If there's any premise in Church in the Making, it's: How the church gets started, so goes the church. This book will impact church plants most, but it's for leaders who wants to know how the history of their church will impact its future.
There's always a back-story you need to know...
If you’ve ever read The Purpose Driven Church, you know the story of how Rick Warren prayed for a church to pastor for the rest of his life. He scoured maps in his basement for fast-growing areas and discovered Orange County. The kicker is that he sent a letter to a director of missions in California at the same time the director was sending a letter to him.
What you probably don't know is that before Rick planted Saddleback Community Church, he attended and then taught at California Baptist University in Riverside, California. But not only this - he preached over 100 revivals throughout the Riverside area, which is just a 30-minute drive from where the Saddleback campus currently sits.
Most church planters are taught to believe it's all about their faith; all about their leadership; all about their courage and calling. But nobody ever says anything about context...
B&H had a glitch on the press last week, so the book was delayed getting into stores. But I suspect shelves will be stocked by middle of this week at the latest. Thanks for supporting it!
Congratulations! I'll be looking for it.
Out of curiosity, how did you pick B&H? What was the process, criteria, etc?
Posted by: Mike O | April 05, 2010 at 11:15 AM
I think these back stories are very fascinating. Gives a picture into what it was like before he was the Rick Warren we know now. We all start somewhere
Posted by: Kyle Reed | April 05, 2010 at 11:38 AM
mike i have an agent in orange county, ca who pitched it to 12 publishers. there's a bidding process...
as it turns out, i love b&h. They're incredible to work with. And they're connected to the largest church planting organization in the US - the SBC - of which I was a part for 12 years.
Posted by: Ben Arment | April 05, 2010 at 12:05 PM
Ben, I don't know if you read a Twitter, but I went on the 3rd to B&N purchase your book, and the lady behind the counter told me it was out of print. I explained to her that it was released on the 1st, of this month, this year. She still insisted that the book was no longer being printed. I thought it was funny.
Posted by: Rich Grasso | April 05, 2010 at 01:50 PM
sorry Rich... ugh. it was just delayed in being shipped. hopefully it will be available soon.
Posted by: Ben Arment | April 05, 2010 at 02:42 PM
Amazon is saying May 8, this morning.
Posted by: Jim Baker | April 06, 2010 at 07:54 AM
that's lousy... so sorry about that
Posted by: Ben Arment | April 06, 2010 at 10:57 AM