One of the biggest paradoxes of publishing is that some of the most thoughtful, reflective, insightful writing is done by people you’ve never heard of. But for a book to be viable for a major publisher, the author needs to be someone people have heard of. And many people who are big-name speakers don’t have the time or space to do a lot of original thinking and writing, so their books start sounding the same every year. We want to find people with the visibility of the conference speaker but who is able to write with depth and substantive content, informed by a local ministry context beyond the conference circuit. Not that there aren’t people like that out there (including rock stars like Wright and McKnight) – they’re just few and far between.

As far as I’m concerned, if everybody has heard of someone, it’s too late. If nobody has heard of them, it’s too early. But if some people have heard of them and there’s a bit of a vibe that they have fresh insight to contribute, that’s a good sign. So I am always looking for the unpublished, first-time author (and we at IVP actually publish a higher percentage of first-time authors than many publishers). On the one hand there’s nothing new under the sun, but on the other hand the church will always need new voices and new authors to speak to such a time as this.

While I have been in para-church ministry for 20 years prior, the experience I’ve had of the joys and sorrows of missional church planting has deepened being a Jesus-follower immeasurably. There is nothing like it and staying connected to the on-going life of our little band of redemptive subversives keeps my feet on the ground.

I am sure you will stay a participant in the local church … and I am sure N T Wright and many others will do as well …
MY questions continue to linger … as to whether it is ever wise to build churches on single individuals… are they sustainable period? But this is a topic for another time … it concerns me deeply that pastors’ lives are not sustainable over longer periods of time …

Al … I’ve always appreciated the way IVP looks for new authors … and shepherds books …
peace

One of the biggest paradoxes of publishing is that some of the most thoughtful, reflective, insightful writing is done by people you’ve never heard of. But for a book to be viable for a major publisher, the author needs to be someone people have heard of. And many people who are big-name speakers don’t have the time or space to do a lot of original thinking and writing, so their books start sounding the same every year. We want to find people with the visibility of the conference speaker but who is able to write with depth and substantive content, informed by a local ministry context beyond the conference circuit. Not that there aren’t people like that out there (including rock stars like Wright and McKnight) – they’re just few and far between.

As far as I’m concerned, if everybody has heard of someone, it’s too late. If nobody has heard of them, it’s too early. But if some people have heard of them and there’s a bit of a vibe that they have fresh insight to contribute, that’s a good sign. So I am always looking for the unpublished, first-time author (and we at IVP actually publish a higher percentage of first-time authors than many publishers). On the one hand there’s nothing new under the sun, but on the other hand the church will always need new voices and new authors to speak to such a time as this.

Here is my response to the CT article about me leaving Redeemer. It is response #18 on the Jesus Creed blog. I hope it helps shed light on my stepping out of Redeemer.

http://blog.beliefnet.com/jesuscreed/2010/05/is-the-local-church-the-farm-t_comments.html

Shalom,
Jim Belcher
Deep Church

It’s always an awkward and even taboo question to ask actually, but if someone is talking or writing on a topic about “missional” or church leadership or evangelism I want to hear how it has been fleshed out in real life in their church.

One author who wrote a book on mission/evangelism told me they haven’t seen someone trust in Jesus in several years in their church. This goes for blog writers too. Another blog author writing on missional church and criticizing people, it turns out wasn’t even leading a church. He tried leading a house church and it folded. Yet, by the way he was writing, it came off as authoratative on the subject.

So in both these cases (one actual published author and one blog author) I was caught offguard when you explored their actual experience. So I have been specifically asking about one’s actual experience and their churches. How long have they been in existence, what is the size of the church (I know numbers are decieving depending on how used, but it does help give a context and you can ask about seasons and years not just instant numbers). Most important stories of lives changed in their churches to listen to.

I might be off topic a little. But I do think it is important to be asking these types of questions. I understand that every church is different,different context of local community) but important to ask I think when listening to someone’s teaching or writing.

I like listening to Ed Stetzer as he is a researcher, but also is always on staff at a church, even when he fills in and I believe he has a good feel of real life church when he speaks, even though a lot of it is research.

It all depends on what the author is writing about too. NT Wright I don’t turn to for leadership of church issues, I turn to him for NT theology. Even though he has been ingrained in the local church from part of his role, it is so different and that doesn’t seem to be his expertise.

Thanks for raising this up – it is uncomfortable, but an inportant thing.

Thanks for raising this up, I