Community of Kindness

Steve Sjogren, Rob Lewin

Description

If you want to plant a church, you need to dream big. If you want your seedling church to survive--and ultimately bloom and blossom--you really need this book! Written by church planters who have "been there, done that," Community of Kindness is a practical, real-world guide to successful church planting--credible, informative, inspirational, supportive, and, most of all, 100 percent problem-solving oriented. All of the book's lessons are pithy and to the point. So you can use them to pre,plan your goals-,or refer to them every time the unexpected pops up (which is more often than not). Wherever your church-planting journey takes you, keep this book by your side,-and have copies for each member of your team!

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• Christianity

Informations

• Publié par: Baker Publishing Group
• Date de parution: 06 février 2003
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781441224453
• Langue: English

Extrait

PRAISE FOR

Steve Sjogren and Rob Lewin cheerfully debunk myths surrounding church planting, as they fire off one marvelously irritating concept after another to get us scratching our heads and our hearts about starting new churches. This is a fabulous collage of spiritual/mental snapshots taken over the years and stored in the memory banks of one of today’s most respected church leaders (Steve). Opening it at any page is like chatting with your own church-planting coach, whose advice and stories make your experiences with starting a new church seem normative—and still hopeful. This is a must-read for all church planters and their teams.
D ANIEL A. B ROWN , P H .D.
S ENIOR P ASTOR , T HE C OASTLANDS F OURSQUARE C HURCH A PTOS , C ALIFORNIA
Start reading this book anywhere—and the energetic, provocative style will jump-start your creative juices. Here is a book full of practical, no-nonsense—and often counterintuitive—wisdom on topic after topic related to the planting and nurturing of a church. I scribbled in the margins as I read, but I realized that all along the way God was making His own marks on my heart and mind. I’m recommending this book to anyone who wants to see Christ’s kingdom grow.
D R . S TEVE H AYNER
P ASTOR AND F ORMER P RESIDENT , I NTERVARSITY C HRISTIAN F ELLOWSHIP
Though my approach to church planting has evolved into something significantly different from the one outlined in this book, I have long witnessed, respected, admired and sought to emulate the “otherliness” that overflows from the pages of this book—especially for the poor, the least, the last and the lost. A church plant of any style will be guided toward the heart of God to the degree they follow Steve and Rob there.
T ODD H UNTER
D IRECTOR , A LLELON F OUNDATION F ORMER N ATIONAL D IRECTOR , V INEYARD -USA
Wisdom says that if you want to know how to do something, first listen to those who’ve been there and done it. Steve Sjogren and Rob Lewin are two seasoned veterans that have been there and are still doing it. And you’d be wise to listen to what they have to say in their wisdom-laced book Community of Kindness .
D R . A UBREY M ALPHURS
P RESIDENT , V ISION M INISTRIES I NTERNATIONAL P ROFESSOR , D ALLAS T HEOLOGICAL S EMINARY
All great communicators have one thing in common: They know how to connect. Through servant evangelism, Steve Sjogren has connected with the people of Cincinnati and beyond, and in the process planted and built one of America’s great churches. He is a living example of how it can be done. Through the pages of this book, Steve and his coauthor Rob Lewin will connect with all new and future church planters. By sharing 106 great challenges, Sjogren and Lewin offer something for anyone who is launching or wants to start a church.
J OHN C. M AXWELL
F OUNDER , T HE INJOY G ROUP
There are heroes among us: intrepid, creative, dedicated men and women with the calling and courage to plant new churches. They deserve our respect and support, and they deserve a great resource like Community of Kindness . It’s an honest, wise, balanced voice of experience that will spare you learning a lot of things “the hard way,” because the authors already have.
B RIAN M C LAREN
P ASTOR ( CRCC.ORG ) A UTHOR AND S ENIOR F ELLOW IN E MERGENT ( EMERGENTVILLAGE.ORG )
Church planting is certainly hard work, but it should not suck the life from those doing the work. Steve Sjogren and Rob Lewin understand that and provide this material as a contribution to the worldwide effort of church planting as a life-giving experience for all involved.
D OUG P AGITT
P ASTOR , S OLOMON’S P ORCH M INNEAPOLIS , M INNESOTA
I love it! This is required reading for every church planter. Everything you need to think about is in this book. i highly recommend it to every church planter and it will be a mainstay with all of the interns and church planters in our church.
B OB R OBERTS
N ORTH W OOD C HURCH K ELLER , T EXAS
The coaching of Steve Sjogren and Rob Lewin has been invaluable to me as a church planter and to the eternal harvest of souls. I pray that every church will learn as I have learned from them. A must-read!
D OUG R OE
S ENIOR P ASTOR , V INEYARD C HURCH D AYTON , O HIO
Community of Kindness gives the reader an opportunity to receive counsel and insight from seasoned and effective church planters. This book is crammed full of practical wisdom and useful advice. There are valuable lessons on every page.
C HUCK S MITH , J R.
A UTHOR , T HE E ND OF THE W ORLD A S W E K NOW I T AND E PIPHANY ( SOON TO BE RELEASED )
Steve Sjogren and Rob Lewin are wrong about one thing. They say only 1 in 100 pastors is capable of starting a new congregation. But that’s before this book. Here is that rare resource that dramatically increases possibilities—and dreams.
L EONARD S WEET
D REW T HEOLOGICAL S CHOOL , G EORGE F OX U NIVERSITY P REACHINGPLUS.COM

© 2003 Steve Sjogren and Rob Lewin
Published by Baker Books a division of Baker Publishing Group P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287 www.bakerbooks.com
Baker Books edition published 2014
ISBN 978-1-4412-2445-3
Previously published by Regal Books
Ebook edition originally created 2012
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
All Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version . Authorized King James Version.
Cover and interior design by Robert Williams Edited by Steven Lawson
D EDICATIONS
S TEVE S JOGREN
To Rebekah and Laura—thanks for putting up with all of our church-planting adventures over the years. You’ve been real sports! I love you.
R OB L EWIN
To Lilly—the greatest person I’ve ever known.
C ONTENTS
Preface
Introduction
Level One: Mission
1. What Do You Dream About?
2. Decide Where You Want to Fit
3. Find Your Own Way
4. Make Belonging Synonymous with Doing
5. Are You Cut Out to Plant a Church?
6. Consider the Primary Traits
7. Conditions and Requirements
Level Two: Personnel
8. Scaffolding People
9. Already-Converted People
10. Don’t Be Picky
11. Staff Turnover Is Normal
12. The Jesus-Judas Complex
13. The First 200
14. Training and Modeling
15. Train Leaders Like Crazy!
Level Three: Atmosphere
Money
16. You’re in Charge of Pennies
17. Money Issues
18. CPA Audit
19. Money-Repellent Behaviors
Demographics
20. There Must Be a Match
21. Get Solid Information
22. Invite the City
23. Start Your New Work
24. Find Your People
25. Unlocking Your City
26. Become One with Your People
27. Find Your City
28. Identify Your People
Attitude
29. Facilities and Attitude
30. The Disciple You Are Seeking
31. The New Versus the Old
32. Earn the Right to Be Heard
33. Be Willing to Start Small
34. Quit Quitting
35. Resources
36. Be a Life-Giving Church
37. Gauging Results
38. Planting Versus Resurrection
39. Have Fun on the Journey
40. Taking Risks
41. If You Can Do Something Else
42. Anger Is Your Number One Enemy
43. This Is the Best
44. People Move On
Personal Growth
45. Develop Other Interests
46. Learn to Pray Deep Prayers
47. Become What Is Needed
48. Find Your Coach
49. Your Assignment from God
50. Your Unique Contribution
51. Get God’s Heart
52. Teams—How Important Are They?
53. Get a Good Therapist
54. Really Honest Friends
55. An Indomitable Spirit
56. Outreach—Alone?
57. Build Your Faith
58. Past Disappointment
Strategies
59. Don’t Seek to Be Original
60. Each Church Is Unique
61. The Decision Maker
62. Be Yourself!
63. The Public Meeting
64. Make a Ten-Year Commitment
65. Spending Your Time
66. The Leadership Delay
67. Putting Others in Charge
68. Hire the Right People
69. Your Own Vision
70. An Eclectic Original
71. Plagiarize
Classic Mistakes
72. Feeding the Sheep
73. No Yelling Allowed
74. Preaching
A Modus Operandi
75. Planning Your Messages
76. Never Cancel an Event
77. Your Congregation’s Soul
78. Begin to Delegate
79. The Worship Experience
80. Read to Lead
81. Kids’ Church
82. Profound Versus Cute
83. Your Vision Story
84. Newcomers
85. Worship Music
86. Atmosphere
87. Communication
88. Visual Communications
89. Your Job Description
90. Fewer than 200 People
91. Two Services
92. Tentmaking
93. Know Your Target People
94. The Crowd or the Core?
95. Critical Mass
96. The Seven Deadly Sins
97. Define Yourself
98. Design Your Meetings
99. Sixty Minutes
100. Quality Staff
101. Let God Direct
102. Get into the Community
103. Church Reproduction
104. Communication Expectations
105. People Are Experiential
106. E-mail It
Level Four: Right Job Decriptions
Level Five: Growing Past the Temptation to Quit
Appendix A: Pilgrimage Landscapes By Mark Scandrette
Appendix B: Recommended Reading
Glossary
P REFACE
L ET’S D IALOGUE
This book has been written for postmodern church planters who seek to reach mainstream America. Our intent is to challenge, not to tell you what to do.
We want to build a dialogue. To help you better interact with our ideas and experiences, we have broken the book into levels and points. We have divided this book into levels because it is better understood when seen moving from one point of depth in the planting process to the next. We have more than 100 points along the way to telling our stories and to make it a snappy and memorable read—and quite frankly both of us have ADD (attention deficit disorder)! We think in bursts, so that is the way we have written this book. We hope you don’t have to have ADD as well to make sense of it al