Breaking the Huddle - by Don Everts & Doug Schaupp & Val Gordon (Paperback)

About the Book

Most Christians are stuck in the huddle, focusing on our own needs and limiting our relationships with outsiders. Don Everts, Doug Schaupp and Val Gordon explain how our churches can become conversion communities, where evangelistic growth becomes the new normal and the whole community itself becomes a winsome, thriving witness to those around it.

Book Synopsis

• 15th Annual Outreach Magazine Resource of the Year - Evangelism

Most Christians are stuck in the huddle.Even though we believe in outreach, most communities tend to focus on our own needs. That turns us into insular groups without many relationships with outsiders. So evangelism is occasional and conversions are rare. How do we change?In their groundbreaking book I Once Was Lost, Don Everts and Doug Schaupp identified five thresholds that individuals cross when they shift from being skeptics to followers. Now they and Val Gordon show how huddled communities can become witnessing communities and then conversion communities, where evangelistic growth becomes the new normal. The authors have studied the growth of congregations, what enhances and limits them, and have gathered best practices for transformation. Our churches and fellowships can become places where evangelism is not done by a just few people, but where the whole community itself becomes a winsome, thriving witness to those around it.Break out of the huddle. Find out how.

Review Quotes

"Breaking the Huddle is a helpful and hopeful practical guide for every believer to develop a heart for those who do not yet believe in Christ. I love that it is written by leaders in the trenches who highlight many stories of other leaders in the trenches of actual ministry where actual changes are occurring and people are coming to a life-changing faith in Jesus."

--Tom Hughes, co-lead pastor of Christian Assembly Church in Los Angeles and author of Curious

"Finally, a refreshing book that presses the whole community to change--not just the individual. Breaking the Huddle gives us hope as well as poignant, practical steps. This book will help many churches become witnessing communities that lovingly lead people to Christ."

--Beau Crosetto, Greater Los Angeles director, Greek InterVarsity

"For too long, the playbook for evangelism has been ineffective where it counts: mobilizing communities for witness. Everts, Schaupp, and Gordon offer insights and encouragement for leaders as they work to transform inward-looking groups into conversion communities. Breaking the Huddle is an important resource for churches and ministries of all shapes and sizes."

--John Teter, director of church planting and former director of evangelism, Evangelical Covenant Church, senior pastor, Fountain of Life Covenant Church, author, Get the Word Out and Jesus and the Hip-Hop Prophets

"I have found Everts and Schaupp's previous book I Once Was Lost and their five thresholds in evangelism very helpful. But that was just the beginning. In this classy and winsome presentation, we can think along with the authors about how our local community can really move from being a huddled mass of nice Christians to become a community of conversion--a place where we constantly see people coming to faith in Jesus. This is a thoughtful, well-researched approach to transformation for movements of conversion. It's a unique and inviting contribution."

--Scott W. Sunquist, professor of world Christianity, dean of the School of Intercultural Studies, Fuller Theological Seminary

"If you liked I Once Was Lost on the five thresholds of postmodern conversion (which I loved!) you will love Breaking the Huddle, which applies those insights to whole communities, helping them break their inward-focused huddle and ultimately become a conversion movement for the kingdom of God. Who wouldn't want that? Read this book and catch the wave of the Spirit for witness in our day!"

--Rick Richardson, professor of evangelism and leadership, Wheaton College, evangelism and research fellow, Billy Graham Center, director, Evangelizing Churches Initiative, author of Reimagining Evangelism

"Long to change the narrative of your Christian community? Don't give up! Journey with Everts, Schaupp, and Gordon as they collaborate with the Spirit in empowering their communities and churches to morph from compound to sent to multiplying--transformed and pulsating with new and reproducing life. Breaking the Huddle gives us models, praxes, and hope that the Spirit will quicken the church to catalyze multiplying evangelism movements. Breaking the Huddle is an important text for effective evangelism leadership."

--Beth Seversen, denominational director of evangelism, The Evangelical Covenant Church

"So often we have viewed evangelism as a purely individual effort and missed the fact that much of the evangelism in the New Testament took place in the context of community. Breaking the Huddle does a phenomenal job of helping our traditional small groups become communities on a mission together. The authors build upon previously published principles about how people come to faith, translating them to the mission of smaller community. The authors balance theory with practical suggestions and propose probing discussion questions that help groups engage the material."

--Dana S. Allin, synod executive, ECO: A Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians

"This writing team scores high on practicality while equally creating an inspiring and upbeat presentation that will draw Christ followers in from the get-go. Whether readers attend a small church or a mega-one, they will equally find these helpful patterns for creating a dynamic evangelizing body doable and most importantly, a biblically mandated one."

--Michele Howe, Christian Market, December 2016

About the Author

Don Everts is minister of outreach at Bonhomme Presbyterian Church in Chesterfield, Missouri. He previously served as an area director for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship in Boulder, Colorado. His books include Jesus with Dirty Feet and Go and Do.

Doug Schaupp is associate director of evangelism for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. He is based in Los Angeles and is the coauthor of Being White and I Once Was Lost.

Val Gordon is a consultant with the Learning Talent department of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. She is also the owner of Gearshift Consulting, a firm specializing in helping mission-driven organizations overcome obstacles to growth. Val and her family live in Connecticut.