If the church is to thrive in the twenty-first century, it will have to take on a new form as it ministers to the 120 million unchurched people in the United States. Planting Growing Churches for the 21st Century is still virtually the only available text on church planting in North America and beyond. In this third edition, readers will find material on the importance of healthy, biblical change in our churches, updated appendixes, insight on our postmodern ministry context, and strategies for reaching new population demographics such as Generations X and Y. Pastors, ministry leaders, and church planters will find the information and advice found in this book invaluable as they carry out their ministries.

Emphasizes the importance of ministry's core values, mission, and strategy and shows church planters how to focus on the essential ingredients for success.

As a response to the unique challenges facing the twenty-first-century American church, church planting has become a popular topic. But at a time when churches that spread the seed of the Word through preaching, the sacraments, and prayer are greatly needed, much of the focus has been on planting churches that adapt pop culture to meet "consumer demand." In Planting, Watering, Growing, the authors of this collection of essays weave together theological wisdom, personal experiences, and practical suggestions, guiding readers through the foundations and methods of planting confessional churches that uphold the Word of God.

Relationships are a wonderful, mysterious, often elusive, sometimes painful part of the human experience. The most intimate of all human relationships, according to the Bible, is that between a husband and a wife. It is no surprise, therefore, that there is a book of the Bible, the Song of Songs, that focuses on this relationship. What is surprising is how little attention is given to the Song of Songs by scholars, by the church, and by readers of the Bible. With this volume Tremper Longman III unpacks for modern people what this ancient love poem says about the male-female relationship -- and, by analogy, about God's love for his people. Longman's superb study begins with a thorough introduction to the Song of Songs and its background. Longman discusses the book's title, authorship, date, literary style, language, structure, cultural milieu, and theological content. He also canvasses the long history of interpretation of the Song of Songs, a history too often characterized by repression of the text. In the commentary itself, Longman structures the Song of Songs according to its twenty-three poetic units and explains its message verse by verse. The exposition is made clearer by Longman's adoption of an anthropological approach to the text and by his frequent comparisons of the Song of Songs with other ancient Near Eastern literature. Learned yet highly accessible, innovative yet fully informed by past scholarship, this commentary shows the beautiful Song of Songs to be a timeless celebration of human love and sexuality.

If the church is to thrive in the twenty-first century, it will have to take on a new form as it ministers to the 120 million unchurched people in the United States. Planting and Growing Urban Churches is still virtually the only available text on church planting in North America and beyond. In this third edition, readers will find material on the importance of healthy, biblical change in our churches, updated appendices, insight on our postmodern ministry context, and strategies for reaching new population demographics such as Generation X and Y. Pastors, ministry leaders, and church planters will find the information and advice found in this book invaluable as they carry out their ministries.

Practical and theoretical instruction for mainline church planting. The Episcopal Church has recognized that planting new churches is a high priority through the Mission Enterprise Zones initiative, which provides grant funding for new worshiping communities, in partnership with dioceses. While there is significant literature and training available for church planters in evangelical contexts, very little is available for planters in the Episcopal/mainline context. This book addresses how to rise up and train leaders for the difficult task of planting new churches in the twenty-first century. It answers the essential questions, such as why should we plant churches, what models of church planting are most successful, what kinds of leaders are necessary, and what problems can be expected. Through the author’s personal experience and interviews with diocesan experts and leaders in mainline denominations, it provides strategies, approaches, and problem-solving techniques.

What does church planting look like in the 21st century? Is the goal to plant more churches or is it to plant new kinds of churches? In Planting Churches in the 21st Century, Stuart Murray suggests that church planting isn't just about numbers--it's about the renewal of the church and the development of new ways of being the church that are biblically rooted and contextually appropriate. With his gift for posing thought-provoking questions while writing in a clear, logical style, Murray provides stimulation and challenge to anyone who wants to see new churches come into being. But don't look here for stereotypes and ready-made blueprints; Murray's approach is open-ended and leaves ample room for personal reflection and creative responses. "Most of the literature on church planting in North America assumes that that the Christendom come-to-us model still works. That is true for a rapidly declining segment of the population and fails to reach the growing ranks of the never-churched. Stuart Murray has provided a much needed contribution to the study and practice of church planting by addressing the basic questions: Why plant Churches? Where? When? What? Who? and What Next? "In addressing each of these fundamental questions he both surveys a wide terrain and digs deeply, drawing from his long experience with a wide variety of traditions. He also writes as a practitioner and not just a theoretician. This is not a step-by-step, how to book that you can read and set aside, but a reference book that church planters will want to turn to on a regular basis." —Eddie Gibbs, professor of Church Growth at Fuller Theological Seminary and co-author of Emerging Churches: Creating Christian Community in Postmodern Cultures "Murray provides the scaffolding church leaders need to extend an effective and incarnational witness to the reign of God. This book is a 'must-read' for all students and practitioners of church planting. Missional leaders who long to see the church become a nesting place for all will find good guidance for aligning the work of the church with the inbreaking of God's kingdom." —David Boshart, lead pastor at West Union Mennonite Church and mission strategist Click here to read a press release about the book. Click here to read an interview with author Stuart Murray. Click here to read the foreword by Rev. Anne Wilkinson-Hayes, North-West Metro Baptist Union of Victoria, Australia. Free downloadable study guide available here.