Alan Hirsch

An urgent primer on what can be done to combat emerging threats to the core of U.S. Democracy—presidential elections.In 2000, we learned that an exceptionally close presidential election can produce chaos, because we have no reliable Constitutional mechanism for resolving disputes. Joe Biden just won a presidential election that was extremely close in a number of states. Trump—and his many supporters—refuse to accept the legitimacy of those vote results, leading to an insurrection at the Capitol Building. Where do we go from here?In A Short History, Constitutional scholar Alan Hirsch presents a concise history of presidential elections that resulted in crises and advocates clear, common-sense solutions, including abolishing the Electoral College and the creation of a permanent, non-partisan Presidential Election Review Board to prevent or remedy future crises.“Hirsch does a very good job of offering historical context to illuminate the present—and the terrifying future. His imaginative proposals are probably too sensible to be implemented in an age of parochial partisanship.”—David Shipler, former reporter for the New York Times and Pulitzer Prize winner“Democracy is broken, but as Alan Hirsch explains, it really doesn’t have to be. This is the real story of how our voting system became so vulnerable to attacks from within and without, told with precision, verve, and even hope. This is the way out.”—Douglas Rushkoff, author of Team Human“This is a must-read for anyone who cares about safeguarding presidential elections-which should be everyone.”—Evan Caminker, Professor and former Dean, University of Michigan Law School"The noted law historian, author of Impeaching the President, examines the handful of seriously problematic presidential elections in American history and what the Constitution elucidates about the process of undoing such an event—namely, nothing. . . . A highly relevant study featuring much food for thought and prospects for change."—Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review" [A] seminal work of meticulous and informative scholarship that should be considered as an essential and unreservedly recommended addition to community, college, and university library Contemporary Political Science collections. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of students, academia, political activists, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject."—Midwest Library Review

Imagine an organizational model for church leadership that enables the entire team to unleash their full potential. The joy and vigor coming from a collective strength, intelligence, and skill in the community of leaders not only brings greater potency but better yields for your ministry. What would it be like to see this kind of healthy leadership reproduced into the second, third, and fourth generation, on multiple strands?Leveraging the metaphor Ori Brafman popularized in his NYT best-selling book, The Starfish and the Spider, Rob Wegner, Lance Ford, and Alan Hirsch show:How to take a close look at your church's organizational structure and how to adapt instead of simply adopt a certain kind of structural approach.How churches can function without a rigid central authority, making them nimbler in reacting to external forces.How seeding starfish networks inside today's churches will prepare the church of tomorrow to be agile while maintaining the accountability to be effective.The Starfish and the Spirit is about creating a culture where church leaders view themselves as curators of a community on a mission, not the source of certainty for every question and project. It's about creating a team of humble leaders "in the middle" of the church, not at the top--leaders who naturally reproduce multiple generations of leaders, from the middle out.

"Impeaching the President is lucid, balanced, and deeply informed. Anyone in search of a reasoned guide to the unreason of our current situation should read it."—Elizabeth Kolbert, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Sixth Extinction"Ousting a president is a complicated and uncertain endeavor, according to this perceptive study of impeachments. . . . [This book] shrewdly assesses the impeachability of President Trump based on his alleged offenses . … Hirsch's lucid prose and careful analysis make the book a fine corrective to cavalier popular rhetoric surrounding discussions of impeachment."— Publishers Weekly "A masterpiece for the masses."—Ralph Nader"Amid the partisan passion, an illuminating primer of analysis and context lowers the temperature on this hot-button issue. . . . A cogent analysis that builds a common-sense case for proceeding with caution and against using impeachment as a partisan weapon."—Kirkus Reviews" The reader gets a hearty mix of American history, political intrigue, and constitutional law, all adhered with Hirsch's amazing writing. He captures the political chaos surrounding each prior case, yanking the reader out of our present exceptionalism to see the evolution of impeachment with the proper context and clarity. Can't recommend it enough."—Travis Cohen, Brookline Booksmith, MA"In an era when the notion of impeachment is tossed around as the ultimate political indictment, Alan Hirsch guides us with a steady hand through our own history to consider the three presidents who faced that ultimate punishment. This is a sober, precise, and carefully argued analysis that should be read by every member of Congress—and every president."—David K. Shipler, former reporter for the New York Times and Pulitzer Prize recipient"Alan Hirsch brings clarity, wisdom, and wit to a contentious and critical subject. Impeaching the President is must reading for all concerned citizens."—Howard Shapiro, former FBI General Counsel"Incredibly readable, well-researched, analytically sound and important."—Alan B. Morrison, Associate Dean for Public Interest & Public Service at the George Washington Law SchoolDonald J. Trump is only the third president in U.S. history to be impeached. Constitutional scholar Alan Hirsch offers clear and to-the-point guidance for all matters relating to removing a sitting president, including: the Founders' vision for checking presidential power; the impeachment stories of presidents Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Bill Clinton; wrongdoing in the Trump administration; and the availability of the 25th Amendment and presidential self-pardon.Illustrated throughout with historical engravings, photographs, and other impeachment documentation, this concise, timely, and accessible analysis offers an invaluable perspective on how the Constitution provides stability during times of political upheaval.

What If the Church Truly Empowered People to Engage in God's Mission?Something extraordinary has been happening in Tampa, Florida. A new expression of the church has been quietly growing. It's something of an experiment, but over the last ten years the church has been validating its ideas with sustained and growing results. At The Underground, being the church is not focused around a weekly gathering or church programs. It's about empowering individuals to respond to God's call to ministry and mission, especially to the poor and disadvantaged in our midst.While many churches talk about discerning calling and engaging in mission, very few are structured to make this their ministry focus. Underground Church is a new vision for the church rooted in its biblical mission to share the love of God and serve the poor. Sanders explores how to make structural changes, how to think about leadership, how to fund ministries, and how to truly engage people in God's mission. Filled with creative insights, he explains what it means to center the mission of the church around the callings of individuals to outward ministry - whether that involves leading Bible studies in the workplace, feeding the homeless, or working to free women and children from sex trafficking.This book will both tell the inspiring story of a church that is rethinking what church looks like while also outlining and uncovering the principles that transfer for every church and Christian community that hopes for more. It's the true story of a 10-year experiment that unpacks the possibilities of a church structured and streamlined for mission.

In 5Q, Alan Hirsch took a deep dive into the fivefold typology of ministry as articulated in Ephesians 4:1-16. Now in this User's Guide, Alan and Jessie challenge and equip you, your organization or church to live into a new way of seeing, thinking, and living. Summarizing and simplifying the key themes of 5Q, this practical guide is ideal for either individuals or groups. With practitioner examples, reflective questions, and training tools, Activating 5Q enables you to apply the principles to your particular context."A new and brilliant understanding of how to unleash the latent capacity within you, the church and every group for the Jesus mission."--Dave Ferguson, lead pastor of Community Christian Church; lead visionary for NewThing; author"I believe that there are few topics more important for the renewal of Christ's people and the subsequent transforming of the world around us than what is addressed here." --Neil Cole, author of Organic Church, Primal Fire, and One Thing"Inspires, provokes and engages. It will be a catalyst for mission in the years to come " --Danielle Strickland, international social justice advocate; author and speaker"Provides us with a clear model showing us how Jesus is active in and through the church. Wonderful " --Brad Brisco, co-author of Missional Essentials and Next Door as It Is in Heaven"This book leads readers to live into 5Q so that the church might be the song, the poem sung to and for the world in order to bring all people into the dance of God." --JR Woodward, author of Creating a Missional Culture; co-author, The Church as Movement; national director, V3 movement"Activating 5Q offers powerful tools to help churches fire on all five cylinders as God intends."--Paul Harcourt, National Leader, New Wine England"Gives the whole church a place to see ourselves in the story of God in a way that invigorates passion and purpose. A must-read "--Tammy Dunahoo, general supervisor, The Foursquare Church

For too long church leaders have focused on increasing the size of their church rather than increasing their reach outside of the four walls of the church building. The result? Church life becomes a predictable set of routines with predictable results. Church members struggle to reach the neighborhoods they drive through on their way to church programs, unable to penetrate their surrounding communities in a meaningful way. Reaching the Unreached recounts the stories, struggles, and triumphs of individuals and churches that have reinvented themselves to meet the world where it is, working to reach the ones that no one else is reaching.The search for the “silver bullet” of success has diverted us from tapping into the timeless principles found in the book of Acts, says author, pastor, and front-line church planter Peyton Jones. Yet the spiritual climate that Paul and the Apostles stepped into is not all that different from the brave new world the church faces today.From accidentally planting a church in a Starbucks in Europe, to baptizing members of the Mexican mafia in Long Beach Harbor, Jones has been on the frontlines of today’s missional movement and has lived to tell the tale. In Reaching the Unreached, he teaches church planters, pastors, and church leaders how to convert pew jockeys into missionaries and awake the sleeping giant of Christ’s church, one person at a time.Today there are two types of churches: those who put their proverbial heads in the sand, and those who champion 1st century principles, meet the challenges head on, and embrace the adventure of mission in community. Tomorrow, only one type of church will survive—those that accept the challenge to reach the unreached.

El clasico cambio de paradigma propuesto por Alan Hirsch continua siendo la declaracion definitiva de la iglesia como un dinamico movimiento misional. El exito literario que fue la primera edicion, encendio una conversacion acerca de como aprovechar el poder de los movimientos para el crecimiento futuro de la iglesia. En esta edicion actualizada, Hirsch comparte conocimientos significativos obtenidos a lo largo del camino, proporciona nuevos ejemplos frescos de iglesias en crecimiento y reflexiona sobre los ultimos diez anos del movimiento misional.

IVP Readers' Choice Award Missio Alliance Essential Reading List Public gatherings are vital for movement, but too often in our approach to planting churches, we haven't paid enough attention to the difficult grassroots work of movement: discipleship, community formation, and mission. This book will help you start missional-incarnational communities in a way that reflects the viral movement of the early New Testament church. JR Woodward (author of Creating a Missional Culture) and Dan White Jr. (author of Subterranean) have trained church planters all over North America to create movemental churches that are rooted in the neighborhood, based on eight necessary competencies: Movement IntelligencePolycentric LeadershipBeing DisciplesMaking DisciplesMissional TheologyEcclesial ArchitectureCommunity FormationIncarnational Practices The book features an interactive format with tools, exercises, and reflection questions and activities. It's ideal for church planting teams or discipleship groups to use together. It's not enough to understand why the church needs more missional and incarnational congregations.The Church as Movement will also show you how to make disciples that make disciples. This is the engine that drives the church as movement, so that everyday Christians can be present in the world to join God's mission in the way of Jesus.

2016 IVP Readers' Choice Award Many people have given up on the church. But that doesn't mean that they've given up on God or Christianity. In many cases, it was merely that local church congregations were not the best context for missional people to live out their sense of God's call. The good news is that God is raising up vibrant movements of Christians in a vast array of vocations around the world: disciple-making ministries, missions, relief and development, social activism, advocacy and much more. These are all strategic ways to live for the kingdom—in venues beyond the local church. Wherever movements of the gospel have occurred, visionary people and apostolic structures have been essential. Mission leader Sam Metcalf shows how God has always worked through entrepreneurial individuals and organizations that launched out in fresh ways. He gives biblical and missiological foundations for missional movements, showing that what has often been called "parachurch" is an equally valid manifestation of the church. Affirming the strengths of apostolic personalities, Metcalf shows how they can be deployed to cross cultural barriers, renew secular societies and transform the nations with the power of the gospel. God may be inviting you to join what he is doing around the world. Answer the call and discover how God can use you beyond your imagination.

Every church needs leadership. But leadership should not reside in a single pastor. The biblical model for church leadership is found in teams of elders who together guide the community into God's mission. Church leaders J.R. Briggs and Bob Hyatt provide a comprehensive picture of elders as agents of mission for their communities. Healthy eldership structures a church for mission, as elder teams model the kind of community the local church is intended to be and steward the gospel in a local context. Looking at eldership through a missiological lens, Briggs and Hyatt unpack the role, character and posture of a mission-oriented elder. Elders oversee, shepherd, teach, equip and model for God?s people what life with Jesus looks like in a particular context. Including a study guide that elder teams can work through together, the authors provide practical guidance for how elders are selected, work together, make decisions, protect the congregation and invest in the lives of others. Discover here a clear vision for what it means to be a faithful elder. May it help you and your church thrive in pursuing God's mission in the world.

In a time when the need for and the relevance of the Gospel has seldom been greater, the relevance of the church has seldom been less. The Shaping of Things to Come explores why the church needs to rebuild itself from the bottom up. Frost and Hirsch present a clear understanding of how the church can change to face the unique challenges of the twenty-first century. This missional classic has been thoroughly revised and updated.

From saved souls to saved wholes, from transactional to transformational, this book describes fifteen paradigm shifts in how gospel-driven Christian leaders are thinking about churches and ministry in today's world. The church was never designed to be a fortress for the righteous, but a flood of revolutionaries, bringing the Good News of the Kingdom to broken lives and broken communities in a broken world. Today, millions of Christians are awakening to the holism, or wholeness, of the gospel call, expanding their understanding of church from an institution to a movement.Recognizing the Church's past missteps and re-envisioning its role in modern society, Missional Moves, will fundamentally alter your understanding of the church and how its mission is lived out.Rob Wegner and Jack Magruder are church founders and Christian thought-leaders who will walk you through three distinct categories of changes that today’s churches have to understand in order to have the greatest, positive impact:The paradigm shift of our missional imagination.The centralized shift of our local church mission field.The decentralized shift of the global family of Christ.If this calling toward movement and transformation is to be realized, it will require some earth-shaking shifts in our concept of the evangelistic mission: "Missional Moves." This book provides a plan of action for your church that will empower you to unleash each member on a mission, both locally and globally.

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.

A new brand of apostolic ministry for today's world The Permanent Revolution is a work of theological re-imagination and re-construction that draws from biblical studies, theology, organizational theory, leadership studies, and key social sciences. The book elaborates on the apostolic role rooted in the five-fold ministry from Ephesians 4 (apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teacher), and its significance for the missional movement. It explores how the apostolic ministry facilitates ongoing renewal in the life of the church and focuses on leadership in relation to missional innovation and entrepreneurship.The authors examine the nature of organization as reframed through the lens of apostolic ministry. Shows how to view the world through a biblical perspective and continue the "permanent revolution" that Jesus startedOutlines the essential characteristics of apostolic movement and how to restructure the church and ministry to be more consistent with themAlan Hirsch is a leading voice in the missional movement of the Christian West This groundbreaking book integrates theology, sociology, and leadership to further define the apostolic movement.

Sabermetrics, the search for objective knowledge about baseball through statistical analysis, has taken over the national pastime. The authors argue that this approach began as a useful corrective but has come to harm baseball. The book demonstrates that the so-called moneyball approach, based on sabermetrics, offers only limited guidance for assembling a team, managing games, and evaluating player performance. Equally important, the obsession with statistics and vision of the game as wholly predictable obscure baseball's spectacular improvisational quality. It is the game's unquantifiable and relentless capacity to surprise--the source of wonder so central to its greatest stories and personalities--that informs any real appreciation of baseball.

When Jesus commissioned his followers, he was not just inaugurating the historical church, he was founding a missionary movement.Originally released by Missional Press and now revised and expanded to include a multi-session discussion guide, Steve Addison's Movements That Change the World draws from biblical, historical and contemporary case studies to isolate the essential elements of a dynamic missionary movement. The church fulfills its mission today to the extent that it honors these essential elements, modelled perfectly in Jesus? missionary enterprise: white-hot faithcommitment to the causecontagious relationshipsrapid mobilizationadaptive methods Throughout the ages Jesus' followers have been called to continue his movement in the power of the Holy Spirit. Like many such movements, it changed the world. Unlike most movements, which have their historical moment and then fade away, Christianity is actively, continually changing the world for the better.