Exponential

People are hungry to make a difference in their community, yet most don't know where to start. In fact, "serving the least" is often one of the most neglected biblical mandates in the church. Barefoot Church shows readers how today's church can be a catalyst for individual, collective, and social renewal in any context. Whether pastors or laypeople, readers will discover practical ideas that end up being as much about the Gospel and personal transformation as they are about serving the poor. Here they will see how the organizational structure of the church can be created or redesigned for mission in any context. Drawing from his own journey, Brandon Hatmaker proves to readers that serving the least is not a trendy act of benevolence but a lifestyle of authentic community and spiritual transformation. As Hatmaker writes, "My hope is that God would open our eyes more and more to the needs of our community. And that we would see it as the church's responsibility to lead the charge."

What is happening to the church in America today? By all appearances, it looks like we are "doing' church better than we ever have. Our programs are effective, our pastors are relevant, and our buildings are increasing in size. In the past 30 years the number of mega-churches has increased from under 100 to over 7,500. In the past 10 years the number of multi-site churches has increased from under 100 to over 2,000. By the numbers, these church movements enjoy the national platform, the national voice, and the resources to profoundly impact the Kingdom. But to what end? In spite of the rapid growth of these prevailing church movements we are still losing ground, and the church in the west is in massive decline. Numerous studies and books have been written documenting the flight of members from the institutional church. Yet the local church is Jesus' plan for reaching the world. The strength of the mega-church and multi-site models can be found in a strong emphasis on attracting people to the church, where they have an opportunity to encounter Jesus Christ. Yet many younger leaders are rejecting this model in favor of a more incarnational approach to ministry. These missional communities tend to focus their attention on trying to release people into ministry. In recent years a growing schism has emerged between those calling themselves incarnational leaders and those leading the prevailing church models. But what if we were able to incorporate the insights of both models into a cohesive understanding of the church? Can we bring together the very best of the attractional AND missional models for church ministry? What is needed is not is another book about how to do church better. Our focus on the form church is misguided when the vast majority of unchurched Christians and non-believers aren't moving toward any form of church. Beautifully Sent will give permission for leaders to value existing church forms while catalyzing a missional movement of incarnational people into the world.

Leveraging the metaphor Ori Brafman and Rod A. Beckstrom popularized in their NYT best-selling book, The Starfish and the Spider, Rob Wegner, Lance Ford, and Alan Hirsch show why the distributed structures of starfish organizations are uniquely fit to the church. They can function without a rigid central authority, and their regenerative abilities make them nimbler in reacting to external forces. Seeding starfish networks inside today's churches will prepare the church of tomorrow to be agile while still maintaining the necessary accountability to be effective. Rather than advocating the adoption of a starfish structure in place of the hierarchy of the spider, Wegner, Ford, and Hirsch emphasize the advantages of adapting the structure and order inherent in a spider organization toward a hybrid model--either a Spiderfish approach (leaning toward centralization) or a Starder approach (leaning toward decentralization). The Starfish and the Spirit is about creating a culture where church leaders view themselves as curators of a community on mission, not the source of certainty for every question and project. It is about creating a team of humble leaders "in the middle" of the church, not at the top--leaders who naturally reproduce multiple generations of leaders, from the middle out on mission. Imagine a church led by a team whose gifts and talents are completely unleashed, enabling everyone to show up and step up with all they really are. The joy and vigor coming from the collective strength, intelligence, and skill in the community of leaders not only brings greater potency but better yields for your ministry as well. What would it be like to see this kind of healthy leadership reproduced into the second, third, and fourth generation, on multiple strands?

The Apostle Paul was a veteran church planter who "laid a foundation like a wise and master builder" and there is much we can learn from his example. Paul indicated that there were basic skills and experiences required to successfully plant a church. Church Plantology examines the wide variety of church planting methods and ideologies in contemporary pastoral practice and outlines a biblical model based on the New Testament. During his time in prison, Paul spent much of his time writing to Titus, Timothy, and others who'd served alongside him in the trenches to complete their training as church plantings. We can continue to apply these time-tested, proven methods, following the pioneering example of the early church. Today, the casualty rate is high. What if we could reduce the odds of failing? Church Plantology by Peyton Jones is a robust guide to planting that will help planters to provide the foundation necessary to survive beyond the initial first years so that they don't end up a walking statistic.

Over the last thirty years, many influential church leaders and church planters in America have adopted various models for reaching unchurched people. An attractional model seeks to attract people to a local church. Younger leaders may advocate a more missional approach, in which believers live and work among unchurched people and intentionally seek to serve like Christ. While each of these approaches have merit, something is still missing, something even more fundamental to the mission of the church: discipleship. Making disciples-helping people to trust and follow Jesus-is the church's God-given mandate. Discipleship empowers Christians to be more like Christ, and devoted disciples attract people outside the church because of the change others see in them. DiscipleShift walks pastors and church leaders through the five key shifts that churches must make to refocus on that biblical mission. These intentional changes will attract the world and empower believers to be salt and light in their communities.

Everybody wants to be a hero, but few understand the power of being a hero maker. In Hero Maker you will learn how to bring real change to your church and community by developing the practical skills to help others reach their leadership potential. Drawing on five powerful practices found in the ministry of Jesus, Hero Maker presents the key steps of apprenticeship that will build up other leaders and provides strategies for how you can activate gifts, help others take ownership, and develop a simple scorecard for measuring your kingdom-building progress. Besides rich insights from the Gospels, Hero Maker is packed with real-life ministry stories ranging from paid staff to volunteer leaders and from established churches to new church plants. A practical tool accompanies each of the five practices, with several illustrations for how to use it. Whether you lead ten people or ten thousand, Hero Maker will not only help you maximize your leadership, but in doing so you will also help shift today's church culture to a model of reproduction and multiplication. Authors Dave Ferguson (a Chicago pastor and church planter) and Warren Bird (an award-winning writer) make a compelling case that God's power and purpose are best revealed when we train and release others, who in turn do likewise. Become that rare breed of leader who brings change into our world by sacrificially investing in others who become the heroes. By becoming a hero maker, you will join a movement of influencers that are impacting hundreds, thousands and perhaps millions of people around the world.

Planting and leading a new church is not easy. There are the inevitable setbacks and challenges that come with launching anything new. And the process will test and try a leader's faith, as they face discouragement, loneliness, and failure. In this book, pastor and seasoned church leader Wayne Cordeiro speaks the truth in love, offering wisdom and insight to prepare leaders as they face the difficulties and hardships of church planting, while providing encouragement and inspiration for the journey. "Sifted" is based on Jesus' encouragement to Peter in Luke 22 to keep his faith and minister to others from his weakness. An experienced practitioner, Wayne shares the things he wishes he'd known when he was starting a new church. With additional stories from other prominent, seasoned leaders, each chapter includes a thought provoking, challenge question to develop a heart that is surrendered to God, focused on "being and becoming" versus "doing and accomplishing." Wayne writes about a healthy integration and balance of personal care and leadership amidst the difficulties of the church planting journey. Loneliness and discouragement are normal in church planting, but God cares more about our journey of faith and who we are becoming than our worldly accomplishments and the churches we build. Church planting is an ongoing process of surrender, personal growth and character development. The book will challenge leaders to persevere and rededicate themselves to their calling, their marriage, and their family. Instead of a "how to" book on models and methods, this is a combination of a self-assessment book that challenges leaders' scorecards of success, encourages leaders to realize that they are not alone in what they are experiencing, and provides wisdom for the long haul to position younger leaders for a life of ministry and finish strong.

What If the Church Truly Empowered People to Engage in God's Mission? Something extraordinary has been happening in Tampa, Florida. A new expression of the church has been quietly growing. It's something of an experiment, but over the last ten years the church has been validating its ideas with sustained and growing results. At The Underground, being the church is not focused around a weekly gathering or church programs. It's about empowering individuals to respond to God's call to ministry and mission, especially to the poor and disadvantaged in our midst. While many churches talk about discerning calling and engaging in mission, very few are structured to make this their ministry focus. Underground Church is a new vision for the church rooted in its biblical mission to share the love of God and serve the poor. Sanders explores how to make structural changes, how to think about leadership, how to fund ministries, and how to truly engage people in God's mission. Filled with creative insights, he explains what it means to center the mission of the church around the callings of individuals to outward ministry - whether that involves leading Bible studies in the workplace, feeding the homeless, or working to free women and children from sex trafficking. This book will both tell the inspiring story of a church that is rethinking what church looks like while also outlining and uncovering the principles that transfer for every church and Christian community that hopes for more. It's the true story of a 10-year experiment that unpacks the possibilities of a church structured and streamlined for mission.