Together for the City: How Collaborative Church Planting Leads to Citywide Movements
Overview
We need a bigger vision for the city.
It’s not enough to plant individual churches in isolation from each other. The spiritual need and opportunity of our cities is too big for any one church to meet alone. Pastors Neil Powell and John James contend that to truly transform a city, the gospel compels us to create localized, collaborative church planting movements. They share lessons learned and principles discovered from their experiences leading a successful citywide movement. The more willing we are to collaborate across denominations and networks, the more effectively we will reach our communities—whatever their size—for Jesus.
Come discover what God can do in our cities when we work together.
- Offers insights and wisdom from experienced church planters
- Encourages denominations and networks to cooperate in ministry
- Addresses the need for whole-city church collaboration
Part 1: Why and What
- Foreword by Tim Keller
- Introduction: The Bigger Picture
- Vision
- Beginnings
- Movements
Part 2: How
- Core
- Cause
- Code
- Collaboration
Part 3: Who
- Taking Part
- Together Around The World
- Conclusion
While there is an increasing body of literature about church planting in general, there is almost nothing available that describes whole-city collaboration between multiple denominations, networks, and movements. Neil and John spell out what it takes to get this done. I know of no better book on the subject.
—From the foreword by Tim Keller, founding pastor, Redeemer Presbyterian Church
Eye opening and inspiring, Together for the City sounds the alarm for the great need of the day, holds out a clear and bold vision, and gives great practical advice. I'd love to see all church leaders read this, soak up its spirit, and rise to its challenge.
—Michael Reeves, president and professor of theology, Union School of Theology, author of Delighting in the Trinity
This book may be our best hope to move collaborative church planting from an oxymoron to the unstoppable force it was meant to be. What if whole cities joined together to start new churches that were making the gospel known in fresh ways to our increasingly post-Christian context? These words connect thought leadership with praxis to remind us that if the gospel is at the heart of our churches this truly is the way forward.
—Nancy Ortberg, chief executive officer of Transforming the Bay with Christ
- Title: Together for the City: How Collaborative Church Planting Leads to Citywide Movements
- Authors: Neil Powell and John James
- Publisher: IVP
- Publication Date: 2019
- Pages: 224
- Resource Type: Topical
- Topic: Ministry Resources
Neil Powell is founding pastor of City Church Birmingham in England, and also serves as codirector of 2020birmingham, a church planting movement for the city of Birmingham. He is the director of City to City UK and a chair of City to City Europe, an organization that helps local leaders plant churches in their cities. He lives in Birmingham, England, with his wife, Jane, and their two children.
John James is the lead pastor of Crossway Church in Birmingham, England, and the author of Renewal: Church Revitalisation Along The Way of the Cross. A trustee of 2020birmingham, he is part of a coalition of churches with church-planting initiatives in the Birmingham area. He also is a host for the Midlands Ministry Training Course. He lives in Birmingham, England, with his wife, Sarah, and their three children.