Deep and Wide: Creating Churches Unchurched People Love to Attend - eBook

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.