On the Verge

by Hirsch, Alan; Ferguson, Dave

• ISBN13: 9780310331001
• ISBN10: 0310331005
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-04-26
• Publisher: Zondervan

Summary

The church is on the verge of some tremendous changes. Contemporary church growth has been a blessing to the church, but typical church growth programs will not take us to the next level of mis-sional growth and involvement. Despite real gains, the church growth movement has failed to stem the decline of Christianity and the shrinking of the Western church. Existing churches will likely reach no more than 40% of the US population. What we need is not more churches, doing the same things. We need a different kind of church. In every existing form of the contemporary church---from the mega, to the multi and the incarna-tional---we are witnessing changes and finding churches that take the idea of mission seriously. Successful church leaders are using their existing forms and assets as platforms to launch more flu-id, adaptive, and missional people-movements. In this book, Hirsch and Ferguson will help you dis-cover how the insights of these leaders are launching a new apostolic movement---and how your church can get involved.

Author Biography

Alan Hirsch is an award-winning author on various aspects of missional Christianity and founder of the innovative Forge Mission Training Network. Dave Ferguson is the pioneering leader of NewThing Network, senior leader of Community Christian Church, and author of bestselling books on church planting and leadership.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. 11
Foreword	p. 13
Acknowledgments	p. 15
Introduction	p. 17
On the Verge of the Future (Alan and Dave)	p. 23
Catalysts for Ecclesiological Shift	p. 26
Dethroning Constantine	p. 32
Verging the Church: Key Themes	p. 39
A Model for Apostolic Movement	p. 46
Imagine
The Silver Imagination (Alan)	p. 53
It's Church, but Not As "We Know It	p. 54
Changing the Game	p. 64
The Verge-ination: Reimagining Church in Apostolic Perspective	p. 68
An Imaginative Solution	p. 70
Dave's Response to "The Silver Imagination"	p. 75
Mission to the Mind and Heart (Alan)	p. 83
What Got You Here Won't Get You There	p. 84
Changing the Conversation	p. 96
A Tithe to the Lord	p. 99
From Here to There, Funny Things Are Everywhere	p. 100
Dream On …	p. 102
Dave's Response to "Mission to the Mind and Heart"	p. 103
Part 2-Shift
Apostolic Genius: The Genetic Code of Movement (Alan)	p. 121
Apostolic Genius	p. 124
A Mindset, Not a Technique	p. 139
Dave's Response to "Apostolic Genius: The Genetic Code of Movement"	p. 140
Verge Vibe: The Operating System of Apostolic Movement (Alan)	p. 147
Ethos As Pivot	p. 149
The Turning Point: Aligning Ethos with Paradigm	p. 157
Dave's Response to "Verge Vibe: The Operating System of Apostolic Movement"	p. 166
Embodying Movement-Programming Practices (Alan)	p. 173
Inside Out and Outside In	p. 175
Acting Our Way into a New Way of Thinking (Outside-In Change)	p. 176
From Core Values to Core Practices	p. 179
Getting Into the Swing of Things	p. 181
Examples of Verge Practices	p. 185
Overview of Verge Process	p. 192
Dave's Response to "Embodying Movement-Programming Practices"	p. 194
Innovate
Innovate or Die (Dave)	p. 203
Crisis Is the Birthplace of Innovation	p. 204
Necessity, the Mother of Innovation	p. 204
Innovation: Most Risky or Least Risky?	p. 206
Imagination x Implementation = Innovation	p. 207
Leadership That Values and Practices Innovation	p. 208
Alan's Response to "Innovate or Die"	p. 220
Out-of-the-Box Innovation (Dave)	p. 225
Nine Characteristics of Out-of-the-Box Cultures	p. 229
Process for Creating Out-of-the-Box Culture	p. 238
Alan's Response to "Out-of-the-Box Innovation"	p. 241
Move
Gaining Missional Momentum (Dave)	p. 249
The Solution: Apostolic Movement	p. 251
On the Verge of Movementum	p. 255
A Categorization of Movement	p. 256
Gaining Missional Momentum through the Verge Process	p. 261
The Flywheel	p. 270
Alan's Response to "Gaining Missional Momentum"	p. 271
The Making of an Apostolic Movement (Dave)	p. 277
Movement Blink	p. 279
Eight Movement Rules	p. 286
Alan's Response to "The Making of an Apostolic Movement"	p. 292
Final Thoughts (Alan and Dave)	p. 299
Appendix: Church Profiles	p. 301
Notes	p. 331
Resources for Verging the Church	p. 342
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.