Outreach magazine named Radiant Church as a 2022 Resource of the Year in the church category. Two additional titles, Lead Like It Matters to God and Tempered Resilience, made the shortlist for the “Also Recommended” resources in the leadership category.

The Outreach Resources of the Year aims to highlight valuable resources for church leaders and bring deserved attention to tools that can help churches better engage in effective outreach to share the gospel and reach their communities for Christ. This year’s titles address issues in evangelism, apologetics, the church, leadership, social issues and justice, among other concerns. The resources are featured in the March/April 2022 issue of Outreach magazine.

More than 150 resources published between November 1, 2020, and October 31, 2021, were submitted for consideration. An expert in each category evaluated the resources and chose what they considered to be the best. The experts also chose how many resources to recognize and whether to include any as “Also Recommended.”

Church 2021 Resource of the Year

Radiant Church: Restoring the Credibility of Our Witness by Tara Beth Leach was one of two titles Resources of the Year in the church category. Leach casts a vision for Christians to rediscover a robust, attractive witness and form the radiant communities God intends. Challenging idolatrous false images of God and calling out toxic patterns, she shows how we can recover a winsome picture of a kingdom of abundance and goodness.

Leach writes, “I pray that the church would begin to see, acknowledge, and name the bronze layers that are saturated with worldly beliefs and behaviors and flee from them. I pray that the church would know that we have not been destroyed—it’s not too late. I pray that we would reclaim, be renewed and revived, and allow the work of the Spirit to birth something new and radiant. Like the bronze statue, may the layers of our own systems that have hurt and harmed others begin to peel away, and may the lamp of truth, love, and righteousness be placed firmly on its pedestal and shine in all of its illuminating beauty. Not beauty for the glory of ourselves but for the glory and majesty of our King and Creator. May we shine in such a way that instead of hard lines in the sand being drawn, those who once felt excluded are now drawn to the radiant light of the church.”

“Also Recommended” Leadership Resources

Lead Like It Matters to God: Values-Driven Leadership in a Success-Driven World by Richard Stearns shares captivating stories of his life journey and unpacks seventeen crucial values that can transform leaders and their organizations. After stints as CEO of Parker Brothers and then Lenox, Stearns accepted the invitation to leave his corporate career to become the president of World Vision US, where he became the longest serving president in their seventy-year history.

Stearns shares the leadership principles he has learned over the course of his remarkable career. As a leader who has navigated both secular and sacred spaces, Stearns claims that the values Christian leaders embrace in their workplaces are actually more important than the results they achieve—that God is more concerned about a leader’s character than a leader’s success.

“This book is a rare treat—a fireside chat with a battle-tested Christian CEO who has led big organizations in both the secular and ministry worlds,” said John C. Maxwell, author of The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. “Rich Stearns offers a master’s-level course on leadership with faith as his north star. Embrace these seventeen leadership values and you will become a better leader and a better ambassador for Christ.”

In Tempered Resilience: How Leaders Are Formed in the Crucible of Change Tod Bolsinger, also the author of the award-winning Canoeing the Mountains, writes, “To temper describes the process of heating, holding, hammering, cooling, and reheating that adds stress to raw iron until it becomes a glistening knife blade or chisel tip.” When reflection and relationships are combined into a life of deliberate practice, leaders become both stronger and more flexible.

Jim Herrington, cofounder of The Leader’s Journey: Coaching for Wholehearted Leadership, said, “Once again Tod Bolsinger has written a book for our times. With his incredible capacity for storytelling that allows principles to shine, in Tempered Resilience Bolsinger has spelled out a pathway for leadership and leadership development for this era of unprecedented change. This will become a classic that I’ll refer to over and over again.”

For a complete list of IVP award-winning titles visit ivpress.com.