OUTREACH RESOURCES OF THE YEAR

Twenty resources have been selected as 2011 Outreach Resources of the Year, Outreach magazine announced today.

The Outreach Resources of the Year is a celebration of the best outreach-oriented books and other media produced in areas such as evangelism, church multiplication, compassionate service and cross-cultural ministries.

About 150 resources published between Nov. 1, 2009, and Oct. 31, 2010, were submitted to Outreach for consideration. Outreach editors narrowed the field to 103 and placed them in categories.

The magazine then enlisted the help of an expert in each category to consider the resources. Each panelist independently evaluated the resources in his or her area of expertise and selected what he or she thought were the best. The experts had the discretion to choose how many resources to recognize in their categories.

The 2011 Outreach Resources of the Year are:

APOLOGETICS

God is Great, God is Good: Why Believing in God is Reasonable and Responsible
Edited by William Lane Craig and Chad Meister (IVP)

On Guard: Defending Your Faith with Reason and Precision
By William Lane Craig (David C. Cook)

The Rage Against God: How Atheism Led Me to Faith
By Peter Hitchens (Zondervan)

CHILDREN'S OUTREACH

Children of God Storybook Bible
By Archbishop Desmond Tutu (Zonderkidz)

Kindness Counts (The Berenstain Bears)
By Jan & Mike Berenstain (Zonderkidz)

That's Where God Is
By Dan & Ali Morrow (David C. Cook)

CHURCH MULTIPLICATION

Church Planter: The Man, The Message, The Mission
By Darrin Patrick (Crossway)

Exponential: How You and Your Friends Can Start a Missional Church Movement
By Dave Ferguson and Jon Ferguson (Zondervan)

COMPASSION

Hurt Healer: Reaching Out to a Broken World
By Tony Nolan (Baker)

The Invisible: What the Church Can Do to Find and Serve the Least of These
By Arloa Sutter (Wesleyan)

CROSS-CULTURAL MINISTRY

Many Colors: Cultural Intelligence for a Changing Church
By Soong-Chan Rah (Moody)

Multicultural Ministry Handbook: Connecting Creatively to a Diverse World
Edited by David A. Anderson & Margarita R. Cabellon (IVP)

CULTURE

The Next Christians: The Good News About the End of Christian America
By Gabe Lyons (Doubleday)

EVANGELISM

The Best Kept Secret of Christian Mission: Promoting the Gospel With More Than Our Lips
By John Dickson (Zondervan)

JUSTICE

Humanitarian Jesus: Social Justice and the Cross
By Christian Buckley and Ryan Dobson (Moody)

LEADERSHIP

Sticky Teams: Keeping Your Leadership Team and Staff on the Same Page
By Larry Osborne (Zondervan)

MISSIONAL LIVING

Untamed: Reactivating a Missional Form of Discipleship
By Alan Hirsch and Debra Hirsch (Baker)

PASS-ALONG RESOURCES

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About God (but Were Afraid to Ask): The Jesus Edition
By Eric Metaxas (Regal)

Start! The Bible for New Believers
Edited by Greg Laurie (Thomas Nelson)

SMALL-GROUP CURRICULA

The Reason for God (DVD and Discussion Guide)
By Timothy Keller (Zondervan)

The resources of the year are highlighted in the March/April 2011 issue of Outreach magazine, which also includes a list of additional valuable resources that were not part of the Outreach Resources of the Year process.

The March/April 2011 issue also features an interview with best-selling author Philip Yancey and a discussion among church communication professionals about how to best communicate a church's vision and identity to people inside and outside the church.

Vista, Calif.-based Outreach magazine offers the ideas, insights and stories of today's outreach-oriented, Bible-based churches. Founded in January 2003 by church communications company Outreach, Inc., Outreach is an award-winning, bimonthly periodical for church leadership. Each year, Outreach publishes the Outreach 100, a special issue in September that features the 100 Largest and Fastest-Growing Churches in America; the Small Church issue (July/August); and the Outreach Resources of the Year (March/April). Outreach is available by subscription. For more information, visit OutreachMagazine.com.