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Books GREAT “MOBILIZING” TEXTS
Robert Lewis, The Church of Irresistible Influence (Grand
Rapids, MI.: Zondervan, 2001). Tells the thrilling but very practical
story of how Fellowship Bible Church retooled itself to become
“irresistible” to the community. A great one to give out to senior
pastors.
Ron Sider, Phil Olson, Heidi Unruh, Churches that Make a Difference
(Grand Rapids, MI.: Baker Books, 2002). Provides a compelling description
of “holistic” churches and gives a wealth of practical advice on how to
build them. Many of the descriptions for the various websites and books
were taken directly from this book. It is a net-worker’s dream.
Amy Sherman, ABC’s of Community Ministry (Charlottesville, VA.;
Hudson Faith in Communities, 2001). A workbook that is sufficiently
thorough yet strikingly simple…perfect for laying a foundation for
holistic ministry with busy lay people.
Amy Sherman, Restorers of Hope (Charlottesville, VA.; Hudson
Faith in Communities, 1997). Gives stirring evidence that a church can be
a Restorer of Hope in its community. Also shows how to move beyond
ordinary “commodity-based ministry” to the real transformational work of
“relational-based ministry.”
Tim Keller, Ministries of Mercy, The Call of the Jericho Road,
2nd edition, (Phillipsburg, NJ.: P&R Publishing, 1997). Packed full of
simple but compelling theology and great advice on how to launch
compassion ministry teams in a local church. Keller pastors an urban
church that is making a big impact in New York.
Manuel Ortiz and Harvey Conn, Urban Ministry: The Kingdom, the City,
and the People of God (Downers Grove, Ill.: Intervarsity Press, 2001).
The authors of Churches that Make a Difference (Sider, Olson and
Unruh) claim this is the BEST BOOK on the subject of urban ministry!
Sue Mallory, The Equipping Church (Grand Rapids, MI.:
Zondervan, 2001). By using a real life church, Mallory describes how to
develop and customize an equipping system and culture in your church.
This book is unique in that it focuses on developing “systems” within
a church to give the infrastructure required to mobilize an entire church
of busy lay people.
John Perkins, Beyond Charity, the Call to Christian Community
Development (Grand Rapids, MI.: Baker, 1993). A father of the
“holistic ministry movement,” Perkins gives principles for holistic
ministry development. He is the cofounder of the Christian Community
Development Association. Restoring At Risk Communities: Doing It
Together and Doing it Right (Grand Rapids, MI.: Baker, 1995) is a very
helpful sequel that gives practical advice from a wide variety of
different practioners across the country.
MOTIVATIONAL “OUTREACH” READING
Mathew Barnett, The Church that Never Sleeps (Nashville, TN.:
Thomas Nelson, 2000)
Robert Lewis, The Church of Irresistible Influence (Grand
Rapids, MI.: Zondervan, 2001)
John Perkins, Let Justice Roll Down (Regal Books, 1976)
Ray Baake, Urban Christian (Downers Grove, Ill. InterVarsity
Press, 1987)
Robert Lupton, Return Flight, Community Development Through
Re-neighboring Our Communities (Atlanta, GA.: FCS Urban Ministries,
1993)
BIBLE READING
Ron Sider, They Shall be Fed. Contains all the scriptures about
God’s heart for the “orphans, widows and strangers” PRINTED OUT plus a
good table of contents and scripture index.
Amy Sherman, Sharing God’s Heart for the Poor: Meditations for
Worship, Prayer, and Service (Charlottesville, VA.: Trinity
Presbyterian Church, 1999). This convicting little devotional is perfect
for lay people who want little bites at a time about God’s heart for the
suffering in our midst. It’s a great accompaniment to any class on
compassion ministries.
HEAVY BUT HELPFUL
Bryant Meyers,
Walking with the Poor (Maryknoll, NY.: Orbis
Books, 1999) provides an excellent
overview of best practice development work for effective impact among
impoverished communities.
Robert Linthicum, Empowering the Poor,
Community Organizing Among the City’s “Rag, Tag, and Bobtail”
(Monrovia, CA.: World Vision International, 1991) builds on the issues of
poverty being about empowerment versus lack of resource and explains the
approach of community organization as a worthwhile solution.
Bruce Bradshaw, Bridging the Gap
helps evangelical churches to understand that doing development is
evangelism that distinctly fulfills our mandate of proclaiming the whole
Gospel.
NOTE: Much of the above
information was taken directly from the bibliography in Churches that
Make a Difference by Ron Sider, Phil Olson, and Heidi Unruh.
The original
Salt & Light Guidebook (This file requires Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you do not
have the Reader,
Click Here to download the free
version. It is a large file, so please allow several minutes for
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