The Emotionally Healthy Church: a Strategy for Discipleship That Actually Changes Lives (Updated, Expanded)

Publisher Marketing: In "The Emotionally Healthy Church, Expanded Edition," by Peter Scazzero, you ll discover exactly what it takes for the truth to set you free. This revised and expanded edition of Scazzero s award-winning book not only takes the original six principles for cultivating spiritual and emotional health in your church further and deeper, but he also adds a seventh principle to show you as a church leader how to slow down to lead with integrity. New Life Fellowship in Queens, New York, had it all: powerful teaching, dynamic ministries, an impressive growth rate, and a vision to do great works for God. Things looked good but beneath the surface, circumstances were more than just brewing. They were about to boil over, forcing Peter Scazzero to confront needs in his church and himself that went deeper than he d ever imagined. What he learned about the vital link between emotional health, relational depth, and spiritual maturity can shed new light on painful problems in your own church. In this revised and expanded edition of his Gold Medallion Award winning book, Scazzero shares refreshing new insights and a different and challenging slant on what it takes to lead your congregation to wholeness and maturity in Christ. Our churches are in trouble, says Scazzero. They are filled with people who are: unsure how to biblically integrate anger, sadness, and other emotions defensive, incapable of revealing their weaknesses threatened by or intolerant of different viewpoints zealous about ministering at church but blind to their spouses loneliness at home so involved in serving that they fail to take care of themselves prone to withdraw from conflict rather than resolve it Sharing from New Life Fellowship s painful but liberating journey, Scazzero reveals exactly how the truth can and does make you free not just superficially, but deep down. This expanded edition of "The Emotionally Healthy Church" not only takes the original six principles further and deeper, but also adds a seventh crucial principle. You ll acquire knowledge and tools that can help you and others: look beneath the surface of problems break the power of past wounds, failures, sins, and circumstances live a life of brokenness and vulnerability recognize and honor personal limitations and boundaries embrace grief and loss make incarnation your model to love others slow down to lead with integrity This new edition shares powerful insights on how contemplative spirituality can help you and your church slow down an integral key to spiritual and emotional health. "The Emotionally Healthy Church, Expanded Edition" includes story after story of people at New Life whose lives have been changed by the concepts in this book. Listen to this audiobook and find out how your church can turn a new corner on the road to spiritual maturity." Contributor Bio:  Scazzero, Peter Peter Scazzero is the founder of New Life Fellowship Church in Queens, New York City, a large, multiracial church with more than seventy-three countries represented. After serving as senior pastor for twenty-six years, Pete now serves as a teaching pastor/pastor at large. He is the author of two best-selling books The Emotionally Healthy Church and Emotionally Healthy Spirituality. He is also the author of The EHS Course and Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day. Pete and his wife, Geri, are the founders of Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, a groundbreaking ministry that equips churches in a deep, beneath-the-surface spiritual formation paradigm that integrates emotional health and contemplative spirituality. They have four lovely daughters. For more information, visit emotionallyhealthy.org, or connect with Pete on Twitter @petescazzero. Contributor Bio:  Scazzero, Geri Geri Scazzero is the cofounder of New Life Fellowship Church in Queens, New York, where she serves on staff as a trainer in marriage and spiritual formation. Geri is also a popular conference speaker for church leaders, married couples, and women s groups, both in North America and internationally. She is the author of The Emotionally Healthy Woman and The Emotionally Healthy Woman Workbook/DVD and coauthor of the bestselling Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Course and The Emotionally Healthy Skills 2.0 curriculum. Geri, along with her husband, Pete, is the cofounder of Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, a groundbreaking ministry that equips churches in a deep, beneath-the-surface spiritual formation paradigm that integrates emotional health and contemplative spirituality. Geri lives in New York City and has four lovely daughters. Connect with Geri on Facebook (www.facebook.com/GeriScazzero). Contributor Bio:  Bird, Warren Warren Bird(www.warrenbird.com) credits Lyle Schaller s speaking and books as a major influence in his development. Warren is one of the nation's leading researchers of church leaders, focusing on high-impact congregations recognized for their health, evangelism and leadership development. He is the director of research for Leadership Network, a non-profit that provides peer groups and resources for innovative church leaders. An award-winning writer, Warren has collaboratively authored 24 books and more than 200 magazine articles or online reports, all on subjects related to church health. An ordained minister, he has been a church planter and staff pastor. He graduated from Wheaton College and Graduate School (B. A., M. A.), Alliance Theological Seminary (M. Div.), and Fordham University (Ph. D.) in sociology of religion, and has served as an adjunct professor at Alliance Theological Seminary since 1995. He and his wife Michelle live in metro New York City. They have two grown children. Contributor Bio:  Ford, Leighton Ford describes his current mission to be "an artist of the soul and a friend on the journey." He served for nearly twenty years as chairman of the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization, an international body of Christian leaders. He chairs the Sandy Ford Fund and has served as a board member for World Vision U. S., the Duke University Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He received the 1990 Two Hungers Award, recognizing his contributions to addressing the physical and spiritual hungers of people around the world. In 1985 he was selected as Clergyman of the Year by Religious Heritage of America andTIME Magazine singled him out as being "among the most influential preachers of an active gospel." The author or co-author of numerous books, includinTransforming Leadership and The Attentive Life, Ford lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, with his wife Jean.