The temptation to focus only on their own internal problems and issues is powerful for congregations. Without realizing it, even churches that have a long tradition of outreach and social involvement become centered on issues of institutional survival and preservation. Worst of all are congregations that adopt a "fortress mentality" addressing the larger community rarely, and only in the "language of Zion" when they do. This tendency to isolation and insularity flies directly in the face of the gospel imperative to spread the good news of Jesus Christ. Christian congregations exist as God's redeeming presence in the communities in which they are located. If churches are to live as though they take that seriously, they must learn to give themselves away to the community. The focus of every ministry and program must be to reach and make disciples of the unchurched. In this book, Paul Nixon paints a picture of what community based ministry is all about. Drawing on his experiences within a congregation that has seen twenty-five years of increased worship attendance, he lays out practical steps that churches can take to plant themselves firmly within the lives of the communities they serve. He demonstrates how churches can organize their facilities to become community centers, establish multiple locations for ministry throughout the community, and empower every member to become a minister of the congregation. Written with an infectious sense of hope, this book will become a critical tool for church leaders seeking to transform their congregations into outward-looking bodies of witness.

Fling Open the Doors: Giving the Church Away to the Community

Religion & Spirituality

Nixon, Paul

Christian Books & Bibles

ABINGDON PRESS *

There is no end to clichés and easy assumptions about congregational health and vitality. It's much easier to start a new church than turn around an old one; nondenominational churches are growing, while denominational churches are dying; small-membership churches are concerned only with survival; suburban churches care only about endless programming and "spiritual entertainment"; downtown churches are doomed to decay. Whatever kernel of truth such analyses might contain, they miss the actual point. Churches stagnate, decline, and die for a number of reasons, but principally because they have forgotten who they are. They have forgotten their mission to reach out to those who do not know God in Christ. They have forgotten that we worship--not to feel comfortable and safe--but to come into the presence of a God who leads us out into the world. They have forgotten the "cloud of witnesses" who have gone before us in the Christian faith, providing models for how we can proclaim the message of the gospel in ways that new generations can hear it. Paul Nixon calls this failure of memory "spiritual amnesia." Concerned with institutional survival and personal comfort, congregations have forgotten what previous generations of Christians have learned time and again: that the church's great challenge is to make the gospel available in new and compelling ways to those who need most to hear it. In a series of sweeping insights into congregational life and contemporary culture, Nixon maps a course that will help churches remember who they are and for whom they exist.

Healing Spiritual Amnesia: Remembering What it Means to be the Church

Tony Campolo

The temptation to focus only on their own internal problems and issues is powerful for congregations. Without realizing it, even churches that have a long tradition of outreach and social involvement become centered on issues of institutional survival and preservation. Worst of all are congregations that adopt a "fortress mentality," addressing the larger community rarely, and only in the "language of Zion" when they do. This tendency to isolation and insularity flies directly in the face of the gospel imperative to spread the good news of Jesus Christ. Christian congregations exist as God’s redeeming presence in the communities in which they are located. If churches are to live as though they take that seriously, they must learn to give themselves away to the community. The focus of every ministry and program must be to reach and make disciples of the unchurched. In this book, Paul Nixon paints a picture of what community based ministry is all about. Drawing on his experiences within a congregation that has seen twenty-five years of increased worship attendance, he lays out practical steps that churches can take to plant themselves firmly within the lives of the communitites they serve. He demonstrates how churches can organize their facilities to become community centers, establish multiple locations for ministry throughout the community, and empower every member to become a minister of the congregation. Written with an infectious sense of hope, this book will become a critical tool for church leaders seeking to transform their congregations into outward-looking bodies of witness.

Fling Open The Doors [Adobe Ebook]: Giving the Church Away to the Community

From Gower to Flintoff, Waugh to Vaughan, Cronje to Pietersen, Paul Nixon has shared a dressing room with some of the most evocative names in international and domestic cricket—and often enraged them on the field of play. The wicketkeeper, known as his sport’s most prolific "sledger," has amassed more than 20 years of stories from his career at the heart of the game and now reveals them in typically outspoken style. From "Fredalo" to match-fixing, Nixon has experienced some of the most notorious episodes in cricket history, possesses strident opinions on the game, and has a track record of success in the English first-class game and the Twenty20 revolution. With an emphasis on off-the-field anecdotes, Nixon also lays bare the personality that led the Australian legend Steve Waugh to compare him to "a mosquito buzzing around in the night, that needs to be swatted but always escapes."

Keeping Quiet: Paul Nixon: The Autobiography

Colman, Jon

Biographies & Memoirs

The History Press

The Covid-19 pandemic renewed speculation of the Church's demise, and the wake of global catastrophe heightened clergy burnout Still, Paul Nixon holds onto fierce hope that life and resurrection are choices the Church and its leaders can still make. With new material for the post-quarantine era and an included study guide, the second edition of I Refuse to Lead a Dying Church! provides excellent stimulation for faith leaders to commit to six critical choices: choosing life over death; choosing community over isolation; choosing fun over drudgery; choosing bold over mild; choosing frontier over fortress; and choosing now rather than later.

I Refuse to Lead a Dying Church

Pilgrim-Press

Finding Jesus on the Metro, Nixon's first book since his bestseller I Refuse to Lead a Dying Church!, explores what it means for a church to be on a ministry journey into the unchartered territory of unprecedented social change in 21st century America. Written from an urban perspective, Nixon has created an excellent tool for church leaders that: 1) helps them to recognize that their ministry must change in order to be effective and 2) equips them with the necessary resources to implement and cultivate this change. Divided into two sections, Finding Jesus on the Metro first looks at the communities and cultures that shape and influence this generation of young adults and then describes how churches can be a part of this influence and outlines the journey that its leaders and members will go on as they become the faith community that the newest generations of Americans need.

Finding Jesus on the Metro: And Other Surprises Doing Church in a New Day

History

World

Pilgrim Pr

Learn from and be inspired by the stories of those who "refused to lead a dying church"

We Refused to Lead a Dying Church!: Churches That Came Back Against All Odds

In the post-Christendom era, the institutional church just isn't what it used to be. But don't give up hope for the future of faith. Weird Church offers church leaders a clear vision of what's coming next, so long as they're willing to live into a few critical shifts. Utilizing Spiral Dynamics as a means of framing the current changes in North American culture, Nixon and Estock give a thrilling forecast of where the church isgoing as we race toward the mid-century.This book is a wake-up call for those who still think church revitalization is simply a matter of doing better the things that used to come so easily. A must-read for anybody who is designing Christian ministry for the new world that is rapidly emerging around us.

Weird Church: Welcome to the Twenty-First Century

Estock, Beth Ann

The increasing demographic divide between the people in our churches and those in our surrounding communities should signal to us that in most congregations, business as usual is not a reasonable way forward. Ours is a profoundly multi world that requires intentionally multi churches with the capacity to connect across diverse groups of people and worldviews. From the author of I Refuse to Lead a Dying Church, Multi is an encouraging and practical resource to equip churches for transformative relationships and multivalent ministry. Book jacket.

Multi: The Chemistry of Church Diversity

For many churches, the call to make disciples comes with a realization that the church's current worship opportunities do not reach certain groups in their surrounding community. New worship services offer the most promising strategy for renewing established churches and planting new worship communities. In a post-pandemic world, churches will be challenged to reach new people with the gospel and to help them meet in a way that is meaningful to them. Accessible to ministry professionals and lay leaders, Launching a New Worship Community is a comprehensive guide to starting a new worship community--whether that means an established church beginning a new worship service or a church startup designing its first worship offering. The authors, writing with a team of church planting experts, provide practical advice rooted in solid academics, theology, and real-world experience. With this guide, readers will have the tools they need to begin and sustain a new worship community.

Launching a New Worship Community: A Practical Guide for the 2020s

Gilbert, Craig

Discipleship Resources

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