Neil Cole, Church 3.0: Upgrades for the Future of the Church. Jossey-Bass, 2010.
Prequel: Cole, Organic Church
Sequels:
Referenced in: Missional Communties – Organic Church
LifeandLeadership.com Summary
This is the next-step volume to Neil Cole’s popular work, Organic Church (click prequel link above for summary), providing answers to some of the practical issues and answering some of the more common criticisms of the organic model. As one of the editorial reviewers says, it is a “compass, survival manual, tool kit, leadership agenda, and imagineering workshop” based on Cole’s twenty-plus years of experience in planting and leading churches. It will help not only adherents to the organic philosophy, but all others who wish to rethink church effectiveness in the postmodern era. The “From the Publisher” section below provides a good summary of the content.
In this genre, Church 3.0 is the equivalent to Frank Viola’s Finding Organic Church. Both serve as practical guides.
From the Publisher
When Neil Cole’s best-selling book Organic Church was first published, it described one of the fastest growing and most innovative segments of contemporary Christianity.
In Church 3.0, Cole makes the argument that Christianity needs more than new programs, buildings, or worship formats. It needs a complete upgrade to a new operating system. The early church shifted to a more institutional form in 300 AD and has been stuck in the 2.0 operating system ever since. We are overdue for the next upgrade. Church 3.0 discusses issues such as how to deal with heresy, how to handle finances, what to do with children, and what to do with worship, rituals, and ordinances. Even the most enthusiastic proponents and practitioners of organic churches often wonder how to handle such matters in a faithful way.
Organic churches demand a shift from a program-driven and clergy-led institutionalized approach to one that is relational, simple, intimate, and viral in the way it spreads. Instead of seeing church as something that serves its people, church becomes people who serve God, one another, and a hurting world. Church is no longer an event to be at, but a family to be part of. Church is not a program to reach out to the world, but a people that bring God with them to the world.
Based on Cole’s extensive experience in starting, nurturing, and mentoring thousands of churches, Church 3.0 offers insight and information about how to make this shift to a more organic form of church.Church 3.0 is an insider’s look at the important considerations necessary to release spontaneous church multiplication movements in a Western context.
About the Author
Neil Cole is an experienced and innovative church planter and pastor. He is the founder of the Awakening Chapels, which are reaching young postmodern people in urban settings, and a founder and executive director of Church Multiplication Associates. He is the author of Organic Church as well as and Cultivating a Life for God.
***For additional information on this resource, including reviews, click the bookstore links. Check the reference at page top or the links below for resource guides on related topics.***
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- Missional Perspectives 01, Introduction
- Missional Church Resources, Introduction and Index
- Missional Philosophy
- Theology of Mission
- Missional Communities
- Missional Leadership / Missional Strategies
- Missional Lifestyle, Discipleship, Spirituality
- Church Leadership and Renewal, Index to Resources
- Ecclesiology
- Evangelism
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