Church Turned Inside Out: A Guide for Designers, Refiners, and Re–Aligners

Praise for Church Turned Inside Out "What an extremely hopeful, heart–lifting, and practical book for anyone who loves the church. We must never be afraid to look at our church from the inside out as that is where true change will happen." —Dan Kimball author, They Like Jesus but Not the Church "I think Linda and Allan do a great job of giving an overview of our world and context. They show the different approaches to church, but they don′t stop there. Instead they deal with design and what it would look like! Every church is an original, and they show how yours can be, too." —Bob Roberts Jr. author, The Multiplying Church "In this thought–provoking and insightful book, the authors . . .provide us with useful tools that help us think strategically. They examine how God is using people to design new models and refine or re–align existing models of church, and how, working together cooperatively, these churches can reach out to . . . diverse communities surrounding them. I recommend this book to anyone interested in a culturally relevant church in today′s society." —Felicity Dale author, An Army of Ordinary People, coauthor, The Rabbit and the Elephant "This book provides a savvy challenge for design work to be taken more seriously in the quest for fresh forms of the church. The call to embody and commend the gospel and the importance of people, place, and moment are held tightly together. Church planters as well as re–aligners and refiners will benefit immensely from this book!" —George Hunsberger coordinator, the Gospel and Our Culture Network in North America, and author, Bearing the Witness of the Spirit: Lesslie Newbigin′s Theology of Cultural Plurality

Figures and Tables. About Leadership Network. Foreword (Alan Hirsch). Preface. 1 The Once and Future Church. 2 Acknowledging Self. 3 Cultivating Community. 4 Patterns That Honor God. 5 Designing Around Beliefs. 6 Releasing Communitas. 7 Designing in Culture. 8 Embracing Culture. 9 A Palette of Models. 10 Discovering Congruency. 11 Organizing by Design 12 Organizing as Living Systems. Notes. Acknowledgments. About the Authors. Index.

Linda Bergquist has been a church planter and church planting teacher for twenty–five years. She also has experience in the area of church consultations and urban ministry to the poor and assists her husband, who is a ministry center director in the Lower Haight district of San Francisco. Allan Karr is currently an associate professor of missional/church planting at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary and a practitioner of church planting and community development. Allan has also served for ten years as a national missionary of the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. ABOUT LEADERSHIP NETWORK The mission of Leadership Network identifies and connects innovative church leaders, providing them with resources in the form of new ideas, people, and tools. Contact Leadership Network atwww.leadnet.org.