Drawing candidly on the origins and experiences of North Point Community Church, Andy Stanley's Deep & Wide explains how to create a vibrant, sustained, and growing community that strongly appeals to people with little or no church background.

Deep & Wide shows how North Point wishes created a weekend experience where even those most skeptical unbelievers wanted to return simply because the message they heard was so compelling, and the people they met so authentic. At the center of this effort, according to Stanley, is his appeal to "dual audiences" in his sermons that draws in listeners but never "dumbs down" content.

This approach also led North Point to create a dynamic spiritual formation program which emphasized teaching, community, and environment. Here, Stanley explains that teaching is made accessible in the church, but it is also a part of a larger church culture into which anyone may step. The emphasis is on creating a community of depth and openness which make everyone feel welcome within the church-even the first time they visit. Finally, for those willing to take their church through the process of growing Deep & Wide, Stanley includes a chapter on how to transformation your church, while emphasizing the importance of nurturing current believers and bringing new people into the church.

This book is an ideal resource for a church staff to read together. It is equally valuable for individual leaders, program directors, and all leaders in the church to consider for their own ministries. Stanley brings together effectively two approaches that are often considered irreconcilable and has given leaders a road map wherein any church can be Deep & Wide.

With surprising candor and transparency pastor Andy Stanley explains how one of America's largest churches began with a high-profile divorce and a church split. But that's just the beginning... Deep and Wide provides church leaders with an in-depth look into North Point Community Church and its strategy for creating churches unchurched people absolutely love to attend. Andy writes, 'Our goal is to create weekend experiences so compelling and helpful that even the most skeptical individuals in our community would walk away with every intention of returning the following week...with a friend!' Later he says, 'I want people to fall in love with the Author of Scripture. And while we can't make anyone fall in love, we can certainly arrange a date.' For the first time, Andy explains his strategy for preaching and programming to 'dual audiences': mature believers and cynical unbelievers. He argues that preaching to dual audiences doesn't require communicators to 'dumb down' the content. According to Stanley, it's all in the approach. You'll be introduced to North Point's spiritual formation model: The Five Faith Catalysts. Leaders responsible for ministry programing and production will no doubt love Andy's discussion of the three essential ingredients for creating irresistible environments. For pastors willing to tackle the challenge of transitioning a local congregation, Andy includes a section entitled: Becoming Deep and Wide. If your team is more concerned with who you are reaching than who you are keeping, Deep and Wide will be more than a book you read; it will be a resource you come back to over and over! 'Couldn't be prouder of my son, Andy. And I couldn't be more excited about the content of this book. I wish a resource like this existed when I was starting out in ministry.' - Dr. Charles Stanley, Founder, In Touch Ministries 'Deep and Wide pulls back the curtain for all of us to see what is required behind the scenes to build a prevailing church. I was both challenged and inspired by this book.' - Bill Hybels, author of Just Walk Across the Room 'The most common question I get from pastors is, 'How do I get the people in my church to be open to change?' From now on my answer will be, 'Read Deep and Wide by Andy Stanley'. Thanks Andy. Great book!' - Craig Groeschel, Pastor, LifeChurch.TV, author, It: How Churches and Leaders Can Get It and Keep It 'No one has given me more practical handles for establishing a focused vision than Andy Stanley. Deep and Wide is a rich resource to help all of us stay intentional about the main thing - building a church that reaches people who are far from God.' - Steven Furtick, Lead Pastor, Elevation Church

Andy Stanley is the founder of North Point Ministries, Inc. (NPM). Each Sunday, more than 33,000 people attend one of NPM's seven Atlanta-area churches. In addition, NPM has planted over 25 churches outside the metro Atlanta area with a combined weekly attendance of more than 15,000. Over one million of Andy's messages are accessed from our North Point websites monthly, including both leadership and sermon content. To learn more and to access our free online resources, visit us at www.northpointministries.org. SPANISH BIO: Andy Stanley fundo North Point Ministries, Inc. (NPM) en 1995 con la vision de crear iglesias a las cuales les agradara asistir tambien a las personas que no se identifican con ninguna otra iglesia. Cada domingo, mas de 33.000 personas asisten a una de las siete iglesias que tiene North Point en la zona de Atlanta, Georgia. NPM tambien ha fundado tambien mas de 25 iglesias fuera de la zona metropolitana de Atlanta, con una asistencia semanal combinada de mas de 15.000 personas. Cada mes, mas de un millon de personas escuchan sus mensajes en los distintos portales de NPM en la web. Andy y su esposa Sandra viven en Alpharetta, Georgia, y tienen tres hijos: Andrew, Garrett y Allie. Puedes encontrar mas informacion y utilizar los recursos gratuitos que se ofrecen, entrando a su portal: www.northpointministries.org.

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