Leadership Network News

Innovation 2007 Showcases New Directions in North American Churches

February 8, 2007

DALLAS, TX (February 8, 2007) Starting today, the lead pastors in America’s largest, most influential and fastest-growing churches will each receive a handwritten note and personal copy of Innovation 2007, a richly illustrated 64-page book just released by Leadership Network. The ambitious project presents a unique catalog and analysis of today’s most promising church innovations.

“What better way to introduce a book on church innovation than with an innovative distribution method,” explains Tom Wilson, president and CEO of Leadership Network. “The wide distribution will also support one of our most important goals for this project—spreading the reach and influence of these innovative practices to as many churches and church leaders as possible.”

“Innovation 2007 is not a statistical analysis, research paper or encyclopedia, but rather a helpful and easy-to-read executive summary,” says Dave Travis, Executive Vice President of Leadership Network and the driving force behind the project. “Each year, we send skilled teams out to discover the newest and most significant developments in God’s Kingdom work. Innovation 2007 is a short visual and verbal summary of this year’s findings.”

Encouraging innovation in churches is nothing new to Leadership Network. For more than 20 years, the Dallas-based non-profit has aided and equipped many of the most innovative, well-known and successful churches in North America. With 104 diagrams and charts, 10 in-depth profiles of compelling trends and literally hundreds of facts and examples, Innovation 2007 is the most single biggest compilation of ideas and insights ever undertaken by the group.

Warren Bird, Leadership Network’s Director of Research, directed and served as principal writer on the year-long project. Bird, who has co-authored 16 books on various church-related topics, organized and grouped the massive amount of data in Innovation 2007 into four primary sections:

Snapshots ("Why churches need innovation") reports 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.

Discoveries ("How churches use innovation") covers 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.

Commentary ("In-depth perspectives on innovative trends") analyzes 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.

Resources ("Strategic readings about leading innovations") presents a host of materials readers can use to further their 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.

In total, more than 2,000 innovative churches, media, thought leaders and other influencers are included in the free distribution program. Other interested parties can request copies of Innovation 2007 (at a cost of $10 each) by completing a short signup form online at www.leadnet.org/links/innovation2007. Copies will be distributed as long as supplies last.

According to Travis, Innovation 2007 is not a book to be read, but rather a resource to be used. “We serve a God who is constantly creating and inventing—and churches need to be constantly innovating to remain faithful to God’s redemptive message to the world. Innovation 2007 will help Christian leaders quickly digest current topics of discussion in churches of various traditions and size—and clarify what is most useful in their individual context. We also hope it will contribute to the understanding and perspective of researchers and analysts who are studying today’s Church.”

About Leadership Network: Based in Dallas, Texas, Leadership Network is a non-profit public charity that fosters church innovation and growth through a variety of programs, resources and strategies in furtherance of a far-reaching mission to identify, connect and help high-capacity Christian leaders multiply their impact. For more about Leadership Network, see www.leadnet.org and www.halftime.org. Media interested in a review copy of Innovation 2007 or wishing to interview any of the principals involved in the project should contact Rick Long at 1.800.477.6698 x 102 or rlong@sourcepub.com.

 

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