Cultivate and Catalyze Spiritual Transformation in Your Community Many Christian communities long for deeper spiritual growth but find themselves stuck, not knowing how to move forward together. If you are a leader seeking to guide your community toward genuine, God-centered transformation, this book provides the vision and tools you need. In Leading a Transforming Community, spiritual formation thought leader Ruth Haley Barton shares insights from over twenty-five years of guiding leaders through the Transforming Center. She casts a compelling vision for what is possible when a community gathers around the presence of Christ with the shared goal of spiritual transformation. This seminal work is an essential resource for pastors, small group leaders, and leaders of all Christian communities who believe that change and transformation should be the norm, not the exception. Leading a Transforming Community will equip you and your team with
- Biblical and theological foundations for spiritual transformation in community; - Shared attitudes, practices, and experiences to do together as a group; - Real-life examples and stories from fellow leaders; and - Practical, intentional strategies for opening to God as a community. This book shows how spiritual transformation is central to the message of the gospel and the mission of the church. With Leading a Transforming Community, learn to cultivate a community of spiritual transformation that discerns and does the will of God together, and in turn empowers others to do the same.
"Spiritual formation has both a deeply personal and a profoundly collective dimension. If the former has been at the forefront of many churches in the last generation, there is a surging, vital interest in church, or ecclesial, formation. This book moves a person and a church from personal formation into formation of community. In particular, Ruth Haley Barton has moved her well-known studies of the personal into the community. Genuine Christian community formation involves fellowship, generosity, forgiveness, and love. For leaders and churches willing to enter the process of formation as a group, this book is a wonderful catalyst. Those leaders and churches will never be the same. They will experience transformation, both slowly and at times suddenly."
Scot McKnight, visiting professor of New Testament at Houston Theological Seminary
"Ruth Haley Barton invites us to discover the miracles of God's transformation that unfold through practices pursued in community rhythms. Spiritual formation is the way we can experience Christ's abundant life in a fallen world, and I am grateful Ruth has distilled her considerable, hard-won wisdom into this guide. It will be a gift to so many communities that long for a path of lasting change, together."
Gary A. Haugen, founder and CEO of International Justice Mission