In this book, author, consultant, and church leadership developer Reggie McNeal debunks old assumptions and provides an overall strategy to help church leaders move forward in an entirely different and much more effective way.

In this provocative book, author, consultant, and church leadership developer Reggie McNeal debunks these and other old assumptions and provides an overall strategy to help church leaders move forward in an entirely different and much more effective way. In The Present Future, McNeal identifies the six most important realities that church leaders must address including: recapturing the spirit of Christianity and replacing "church growth" with a wider vision of kingdom growth; developing disciples instead of church members; fostering the rise of a new apostolic leadership; focusing on spiritual formation rather than church programs; and shift, from prediction and planning to preparation for the challenges in an uncertain world. McNeal contends that by changing the questions church leaders ask themselves about their congregations and their plans, they can frame the core issues and approach the future with new eyes, new purpose, and new ideas.

• Acknowledgments
• Preface
• Introduction
• New Reality Number One
• The Collapse of the Church Culture
• New Reality Number Two
• The Shift from Church Growth to Kingdom Growth
• New Reality Number Three
• A New Reformation
• Releasing God's People
• New Reality Number Four
• The Return to Spiritual Formation
• New Reality Number Five
• The Shift from Planning to Preparation
• New Reality Number Six
• The Rise of Apostolic Leadership
• Things I Didn't Say
• Conclusion
• References
• The Author