Description: Breakout Churches by Thom S. Rainer In Thom Rainer's latest book, he sets out to discover how churches that were once healthy but had stagnated in growth have broken out to become great churches impacting lives and entire communities. FORMAT Paperback LANGUAGE English CONDITION Brand New Publisher Description Breakout Churches … what does it take for your church to break out of mediocrity? In search of answers, Thom Rainer and his research team conducted a landmark study on the church. Unfolding the findings of that study, Breakout Churches furnishes both principles and examples to show how you as a pastor or church leader can help your church break out of the status quo into unprecedented fruitfulness. Of the thousands of churches examined in the study, thirteen met the criteria for a "breakout church." All of them experienced both a period of struggle and a time of sustained breakout growth under the same pastors leadership. Transitioning from mediocrity to excellence over several years, they grew to have an impact on the entire community. Breakout Churches tells the story of these churches and their pastors. And, using a statistical approach, it identifies key patterns and characteristics common to churches that experienced turnarounds. Back Cover Breakout Churches Author Biography Thom S. Rainer (PhD, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) is president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources in Nashville, Tennessee. He was founding dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism and, Church Growth at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. His many books include Surprising Insights from the Unchurched, The Unexpected Journey, and Breakout Churches. Table of Contents CONTENTS Acknowledgments 9 The Research Team 11 Preface 13 CHAPTER 1 WHY GOOD IS NOT ENOUGH: THE CHRYSALIS FACTOR 15 CHAPTER 2 ACTS 6/7 LEADERSHIP 35 CHAPTER 3 EIGHT KEYS TO ACTS 6/7 LEADERSHIP 53 CHAPTER 4 THE ABC MOMENT 69 CHAPTER 5 THE WHO/WHAT SIMULTRACK 91 CHAPTER 6 THE VIP FACTOR 111 CHAPTER 7 A CULTURE OF EXCELLENCE 129 CHAPTER 8 INNOVATION ACCELERATORS 147 CHAPTER 9 BIG MO OR BLIND EROSION? 165 CHAPTER 10 TO BECOME A BREAKOUT CHURCH 185 A Personal Postscript 201 Appendix A. Frequently Asked Questions 205 Appendix B. Selection Process and Research Steps 213 Appendix C. Selection Process of Comparison Churches 217 Appendix D. Synopsis of Churches Selected 219 Appendix E. Church Readiness Inventory 241 Notes 245 Name and Subject Index 253 Long Description Breakout Churches First Chapter Breakout ChurchesCHAPTER 1WHY GOODIS NOT ENOUGH:THE CHRYSALIS FACTORThe possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deterus from the support of a cause we believe to be just.---Abraham LincolnIt is a sin to be good if God has called us to be great.Christians refer to Matthew 28:18--20 as the Great Commission,not the Good Commission. Jesus himself said that the words we readin Matthew 22:37 and 39 are the Great Commandments, not the GoodCommandments. And the apostle Paul did not call love something that isgood; instead, he said the greatest of these is love (1 Cor. 13:13, emphasisadded).The power of seeking to be great rather than good became clear whenI read Jim Collinss book Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make theLeap . . . and Others Dont, in which he began with the opening line:Goodis the enemy of great.With the encouragement of my publisher I electedto write a book on churches, modeled on the Good to Great framework.This book was inspired by Good to Great, and we borrowed the research15process, the structure and outline of the book, and the architecture of itsideas as the blueprint for this work.THE DIFFICULTIES IN FINDING GREAT CHURCHESThink of some criteria to measure great churches. Attendance increases?Number of conversions? Impact on culture? Transformed lives? If you havesettled on one or more criteria, name fifty churches that would meet them.Can you name forty churches? Thirty?Lets make the search more difficult. Think of churches that meet yourgreat criteria after being a so-so church for many years. In other words,discover some churches that have made the leap to greatness.Lets make the test even more problematic.Name all the churches thathave made the transition without changing the senior pastor or senior minister.In other words, the church broke out under the same leadership.If you are having trouble naming several such churches, you have ataste of the difficulties the research team encountered in this project.Webelieve, quite simply, that there are very few breakout churches in America.In fact, although we have data on thousands of churches, we foundonly thirteen churches that survived the rigorous screening.But the lessons we learned from these churches are priceless.Figure 1A offers a quick snapshot of the incredible leaps taken bybreakout churches. Following the research methodology used by JimCollins in Good to Great, we compared the thirteen churches we foundwith a carefully selected control group of churches that failed to makethe leap. The factors distinguishing one group from the other fascinatedour team.As just one point of comparison, the chart looks at worship attendanceof the two groups of churches. The breakout churches had a clearly identifiedpoint at which they began to experience significant growth. Drawingupon the Good to Great terminology of transition point, we calledthis juncture the breakout point.We then took the five years precedingand the five years following the breakout point and compared the sameyears with the direct comparison churches.For the five years prior to breakout, all of the churches were strugglingto stay even in worship attendance. Then the difference between the twogroups is dramatic. The average worship attendance of the comparisonchurches declined for the next five years, while in the breakout churchesit increased 71 percent.16 BREAKOUT CHURCHESHow did churches with very unremarkable pasts become greatchurches? What took place in these fellowships that made them so extraordinary?How did these churches make the leap when more than 90 percentof American churches did not come close to doing so?Can a good but plodding church become a great church? We believethe answer is an unequivocal yes.We hope the stories you are about to readwill inspire you to move your church to greatness. Before we get too caughtup in the details, lets hear from one church that made the transition---butnot without a great sacrifice at great cost.THE TEMPLE CHURCH FACES THE COST OF MAKING THE LEAPThe Temple Church opened its doors for its first worship service at theAmerican Baptist Theological Seminary in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1977.The congregation subsequently met in two other borrowed facilities beforeconstructing its own buildings in 1980. The founding pastor was BishopMichael Lee Graves.By most standards, The Temple Church was successful from its inception.Growth was steady, if not spectacular, in the early years.A Christianprivate school began. An adjunctive ministry, Samaritans Ministries,reached out to the inner city of North Nashville by providing nutritionalFigure 1A. Attendance of Breakout Churches and Comparison ChurchesWHY GOOD IS NOT ENOUGH: THE CHRYSALIS FACTOR 17support for the hungry, medical assistance, spiritual and psychologicalcounseling, and educational and vocational training. One leader in the communitycredited The Temple Church with playing a major role in reducingdrug and gang violence in the area.The list of Temples ministries exceeded fifty and was growing. Thechurch was one of the most respected African-American churches in theearly 1980s. A multimillion-dollar facility was complete. The membersbegan to see their identity with the church as a banner of prestige. TheTemple Church, by most standards, was making a difference. Then thecrash came.As researcher George P. Lee discovered, not many people recognizedthat a crash had taken place.True, worship attendance declined from 1,000in 1984 to 880 in 1985. But Bishop Graves, the only person to sense trouble,felt the decline in attendance was only symptomatic of greater problems.There was a sense of apathy growing among the members, Gravesreflected. More important, he sensed that Gods vision for The TempleChurch was for it to be a multiracial, multiethnic church for people of allsocioeconomic classes. Yet by 1985 the church was the home largely ofmiddle- and upper-middle-class African Americans.The vision of The Temple Church was a vision of encompassing allraces, ethnic groups, and nationalities, said Graves. I never intended forTemple to become a bourgeois congregation of Afrocentric believers. Iwanted to affirm our heritage as African Americans while reaching theglobal community for Christ.Graves received little comfort from his peers in the ministry. Most ofthem could not understand why he was so restless. One pastor chastisedhim, Graves, if you dont build the rest of your vision, youve achievedmore than any of us. Be grateful.To an outsider, the attendance plateau could be easily explained by thelack of worship space. But Bishop Graves knew the problem went muchdeeper. He keenly desired to lead in the building of a larger sanctuary, buthis suggestions met stiff resistance from many key leaders. They knew thatthe larger facility would make room for people who were not like them.A group of 300 church members met with Graves on numerous occasions,hoping to change his mind. This opposition group threatened to withdrawtheir significant financial support from the church if their demandswere not met. After much prayer, Graves decided to hold the course andbuild the new sanctuary. The entire leadership group left the church.18 BREAKOUT CHURCHES Details ISBN0310293472 Author Thom S. Rainer Short Title BREAKOUT CHURCHES Publisher Zondervan Language English ISBN-10 0310293472 ISBN-13 9780310293477 Media Book Format Paperback Illustrations Yes Audience Age 18-99 Imprint Zondervan Subtitle Discover How to Make the Leap Place of Publication Grand Rapids Country of Publication United States Residence US Year 2010 Publication Date 2010-01-05 AU Release Date 2010-01-05 NZ Release Date 2010-01-05 US Release Date 2010-01-05 UK Release Date 2010-01-05 Pages 272 Alternative 9780310257455 DEWEY 254.5 Audience Professional & Vocational We've got this At The Nile, if you're looking for it, we've got it. With fast shipping, low prices, friendly service and well over a million items - you're bound to find what you want, at a price you'll love! TheNile_Item_ID:126503369;
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Book Title: Breakout Churches: Discover How to Make the Leap
Item Height: 229mm
Item Width: 152mm
Author: Thom S. Rainer
Format: Paperback
Language: English
Topic: Religious History, Christianity
Publisher: Zondervan
Publication Year: 2010
Item Weight: 308g
Number of Pages: 272 Pages