Table of Contents

Foreword Ed Stetzer 9

Introduction: Every Church's Primary Problem Today 13

Part 1 Faking Disciples: The Uncomfortable Reality of Lower Room Leadership

1 Two Rooms: The Best Picture to Expose the North American Church's Greatest Challenge 21

2 Three Churches: The Most Useful Typology for the Next Twenty Years 39

3 Off Mission: What Keeps Leaders Serving a Functional Mission That's Not the Great Commission 53

4 Sixty Years: How Twentieth-Century Church Growth Influences Twenty-First-Century Leaders 63

5 Attendance Uppers: Three Pills Prescribed by Church Pharma 73

Interlude: The Missional Reorientation 89

Part 2 Making Disciples: The Seven Laws of the Upper Room

6 The Law of Mission: Real Church Growth Starts with a Culture of Mission, Not Worship 99

7 The Law of Power: Real Church Growth Is Powered by the Gospel, Not Relevance 113

8 The Law of Love: Real Church Growth Is Validated by Unity, Not Numbers 129

9 The Law of Context: Real Church Growth Is Local, Not Imported 141

10 The Law of Development: Real Church Growth Is about Growing People, Not Managing Programs 155

11 The Law of Leadership: Real Church Growth Is Led by Calling, Not Celebrity 169

12 The Law of Vision: Real Church Growth Is Energized by Shared Imagination, Not Shared Preference 185

Part 3 Two Funnels: The Future Church Strategy Model

13 Funnel In: How the Assimilation Model Yields Diminished Returns 205

14 Funnel Out: How Jesus's Model Generated Multiplying Impact 219

15 Funnel Fusion: How to Make Disciples without Abandoning the Institutional Presence of the Church in North America 231

Acknowledgments 251

Appendix: Relationship of Future Church Funnels to the Vision Frame 255

Notes 257

About the Authors 267