How can an ordinary church grow disciples who live their whole lives as followers of Jesus? Disciples whose faith shapes their attitudes as neighbours, colleagues and family members?  
Our time in church needs to equip us to be salt and light in our time out there. Drawn from the hard-won lessons of the Imagine project, this book offers help and hope from churches which have begun to do just that:  
\* Lessons from three years' work with pilot churches  
\* Practical ideas for your church  
\* Real-life stories of churches and individuals  
It doesn't offer quick fixes. There aren't any. Instead, it offers new hope and little changes which change everything.

Neil Hudson

From churches involved in the Imagine Project

Imagine Church

Acknowledgments

Foreword

Beginnings and the bigger picture

A new mission strategy

Who do we think you are?

Turning vision into reality

What it takes to change

This is not the whole story

1 God’s people out there: in place – ready to go?

Then...

And now...

Good news for individuals and churches

When a church changes

Building something new

This is urgent

Pause for thought

2 The whole-life church: a renewed vision

What you might be missing

The challenge for us all

The challenge of the biblical big story

Why a new perspective matters

Whole-life calling and frontline mission

Being discipled in the 110

What's the goal?

3 Changing from the inside out: values before actions

What is the real issue?

What do we mean by culture?

Culture matters

4 How to become a whole-life disciple-making church

Fundamental principles guiding a whole-life disciple-making church

The process of becoming a whole-life disciple-making church

1. Cast a vision

2. Focus on the frontline

3. Grow a core team

4. Make one-degree shifts

5. Share stories

6. Redefine the church contract

5 All learning together: redefining the church contract

1. Moving from a pastoral care contract to a pastoral equipping contract

2. A change in the psychology of the relationship between leaders and people

3. A change in the leaders' focus

Before you switch off...

6 How the whole-life DNA changes things: three examples

1. Whole-life Sunday mornings

2. Whole-life coffee rotas

3. Whole-life living

7 As you begin...

Are you ready to face the challenges?

Why you don't need to wait

How will you know you have changed?

The determination of the faithful

Moving onwards – guidelines and resources

The next steps: a reflection guide

1. Pause for thought

2. What you could do in the next two weeks

3. What could you do in the next two months

Fuel for the journey: resources and links

Resources for use by church members

A reminder of the big picture

Notes

Chapter 4: How to become a whole-life disciple-making church

Chapter 5: All learning together

Chapter 7: As you begin...

__How can an ordinary church become a community of people who help one another live out their whole life at home, work, church, in the neighbourhood as followers of Jesus in his mission to the world?__

This book is for those who want life together in church to equip disciples who live out their faith in the realities of their day-to-day world.

\- Draws on three years of work with pilot churches across the UK

\- Practical examples of how a church can change

\- Real-life stories of churches and individuals

\["Want to see your Church grow?","Neil Hudson equips you to grow disciples in your Church","You'll be fired up to invest in your Church and see where it could go"\]

Acknowledgements

Foreword

Beginnings and the Bigger Picture

1\. God's people out there: in place - ready to go?

2\. The whole-life church: a renewed vision

3\. Changing from the inside out: values before actions

4\. How to become a whole-life disciple-making church

5\. All learning together: redefining the church contract

6\. How the whole-life DNA changes things: three examples

7\. As you begin...

Moving onwards - guidelines and resources

The next steps: a reflection guide

Fuel for the journey: resources and links

A reminder of the big picture

Notes

Where could your Church be in the next 5 years? What about the next 10? Imagine Church by Neil Hudson will help you invest in discipleship and growth.

Neil Hudson has been a full-or-part time local church leader for over 25 years. For eleven years he taught at Regents Theological College, but now works on the Imagine Project at The London Institute for Contemporary Christianity, a project designed to encourage churches to help whole-life disciples make a difference wherever they are. He is also a leader of the Salford Elim Church.

Jesus Christ has been the dominant figure in the history of Western culture for two millennia, and his birth the pivot of our calendar. He is the focus of Scripture and the heart of mission, the message that countless Christians cross land and sea, continents and cultures, to deliver. In masterly surveys, John Stott looks at the New Testament witness, at the way the church has portrayed Christ down through the centuries, and at the influence Christ has had on individuals over the last two millennia. Finally, turning to the book of Revelation, he asks what Jesus Christ should mean to us today. Here is the fruit of a lifetime of biblical study, rigorous Christian thought and devotion to the person of Jesus Christ.

The Good Book Stall

Calling people into whole life discipleship: seeing Jesus everywhere, accessible and applicable is not an easy call. Disciple-making is hard, worthwhile, adventurous living and Neil Hudson’s masterly title will resource and inspire your obedience in the mission of Jesus in your world.  
I particularly love the underlying culture changing dynamic of Neil's writing. This is the spinal core of this new work calling us to attitude, action and transformation. As a pastor-theologian-leader Neil has gifted the church with something of lasting worth in transforming what can often feel dull, safe and stuck in our church communities. Logic, theology and practical steps abound.  
You'll often be saying 'a-ha', as few books offer such clear truth-telling, hope and actionable examples. Essential reading for all church leaders and useful for all Christians everywhere. This could be the best LICC (London Institute of Contemporary Christianity) title yet, and a prophetic catalyst for a nation of believers longing to get out of the limited straitjackets of our present existence into the spacious, risky, faithful and fruitful life of Jesus-following. Free of guilt, clichés and predictable step-plans........ this is full of wisdom and already one of my best reads of 2012. It could resource a revolution! Simple, practical and compelling.

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