This is kind of a weird time in this process. I am in a sort of hold pattern, but I am educating myself as much as possible. Reading several books, and visiting blogs, and various websites for resources. Some of the following are what I have been reading or checking out:
Books:
In the Name of Jesus-Reflections on Christian Leadership - Henri Nouwen
Communicating for a Change - Andy Stanley and Lange Jones
Career Crossover-Leaving the Marketplace for Ministry - Thom Harper
Blogs:
1. http://boydbettis.typepad.com/ - Boyd is a creative dude who is currently doing a great series on his blog about Ideas for-Creative Worship and other cool stuff.
2. http://www.vinceantonucci.com/ - Vince happens to be my pastor, but this blog is full of great data for church planters and leaders.
3. http://www.benarment.com/ - Ben is a pastor in Reston, Va. Just a creative dude, and has a great 1 day conference coming up in May. Check it out!
4. http://paulurban.blogs.com/ - Just a cool cat up in the cold north who is doing some good stuff with his church. His name sounds like is some Rap Star! Maybe he is?
5. http://www.gregnettle.com/ - I just like the way this guy thinks, and he is genuinely just a nice guy. His only fault is that he is Buckeye and Browns fan! :-)
6. http://www.brianjones.com/ - Brian is the senior pastor of CCV church in Philly. Anyone who serves in Philly is just cool! Unfortunately, he is also a Buckeye fan. :-(
Resource Sites:
1. http://www.church-planting.net/ - Great resource site with lots of free stuff. They do great free demographic reports.
2. http://www.newchurches.com/ - Another great resource site. Lots of links to great blogs and lots of free documents to download.
3. http://www.executivepastoronline.com/ - Kevin Stone is the Executive Pastor for Christ Church in the Valley in Philly. This is a great site for Executive Pastors and for churches who do not have executive pastors. For a small fee, this site will be a great resource!
4. http://www.churchmarketingstinks.com/ - Funny name, and a source of some creative ways to get your name out there.
There are of course a ton more, but these are the few that I have been visiting as of late. There is much to learn, and time waits for no one. Spring of 2009 will be here before we know it; so now is the season of learning and data gathering. Please continue to pray for us! :-)
BLOG SIGN UP
Posts
Comments
2 comments:
Hey Rich, enjoy the downtime as it is about to get crazy-hectic and the ride is gonna be wild!
If you haven't already read Starting a Church by Ralph Moore, that is the standard text all church planters look to. A book that really spoke to me was The Forgotten Ways by Allan Hirsch. He's an Aussie, but his ideas speak to me and my community because he has a very missional sense. However, the one book that was totally radical in its ideas on church planting was Launch by Searcy & Thomas. They don't talk about small groups or much build up. These guys have an awesome faith and just launched a church from scratch that is over 1,000 after just two years, and in New York! This book will change the way you think and make you question some of the things they teach at Orchard Group. It's good to see different approaches in my opinion :)
As always, I'm praying for you, your family, and the Lehigh Valley. I'm excited to hear how things progress as you're only a year away.
Maybe....Just Maybe there's a common thread here.....Maybe....Just Maybe you ought to become a Buckeye Fan instead of knocking us all!!!!
Keep pressin on Richie...I'm praying for you and Kaya!!!
B
Post a Comment