Rick Warren, Ray Kroc (more...)
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
List Price: $12.99
Price: $10.39 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
You Save: $2.60 (20%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Want it delivered Friday, November 13? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details
27 new from $7.30 9 used from $7.33

Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
  Kindle Edition $7.99 -- --
  Paperback $10.39 $7.30 $7.33

Frequently Bought Together

Launch: Starting a New Church from Scratch + Fusion: Turning First-Time Guests into Fully-Engaged Members of Your Church + Activate: An Entirely New Approach to Small Groups
Price For All Three: $30.13

Show availability and shipping details

  • This item: Launch: Starting a New Church from Scratch by Nelson Searcy

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

  • Fusion: Turning First-Time Guests into Fully-Engaged Members of Your Church by Nelson Searcy

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

  • Activate: An Entirely New Approach to Small Groups by Nelson Searcy

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Activate: An Entirely New Approach to Small Groups

Activate: An Entirely New Approach to Small Groups

by Nelson Searcy
4.9 out of 5 stars (13)  $10.39
Ten Most Common Mistakes Made by Church Starts

Ten Most Common Mistakes Made by Church Starts

by Jim Griffith
4.8 out of 5 stars (4)  $13.59
Ignite: How to Spark Immediate Growth in Your Church

Ignite: How to Spark Immediate Growth in Your Church

by Nelson Searcy
5.0 out of 5 stars (5)  $10.19
Starting a New Church: The Church Planter's Guide to Success

Starting a New Church: The Church Planter's Guide to Success

by Ralph Moore
4.7 out of 5 stars (11)  $11.55
Planting Missional Churches

Planting Missional Churches

by Ed Stetzer
4.8 out of 5 stars (6)  $14.95
› Explore similar items

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Starting a church from scratch? Start here! This is no typical church planting or church growth book. The authors, both pastors at The Journey Church of the City in Manhattan, offer specific strategies for beginning a church from scratch, based on their own experiences in launching a church with no members, no money and no staff and watched membership skyrocket to more than a thousand people in three years! They offer clear, practical how-to strategies for quickly raising funds, creating a team, planning services, effective evangelism and rapidly developing a growing membership. Specific advice is included for reaching that often difficult-to-target demographic, the 20- to 40-year-old. You ll also get an insider s look at The Journey Church of the City as a model for church planting. The helpful strategies here will help you remove many of the barriers, questions and doubts encountered in starting a church from scratch. If these principles work in NYC, they ll work for you!


About the Author

Nelson Searcy is the founding pastor of The Journey Church of the City in New York City, which he and his wife, Kelley, began from scratch in 2002 and now has more than a thousand members. He has personally trained more than a thousand church planters through his seminars, and is the publisher of Evangelism Online, an Internet resource for pastors. Prior to starting The Journey, he was the founding director of the Purpose Driven Community at Saddleback Church, with more than 5,000 member churches and a key architect for Rick Warren s Pastors.com. KERRICK THOMAS is a teaching pastor at The Journey Church of the City in New York City. Thomas, who received his Masters of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary, regularly co-leads training events with Nelson Searcy.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 219 pages
  • Publisher: Regal Books (January 11, 2007)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0830743103
  • ISBN-13: 978-0830743100
  • Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #28,601 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category: (What's this?)

    #35 in  Books > Religion & Spirituality > Christianity > Ministry & Church Leadership > Church Administration

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

More About the Authors

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Nelson Searcy
Nelson Searcy
Kerrick Thomas
Kerrick Thomas

Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Search Inside This Book:
Inside This Book (learn more)
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
healthy launch, many church planters, comeback events, launch team members, new church plant, preview services, servant evangelism, lead pastor, growth barriers, partner churches, church planting, monthly services, big ask, focus population, church plants, worship leader, launch day
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Rick Warren, Ray Kroc, Easter Sunday, John Maxwell, Thanksgiving Day, Andy Stanley, Easter Egg Hunt, Holy Spirit, Southern California
New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats
Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Search Inside This Book:
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 14 books:
See all 14 books this book cites

Books on Related Topics (learn more)
 
 

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Launch: Starting a New Church from Scratch
78% buy the item featured on this page:
Launch: Starting a New Church from Scratch 4.3 out of 5 stars (23)
$10.39
Fusion: Turning First-Time Guests into Fully-Engaged Members of Your Church
7% buy
Fusion: Turning First-Time Guests into Fully-Engaged Members of Your Church 4.9 out of 5 stars (33)
$9.35
Activate: An Entirely New Approach to Small Groups
6% buy
Activate: An Entirely New Approach to Small Groups 4.9 out of 5 stars (13)
$10.39
Planting Missional Churches
6% buy
Planting Missional Churches 4.8 out of 5 stars (6)
$14.95
Explore similar items

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 
(4)
(2)
(2)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
See all 16 tags...

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags
 

Customer Reviews

23 Reviews
5 star:
 (15)
4 star:
 (3)
3 star:
 (3)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:
 (2)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.3 out of 5 stars (23 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Nelson and Tomas are trailblazing for many of us, March 5, 2007
By E. Ramirez "Christ Is King" (Brooklyn, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
I have been very blessed by reading the principles in this book. I have planted a church in New York, and it is not easy. However, Nelson has done it, and is doing it as he writes. Although I dont personally agree with all of there philosophy of ministry, i do think that the benefits of this book far outweigh the loss of not reading it. after reading this book and meeting nelson and tomas at a recent roundtable conference, I have adapted many ideas from them and am convinced they are building a ministry as a model in which we can all benefit. If you have issues with saddleback, or contemporary churches, you should not let that mentality keep you from benefitting from the wealth of insight and ides this book has. Wothwhile read.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
15 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Practical, but broadbushing!, February 18, 2007
I like this book, but I have issues with it as well. I like the fact that they are more practical than theoretical. That said, I find it a bit too broad bushing. They imply that if someone plants a church and doesn't follow their advice, then that person is going down the wrong path or cannot succeed. I think they have great ideas, but I have no doubt that God can use different methods in different cultural settings. One church planted in NY doesn't make one an expert on church planting nationwide. I have read other books from men who have planted multiple churches on multiple occasions in multiple areas of the nation who come to different conclusions on methodology than do Searcy and Thomas. I tend to lean toward the guys who have done it several times. Time will tell whether or not this book and the methods promoted within it are timeless or trendy.

Finally, I don't like the emphasis on numbers as being the barometer for health. We have been meeting with our core group for 4 months now and I have seen phenomenal growth with few numbers added. Perhaps their background with Saddleback has influenced them to be numbers driven. It's Christ who grows the church anyway, and He is sovereign and will build according to his free will.
Comment Comments (4) | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
35 of 48 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Mixed feelings...like Larry Wildman going off the cliff in my new Maserati..., March 5, 2007
By John C. Ou (manhattan, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Sorry to use a quote from the movie "Wall Street," but that basically sums up how I feel about this book.

Having attended and served at the Journey, the church where Nelson and Kerrick (the authors) pastor, I see how they have valid points in building a church. However, I am concerned because of how "success" is defined. The Journey, their church, has an average attendance over four services of approximately 1100-1300 people, depending on the Sunday. However, most people attend the church for a year or just slightly more, before they leave to go to another church or drop out of church entirely. How "successful" is a church if the attendance keeps changing?

Also, did the Journey really start from scratch? I would argue that it didn't. It had a great deal of support from large megachurches such as Saddleback and other Southern Baptist organizations. The Journey has been meeting at the Manhattan Center at 34th and 8th for over two years at a cost of approximately $7000 to $10000 per week just for the rental of the space. Only in the last year did the church become self-sustaining.

If you want a Madison Avenue/Purpose Driven Church formula for how to start a megachurch that recycles messages every single year (every year they do a series on relationships/sex/love, every year they do a series on finances/money/tithing, every year they do a watered-down Christian self-help book everyone in the church is required to read) and church that defines success by quantity (attendance numbers) as opposed to changed lives/discipleship/devotion/commitment...well, this is right up your alley.

As for me, I'd rather read the Bible. Everything you need to know about the CHURCH is in that book.
Comment Comments (15) | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Product & Quick Shipping
This book is great!!! My husband and I are launching a church in Maui called The Awakening and have been going through this book... Very helpful.
Published 4 hours ago by A. Fussle

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Valuable
Nelson and Kerrick have provided more valuable information than you can imagine in Launch: Starting a New Church from Scratch! Read more
Published 2 months ago by Joel R. Walker

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Ideas Inside
Nelson Searcy was the guy behind The 40 Days of Purpose campaigns for Rick Warren's church in Saddleback. He left that job to start a church in New York city. Read more
Published 2 months ago by MasterAP

1.0 out of 5 stars WHAT A WASTE OF MONEY, THIS BOOK IS A TRAVESTY
THIS IS A PIECE OF GARBAGE.EVERYTHING IN THIS BOOK CAN BE PRINTED FREE FROM CHURCH PLANTING WEBSITES BY UTLILIZING GOOGLE, IN FACT YOU CAN GET MUCH MORE INFO THEN THIS BOOK... Read more
Published 6 months ago by BABYCUBY

1.0 out of 5 stars Unworthy of Praise
While I had high hopes for this book and was looking for quality guidance in starting a church, what I found was repetitive drivel. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Christine J. Fawley

5.0 out of 5 stars great for anyone considering starting a new church
This book is so helpful for anyone who is in just about any stage of planting a church. Someone just starting to think about whether this is something they want to do or someone... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Heather

4.0 out of 5 stars a good guide
i'm not much on following formulas which is why liked "launch" by nelson searcy and kerrick thomas. i just finished it after a long "on again / off again" reading of it. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Robert Terrell

5.0 out of 5 stars The church planting manual for the 21st century!
This is the most comprehensive book on Church Planting I have read. I launched Bridge Church at Perry n January 2007 and followed many of the practices that Nelson outlines... Read more
Published 21 months ago by Jeff Calloway

5.0 out of 5 stars I could not put it down
This was one of the best books that I have read! I got the book on Thursday, finished it on Friday. I could not put the book down, because it kept my attention the whole time. Read more
Published 21 months ago

3.0 out of 5 stars Good Ideas, But Not Enough Stories
While there were numerous good ideas in this book, I would have enjoyed it more and gotten more out of it if they had shared more specifics from their journey as well as stories... Read more
Published on May 29, 2007 by Jim V. Butcher II

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   

So You'd Like to...

Create a guide

Product Information from the Amapedia Community

Beta (What's this?)

Look for Similar Items by Category

Look for Similar Items by Subject

Search Books by subject:










i.e., each book must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...
 

Feedback

If you need help or have a question for Customer Service, contact us.
 Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
Is there any other feedback you would like to provide?

Your comments can help make our site better for everyone.


Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.