Building a Contagious Church

by Mark Mittelberg, Bill Hybels (Contributor)

Discover A Proven Approach to Raising Your Church's Evangelistic Temperature Evangelism. It's one of the highest values in the church. So why do so few churches put real time, money, and effort into it? Maybe it's because we don't understand the evangelistic potential of the church well enough to get excited about it. Building a Contagious Church will change that. This provocative book dispels outdated preconceptions and reveals evangelism as it really can be, radiant with the color and potential of the body of Christ and pulsing with the power of God. What's more, it walks you through a 6-Stage Process for taking your church beyond mere talk to infectious energy, action, and lasting commitment. Think it can't happen? Get ready for the surprise of your life! You and your church are about to become contagious! Most church leaders would agree there's nothing more important than evangelism---after all, eternities hang in the balance! Yet eighty-six percent of pastors admit that their church falls far short when it comes to actually doing something about it. Perhaps your church is like that, but you're unsure of what to do. That's about to change. If you long to infect your church with Great Commission fever, then challenge every member of your leadership team to read this book! Building a Contagious Church will help you customize an evangelistic strategy that really works---not just for a while, but for the long haul. Developed by one of today's foremost leaders, educators, and practitioners of evangelism---the principal author of the highly effective Becoming a Contagious Christian curriculum---this book's revolutionary insights have proved themselves time and again in all kinds of settings. So dare to get excited! This dynamic, highly adaptable approach is created to work not for some other church, but for your church. If you're ready for your leaders, members, and ministries to become fervent about reaching lost people for Christ and effective at doing so, Mark Mittelberg describes in detail how you can A Contagious Plan---Define the what, why, and how of your church's outreach to people in the neighborhoods all around you. A Contagious Change Process---Follow a 6-Stage Process that will help you raise the evangelistic temperature of your church, starting with the hearts of the leaders Contagious Diversity---Learn to maximize outreach to all kinds of non-Christians by developing ministries and events around the six different evangelism styles. Contagious Ministry---Find out how to unleash the kind of genuine, empowered ministry in your church that will impact your community---and your world. 'It doesn't matter whether your church is large or small, old or new, urban or suburban, upscale or downscale, high church or low church,' says Mittelberg. 'Regardless of where you're starting from, I'm confident that in the power of the Holy Spirit, you can take significant steps toward making your ministry more outwardly focused and evangelistically fruitful.' Get ready for a revolution in how your people view and do evangelism. And prepare for the joyous adventure of aligning yourselves with God's agenda of reaching and transforming human hearts.

Genres: Evangelism, Christian, Church, Leadership, Faith, Ecclesiology, Nonfiction

416 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Mark Mittelberg is a best-selling author, sought-after speaker, and a leading strategist in evangelism and apologetics-oriented outreach. He is the primary author (with Lee Strobel and Bill Hybels) of the updated Becoming a Contagious Christian Training Course, through which more than a million people have learned to effectively and naturally communicate their faith to others. Mark’s newest book, The Questions Christians Hope No One Will Ask, is based on a survey of 1000 Christians commissioned through the Barna organization, and deals with the ten issues that believers most want to avoid—but must not! Prior to that Mark collaborated with Lee Strobel to develop The Unexpected Adventure, a six-week devotional designed to inspire Christians and churches to enter into the excitement of sharing Christ. His previous book, Choosing Your Faith ... In a World of Spiritual Options, strengthens the faith of believers and is a great resource to give to friends who are figuring out what to believe — and he’s developed a DVD study course for Christians based on that book, Faith Path: Helping Friends Find Their Way to Christ. Mark also wrote the articles for the Choosing Your Faith New Testament. His other books include the updated Becoming a Contagious Church, which sets forth an innovative blueprint for mobilizing churches for evangelism, and the classic best-seller Becoming a Contagious Christian, which he co-authored with Hybels. In addition, Mark was contributing editor for The Journey: A Bible for the Spiritually Curious, and a contributor to Reasons for Faith: Making a Case for the Christian Faith, edited by Norman Geisler and Chad Meister, and God Is Great, God Is Good: Why Believing in God Is Reasonable & Responsible, edited by William Lane Craig and Chad Meister — which won the 2010 Christianity Today award for best book in the area of apologetics and evangelism. Mark was the evangelism director at Willow Creek Community Church in Chicago for seven years and for the Willow Creek Association for a decade. He is a frequent contributor for Outreach magazine, and he was an editorial consultant and periodic guest for Lee Strobel’s Faith Under Fire television show. He and Strobel have been ministry partners for over twenty years. After receiving an undergraduate degree in business, Mark earned a Master's Degree in Philosophy of Religion from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. In recognition of his achievements in the areas of evangelism and apologetics, he was recently honored by the conferring of a Doctor of Divinity degree from Southern Evangelical Seminary in Charlotte, North Carolina. Mark and his wife, Heidi, have two teenage children, and live near Denver, Colorado.

Reviews

[Catherine Lowe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book outlines 6 stages for building a church with a fervor for evangelism:
1. Live an evangelistic life--be an example
2. Instill evangelistic values in the people around you. Preach a Sunday sermon series on evangelism. Study/discuss evangelism in small groups. Celebrate those who have had a contagious influence.
3. Empower an evangelism leader who will lead, train, and mobilize.
4. Train the entire church in evangelism skills and styles.
5. Mobilize the church's evangelism specialists--a frontline ministry to support other ministries.
6. Unleash an array of outreach ministries and events.
The author emphasized the importance of ongoing efforts to train, support, and encourage evangelism to make it part of your church's DNA.

[Rob Markley · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is good but it is also too optimistic - church building is far more complex than simply following Willow Creek - especially outside America. All the same the key principles here in need to be remembered

[Phil Whittall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mark Mittelberg is passionate about seeing people trust their lives to Jesus. You can't read Becoming A Contagious Church and miss that one.

It's the sort of book that America and the guys at Willow Creek does so well - energetic, inspirational, aspirational, motivational and other words that make you want to get up out of your chair and change the world. Being British, we may first have a cup of tea and wait for it to be a bit warmer, which sort of takes the steam out of it a bit.

It certainly has food for thought, I liked the fact that it started with prayer and ended with a real clear understanding that it is God who saves. It wasn't simply a book that said if you do my course in your church you'll become a megachurch in 5 years! Thankfully it avoided those pitfalls.

It had some ideas that I think would work in the UK which is always a benchmark for me, how culturally 'locked in' is it. So while the style probably doesn't move that well, the substance could.

Basically it starts with the leader, for the church to care about those beyond its walls the leader must care. For the church to invite friends and speak to non-believers the leader must invite and speak, for the church to win the lost the leader must live it as well as speak it. As the leader of my church is me, that's challenging stuff. Am I stuck in the Christian ghetto and am I scared and silent when I'm not amongst Christians? I don't think so, but I needed to ask the questions.

Then bit by bit you work the circle outwards, find a co-conspirator, find a few more and then from amongst this group of passionate soul-winners you start infiltrating the culture of the church. Simple really.

If you're involved in evangelism or leadership then this book is worth considering, and whatever the application the passion in this book should motivate you.

[Emil Bredahl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book with great principles of how church can look like. The author writes in simple ways that can easily be applied. I like the tone of the book and its fun and exciting. Willowcreek clearly have years of experience and I respect his experiences and the thoughts that he brings to the table. I like that he is not trying to present his book as the ultimate answer, but he is challenging the reader to find they’re ways while learning from the principles that willowcreek has learned from all these years in ministry. Its the second time I read the book and it just got better.
I want to strongly recommend the book for anyone interested in ministry and the one of us that might feel stuck and dry. #awesome

[Dana B. Beland · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book is good but really dated by now. I especially like two chapters. The one that dealt with the need for a person other than the lead pastor to be the evangelism leader for the church, and the chapter that dealt with quarterly or six time per year separate gatherings for the purpose of creating fervent people who feel passionate for evangelism. It provided really good food for thought. Bill Hybills name is all through the book so it limits my ability to scatter this as a recommended read. I hope Mark rewrites this in the near future. Many ideas are timeless but they need refreshing in 2020.

[Kessia Reyne · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the guy that co-created the lay evangelism training Becoming a Contagious Christian comes this book, Building a Contagious Church. This book is built on a similar philosophy (that there are different styles of evangelism) with an additional focus on creating the climate, processes, and structures to capitalize on the church's evangelistic potential. You'll find Mittleberg to be thorough (he loves detailed diagrams and steps) and also contagiously passionate on the topic of evangelism. This is a book to be read and re-read

[Michael Vincent · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are many challenges and practical principles throughout the book that help create an outreach mentality in a church setting. He also offers many practical plans, from a variety of churches, to percolate ideas. Some of the ideas are geared toward a larger church setting, but overall, it is the heart for the lost that comes through. This would be a good book to discuss with a church leadership team. Not sure why it too me so long to read this book (almost 12 years).

[Joseph Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very rare is it for a “growth growth/building” book to stay rooted in the Scripture and practical in its application, but this one does it! Mittleberg is as faithful as they come, dedicated to evangelism and inspiring as all get out. He has a proven track record, and his insights here are tangible enough to try, but powerful enough to require more than a good strategy. I appreciated it!

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about evangelism in the church. It is full of great suggestions to get your church’s evangelism team built and inspired. Isn’t sharing the Gospel of Jesus every Christian’s purpose in life, according to the Bible?

[Brent · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a church leadership’s (bulky and wordy)guidebook for implementing Willow Creek’s Becoming a Contagious Christian Curriculum.

[Jefferson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a thoroughly heretical book with over-enthusiasm and bad ideas, interspersed with a few nuggets of fine evangelism ideas.

[Mat Rueter · Rating 4 out of 5]

The more time we spend in God's presence, the more we have something to say and give to others.

[Lauren]

Take the meat leave the bones & there were a lot of bones 🤷🏻‍♀️

[Jennifer Passaretti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this as part of a course at church. Very informative but it does get pretty repetitive at times.