C О N Т Е N Т

PREFACE -- 7
INTRODUCTION -- 9
If you have a new world, you need a new church. You have a new world.
STRATEGY ONE: MAXIMIZE DISCONTINUITY -- 17
Distinguish between renewed, restored, and reconceived churches, and focus on the last.
STRATEGY TWO: REDEFINE YOUR MISSION -- 27
Clarify and simplify to "more Christians, better Christians,” and take both parts seriously.
STRATEGY THREE: PRACTICE SYSTEMS THINKING -- 37
See the church program in terms of interrelated systems rather than quick fixes.
STRATEGY FOUR: TRADE UP YOUR TRADITIONS
FOR TRADITION -- 49
Distinguish between church traditions and the Christian Tradition, and move emphasis from the former to the latter.
STRATEGY FIVE: RESURRECT THEOLOGY AS ART
AND SCIENCE -- 63
Stop thinking of theology as a matter of technical training, in which answers are already known, and rejuvenate theology through a quest for truth and beauty.
STRATEGY SIX: DESIGN A -- NEW APOLOGETIC -- 71
Find fresh ways to communicate the gospel to the postmodern mind.
STRATEGY SEVEN: LEARN A NEW RHETORIC -- 81
Realize that old communication patterns are less and less effective in the new world, and discover new, appropriate modes of discourse.
STRATEGY EIGHT: ABANDON STRUCTURES AS THEY ARE OUTGROWN -- 95
Adopt a new paradigm for church structure that allows for routine reengineering based on changes in size, constituency, resources, and strategy.
STRATEGY NINE: SAVE THE LEADERS -- 111
Recognize the terrible toll that the transition time is taking on leaders; recognize their immense value to the church at this time; help them to be “saved" for their needed work.
STRATEGY TEN: SUBSUME MISSIONS IN MISSION -- 125
Understand the crisis in world missions, and help launch a new missionary movement.
STRATEGY ELEVEN: LOOK AHEAD, FARTHER AHEAD -- 151
Anchor your hope in the future rather than the past, and explore a new eschatology.
STRATEGY TWELVE A: ENTER THE POSTMODERN WORLD— PART A: UNDERSTAND IT -- 165
Understand postmodernism, and learn to see it from the inside.
STRATEGY TWELVE B: ENTER THE POSTMODERN WORLD— PART B: ENGAGE IT -- 177
Engage postmodernism, and maximize the opportunities it presents.
STRATEGY THIRTEEN: ADD TO THIS LIST -- 197
Help your church become a learning organization that discovers and implements its own new strategies.
APPENDIX: STRATEGY SPECIFICS -- 203
NOTES -- 217
ABOUT THE AUTHOR -- 223

Is any one way really the “right” way for your church to impact today’s rapidly changing culture? With all the different church models to choose from, does any one of them truly offer “The Answer”? Whether your church is large or small, Brian McLaren gives you a fresh, creative option—and it starts by asking yourself, as he did, “What kind of church would we want to be if we had to start from scratch?” With wisdom gleaned from experience and seasoned with humor, McLaren gives you not another “here’s the way” approach, but thirteen tested strategies that can help you and your congregation determine where you want to go...and how to get there.