logo
Community Is Messy: The Perils and Promise of Small Group Ministry, By Heather Zempel alt

Community Is Messy

The Perils and Promise of Small Group Ministry

by Heather Zempel

Community Is Messy
Ebook
  • Length: 203 pages
  • Published: May 25, 2012
  • Imprint: IVP
  • ISBN: 9780830866977
Other Formats:

Heather Zempel oversees the community life at a multisite church in Washington, D.C., a challenging population with one of the highest relocation rates in the United States. And yet under her leadership, National Community Church has become a model for creative, dynamic, deep small group ministry.Drawing from her background as an environmental engineer (including such bizarre experiences as monitoring a pig lagoon and the unintended slaughter of a hundred innocent fish), Heather Zempel assesses the perils and possibilities inherent in small groups and other environments for Christian community. The book helps leaders begin to see the inherent "mess" of such gatherings as raw material for arriving at something beautiful. Read this book and discover fresh insights into how we can support one another's unique paths to maturity in Christ while maintaining cohesion as a community and blessing the world around us.

REVIEWS

"Honest, practical and rooted in experience, Heather's direction takes us to those earthy places that we face in day-to-day relational ministry. Her words go beyond platitudes and lead us down paths that point to wholeness in the midst of the reality of messy community. This book offers a fresh angle and creative hope to group leaders and pastors. Embracing this counsel will advance your community forward into deeper expressions and experiences of community. Buy it! Sit with it. Pray throughit."M. Scott Boren, consultant, trainer, and author of Missional Small Groups
"Community Is Messy offers a fresh perspective on the challenges all leaders face in building biblical community. Zempel draws on multiple disciplines to stretch our thinking on strategy, growth and discipleship. It is immediately in the top five on my must-read list for small group pastors and leaders!"Greg Bowman, author, Coaching Life-Changing Small Group Leaders
"If you could somehow blend equal parts Bonhoeffer, Mr. Wizard and 'Unsinkable' Molly Brown, you'd get something close to Heather Zempel. It would be a fascinating experiment, like those she describes in Community Is Messy. Stories of what worked (and what didn't) provide countless examples of how discipleship in community is usually nonlinear, often random and always messy. With deep insight and ample humor, Heather proves that 'mess' is actually a catalyst for spiritual growth."Dave Treat, small groups leader, Asbury UMC, Madison, Alabama, and chief innovation officer, thinkingsmall.net
More

CONTENTS

Foreword by Mark Batterson
First Things First: Blood, Sweat and Spit
1. Community Is Messy
2. Everything Is an Experiment
3. Lead Yourself Well
4. Growing People
5. Discipleship Is Not Linear
6. Small Groups Should Happen in Real Life
7. Systems Are Made to Be Destroyed
8. Wear Out Your Welcome
Navigating the Mess
Appendix 1: NCC Core Discipleship Groups
Appendix 2: A Word to Smaller Churches
Acknowledgments
Notes

More

You May Also Like

The Epic of Eden
What Hath Justice to Do with Righteousness?
We Believe in the Holy Spirit
Moms on the Way
We Believe in One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church
Culture Care
The Barnabas Factor
Modern Psychopathologies
Water from a Deep Well
Job

ABOUT Heather Zempel

Heather Zempel

Heather Zempel is the discipleship pastor at National Community Church in Washington, D.C, and the author of Sacred Roads: Exploring the Historic Paths of Discipleship.

Related Titles