Figures and Tables ix
About Leadership Network xi
Foreword by Alan Hirsch xiii
Preface xvii
1 The Once and Future Church 1
2 Acknowledging Self 17
3 Cultivating Community 33
4 Patterns That Honor God 51
5 Designing Around Beliefs 67
6 Releasing Communitas 79
7 Designing in Culture 95
8 Embracing Culture 113
9 A Palette of Models 125
10 Discovering Congruency 145
11 Organizing by Design 159
12 A New Way of Organizing 177
Notes 191
Acknowledgments 201
About the Authors 205
Index 207

A design-thinking book for planting or redesigning churches and incubating a new generation of leaders. Written by Linda Bergquist and Allan Karr, two experienced church planters and mentors, the book is full of wisdom, practical advice, and creative counsel. Instead of a business-model-as-usual approach, the authors challenge readers to begin with the raw materials of beliefs, values, individuals, teams, and culture, and to then move outwards to draw from a rich palette of real and potential church paradigms. This book is meant to provoke church leaders to think outside of the box and to imagine how their churches might better reflect the image and the mission of God in the world. Contains a wealth of illustrative examples, charts, and other visual aides Offers a creative practical perspective and a multi-disciplinary approach to establishing a new church or leading an existing one Shows how to honor a church's purpose while embracing its unique culture Includes important lessons for nurturing church leadership skills