Vertical Churches Of The World

Vertical Churches of the World has been an ongoing project since its beginnings in 2012 in New York. As a photographer I am always trying to come up with something unique, a way to stand out from the rest of the many talented photographers in today's photography world. "Vertical Churches" is my stand-out project. The photographs have been spotlighted in some of the most highly regarded news agencies, blogs and articles from around the globe. They have been featured in well over 100 countries to critical acclaim, as well as museum exhibits and international photo festivals. The book features over 150 photos from more than 50 countries on 6 continents.

An emergency call, and I rush from my coziness into the dark community where the police have requested a chaplain. Arriving in minutes, I find the family imploding with grief having just discovered their son hanging in the garage. In a moment of unshakable pain, he jumped off the ladder and into eternity. And I will never shake the look in their eyes when I asked why he hadn't called a church. "Why would he do that?" Across town, a pool of tears on my kitchen table as an out of town guest feels the weight of his infidelity, despairing that his famished soul finds no refuge and that he has to board a plane to feel fellowship. "Has your church tried to help you?" And the Christian leader confesses he hasn't been to church in years. Infighting, backbiting, heartbreaking, frustrating ... church. Though exceptions do exist, the reality is that church in America is failing one life at a time. Somewhere between pathetically predictable and shamefully entertaining, sadly sentimental and rarely authentic, church has become worst of all ... godless. Vertical Church points to a new day where God is the seeker, and we are the ones found. In Vertical Church God shows up, and that changes everything. If you want to experience God as you never have before and witness His hand at work, if you want to wake up to the first thought, "Thank God it's Sunday," if you're ready to feel your heart beat faster as you drive to your place of worship ... then devour and digest the lessons of Vertical Church.

The meeting place for the church of tomorrow will be a computer screen. Don’t laugh, and don’t feel alarmed. The real-world church isn’t going anywhere until Jesus returns. But the virtual church is already here, and it’s poised for explosive growth. SimChurch invites you to explore the vision, the concerns, the challenges, and the remarkable possibilities of building Christ’s kingdom online. What is the virtual church, and what different forms might it take? Will it be an extension of a real-world church, or a separate entity? How will it encourage families to worship together? Is it even possible or healthy to “be” the church in the virtual world? If you’re passionate about the church and evangelism, and if you feel both excitement and concern over the new virtual world the internet is creating, then these are just some of the vital issues you and other postmillennial followers of Jesus must grapple with. Rich in both biblical and current insight, combining exploration and critique, SimChurch opens a long-overdue discussion you can’t afford to miss.

In the powerful new book World Impacting Churches, author James Eby issues a challenge to churches around the world to regain their focus on the task of finishing The Great Commission in this generation. Drawing on more than 30 years of experience in national and international ministry, Eby shares ten thought-provoking characteristics of churches which make a difference in the world and help complete the mandate Jesus gave us. Eby's Biblical insight and practical application for implementing these characteristics will inspire and challenge church leaders on every level. The principles set forth in this book are applicable to churches of every size and culture.

Once upon a time, Moses had had enough. Exhausted by the challenge of leading the Israelites from slavery to the Promised Land, Moses cried out to God, "What have I done to displease you that you put the burden of all these people on me? . . . If this is how you are going to treat me, please go ahead and kill me" (Exodus 11:11, 15). If that sounds hauntingly familiar to you, you may be the senior pastor of a contemporary church. The burden of Christian leadership is becoming increasingly unbearable--demanding skills not native to the art of pastoring; demanding time that makes sabbath rest and even normal sleep patterns seem extravagant; demanding inhuman levels of efficiency, proficiency and even saintliness. No wonder pastors seem and even feel less human these days. No wonder they burn out or break down at an alarming rate; no wonder the church is missing the mark on its mission. In Creating a Missional Culture, JR Woodward offers a bold and surprisingly refreshing model for churches--not small adjustments around the periphery of a church's infrastructure but a radical revisioning of how a church ought to look, from its leadership structure to its mobilization of the laity. The end result looks surprisingly like the church that Jesus created and the apostles cultivated: a church not chasing the wind but rather going into the world and making disciples of Jesus.

Transformation lays the groundwork for what church and Christian community can become in this new century. Author and pastor Bob Roberts Jr. is one of the architects of this unique approach to Christianity—based on biblical and missional discipleship—that he calls T-Life (transformed life), which leads to a T-World (transformed world). Ever since Jesus' commission to make disciples in his name, Christianity has transformed lives and the world at large. To those watching, it must have looked like an upstart religion led by a group of men, most of whom were martyred for their beliefs. The voice of secular culture today is no louder and no more indulgent than it was in those days. And yet much of the Western church has settled for becoming just another mass media market that's adding to the noise, instead of a movement that continues to turn the world upside down. Drawing inspiration from early church history and the emerging church in the developing world, Roberts envisions a new way of engaging the local church to achieve common goals. He calls for: Building a church culture rather than a church program. Empowering the local church to invest in the global missions field. Consistently reestablishing our relationship with Jesus Christ in order to experience true transformation. In fact, all this begins with a growing, interactive relationship with God that includes personal and corporate worship. This, in turn, results in community. As community serves others, transformation has both a global and local impact and creates transformation in the world. Transformation redefines the focus and practice of the church, not from external bells and whistles, but from the internal transformation of the very character of its people.

What behaviors do highly vital congregations have in common? How can all congregations move toward greater vitality? In Vital: Churches Changing Communities and the World, Jorge Acevedo passionately and effectively reveals how Grace Church in Cape Coral, Florida, has developed behaviors that result in vital and fruitful ministry. Focusing on spiritual pastoral leadership, lay leadership development, worship, small groups, and service and mission, Acevedo both inspires and coaches. He helps leaders of congregations act in their own contexts to develop behaviors essential to vitality, as identified by the recent study of 32,000 United Methodist congregations. The book includes brief summaries of learnings from the research and stories from other congregations illustrating vital behaviors in different settings. Approximately 15% of the 32,228 churches (4,961 churches) scored high in vitality based on the vitality index. What this means is that 15% of our churches have figured out some way to remain highly vital in spite of the fact that 85% have not. What this means is that we cannot assign all the blame for our congregational demise at the feet of the “institution” of the church. 4961 congregations have figured out ways to prevail in spite of our denominational condition. To me this is hopeful and promising! This book is my best attempt for us to learn from the 15% of United Methodist Churches that are vital, growing and prevailing. Jorge Acevedo