Christianity Today Book Award winner

Leadership Journal Top Book of the Year

Copastors Kent Carlson and Mike Lueken tell the story of how God took their thriving, consumer-oriented church and transformed it into a modest congregation of unformed believers committed to the growth of the spirit--even when it meant a decline in numbers.

As Kent and Mike found out, a decade of major change is not easy on a church. Oak Hills Church, from the pastoral staff to the congregation, had to confront addiction to personal ambition, resist consumerism and reorient their lives around the teachings of Jesus. Their renewed focus on spiritual formation over numerical growth triggered major changes in the content of their sermons, the tenor of their worship services, and the reason for their outreach. They lost members.

But the health and spiritual depth of their church today is a testimony of God's transforming work and enduring faithfulness to the people he loves.

Honest and humble, this is Kent and Mike's story of a church they love, written to inspire and challenge other churches to let God rewrite their stories as well. Read it for the church you love.



Kent Carlson is vice president of leadership formation for the North American Baptist Conference, shepherding the spiritual formation of pastors, regional ministers, and Christian leaders throughout the conference. He is also pastor emeritus of Oak Hills Church of Folsom, California, which he founded in 1984. Kent is a graduate of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and lives with his family in the Sacramento, California, area.







Mike Lueken is copastor (with Kent Carlson) of Oak Hills Church of Folsom, California. He is a graduate of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and lives with his family in the Sacramento, California, area.







Dallas Willard (1935–2013) was a renowned teacher, an acclaimed writer and one of our most brilliant Christian thinkers. He was as celebrated for his enduring writings on spiritual formation as he was for his scholarship, with a profound influencein the way he humbly mentored so many of today's leaders in the Christian faith. His books include The Divine Conspiracy (a Christianity Today Book of the Year), The Spirit of the Disciplines, Hearing God, Renovation of the Heart, and others.



Foreword--Dallas Willard

Introduction

1 The Creation of the Monster

2 Deciding to Change: The Donner Party

3 The Keys to Transition: A Few Hard Years

4 Rethinking the Gospel:The Enthralling Vision of Life in God?s Kingdom

5 The Problem of Consumerism: Talking to Fish about Water

6 Setting Aside Ambition: The Necessary Groundwork of Change

7 Co-Pastoring: Two are Better than One

8 Understanding the Church: The Fellowship of the Unformed

9 Spiritual Formation: Do You Really Want to be Healed?

10 Outreach: A Burning Passion for the World

11 Worship: Celebrating the Story of God

12 Mistakes: After Further Review

13 Epilogue: A Vision for the Future

Acknowledgements

Notes