Innovation 2007

Thank you for your interest in Innovation 2007: Connecting Innovators to Multiply.

This book is the single biggest compilation of ideas and insights about North American churches ever undertaken by Leadership Network. The project presents a unique catalog and analysis of today’s most promising church innovations.

Click here to download a full PDF of the entire book complete with active links for the URLs listed inside (48.1MB). You may also right click (Ctrl+click on a Mac) any of the links to save the associated file to your hard drive.

If you would rather download the book in sections, see below.

Click here to download a PDF of the Introduction and Snapshots section. Snapshots provides insight about why churches need innovation, reporting on the huge societal needs and challenges to which the church must respond. Quick, at-a-glance statistics and summaries reveal, for example, startling facts on poverty, AIDS and literacy—as well as telling trends in church attendance, giving and pastors’ use of their time (16.6MB).

Click here to download a PDF of the Discoveries section. In this section, we investigate how churches use innovation. We cover 10 crucial approaches to ministry that are extending the reach and changing the face of today’s church. Topics range from churches that are creatively addressing community healthcare to significant church-based recovery ministries. In each case, Innovation 2007 explores the hows, the whys and newly emerging models of ministry (17.3MB).

Click here to download a PDF of the Commentary section. This section provides in-depth perspectives on innovative trends. We analyze two particularly significant trends in even greater detail. "Inside the American Megachurch," by Warren Bird and Scott Thumma (of the Hartford Institute for Religion Research), shows how megachurches differ from the picture assumed by many stereotypes. "What to Do with Talented People," by Robert Lewis (pastor-at-large of Little Rock’s Fellowship Bible Church and founder of Men’s Fraternity), discusses how an innovative "catch-and-release" approach to ministry can boost a church’s impact in a local community (10.3MB).

Click here to download a PDF of the Resources section. Resources provides you with strategic readings about leading innovations. Here, we present a host of materials you can use to further your understanding of high-priority topics. Coverage ranges from Leadership Network’s recent "Salary and Economic Outlook" to overviews of some 20 books and 39 helpful online resources (12.7MB).