Future Church: Seven Laws of Real Church Growth

by Will Mancini, Cory Hartman, Ed Stetzer (Foreword by)

Overview

Church growth models have often been long on promises and short on disciple-making. We continue to watch consistent church attendance shrink, and our desire to reach the lost is infected with a need for self-validation by growing our numbers at any cost. If we believe that God wants his church to grow, where do we go from here? What is the future of the church?

Drawing from his 20 years and 15,000 hours of consulting, author Will Mancini shares with pastors and ministry leaders the single most important insight he has learned about church growth. With plenty of salient stories and based solidly on the disciple-making methods found in Scripture, Future Church exposes the church's greatest challenge today, and offers 7 transforming laws of real church growth so that we can faithfully and joyfully fulfill Jesus's Great Commission.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781540900616
Publisher:	Baker Publishing Group
Publication date:	12/01/2020
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

William Mancini (ThM, Dallas Theological Seminary) is a church consultant and ministry entrepreneur. In 2015, he cofounded Younique, a coaching company that delivers gospel-centered life design through local churches, and in 2019 he started Denominee, a consulting group that increases the value of denominational and network leaders to the local church. He has written six books, including Younique, Clarity Spiral, God Dreams, Innovating Discipleship, and Church Unique. He enjoys speaking and writing about how to create clarity and live a life of more meaningful progress. Will lives in Houston with his wife, Romy, and has four children. You can learn more about Will and his ecosystem of breakthrough ideas, tools, and organizations at www.willmancini.com. Connect with him on Instagram @will_be_clear and Twitter @willmancini.

Cory Hartman is the founder of Fulcrum Content, an organization that uses the written word to extend leaders' reach and equip churches for disciple-making. He has pastored churches in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Table of Contents

Foreword Ed Stetzer 9

Introduction: Every Church's Primary Problem Today 13

Part 1 Faking Disciples: The Uncomfortable Reality of Lower Room Leadership

1 Two Rooms: The Best Picture to Expose the North American Church's Greatest Challenge 21

2 Three Churches: The Most Useful Typology for the Next Twenty Years 39

3 Off Mission: What Keeps Leaders Serving a Functional Mission That's Not the Great Commission 53

4 Sixty Years: How Twentieth-Century Church Growth Influences Twenty-First-Century Leaders 63

5 Attendance Uppers: Three Pills Prescribed by Church Pharma 73

Interlude: The Missional Reorientation 89

Part 2 Making Disciples: The Seven Laws of the Upper Room

6 The Law of Mission: Real Church Growth Starts with a Culture of Mission, Not Worship 99

7 The Law of Power: Real Church Growth Is Powered by the Gospel, Not Relevance 113

8 The Law of Love: Real Church Growth Is Validated by Unity, Not Numbers 129

9 The Law of Context: Real Church Growth Is Local, Not Imported 141

10 The Law of Development: Real Church Growth Is about Growing People, Not Managing Programs 155

11 The Law of Leadership: Real Church Growth Is Led by Calling, Not Celebrity 169

12 The Law of Vision: Real Church Growth Is Energized by Shared Imagination, Not Shared Preference 185

Part 3 Two Funnels: The Future Church Strategy Model

13 Funnel In: How the Assimilation Model Yields Diminished Returns 205

14 Funnel Out: How Jesus's Model Generated Multiplying Impact 219

15 Funnel Fusion: How to Make Disciples without Abandoning the Institutional Presence of the Church in North America 231

Acknowledgments 251

Appendix: Relationship of Future Church Funnels to the Vision Frame 255

Notes 257

About the Authors 267