About Creating Community, Revised & Updated Edition

About Andy Stanley

Andy Stanley
 
Communicator, author, and pastor Andy Stanley founded Atlanta-based North Point Ministries in 1995. Today, NPM consists of six churches in the Atlanta area and a network of more than 90 churches around the globe that collectively serve nearly 185,000 people weekly. A survey of U.S. pastors in Outreach Magazine identified Andy Stanley as one of the ten most influential living pastors in America.
 
Andy holds an undergraduate degree in journalism from Georgia State University and a master’s degree from Dallas Theological Seminary. He is the author of more than 20 books, including The New Rules for Love, Sex & Dating; Ask It; How to Be Rich; Deep & Wide; Enemies of the Heart; When Work & Family Collide; Visioneering; and Next Generation Leader.
 
In the digital world, his success reaches well beyond the Atlanta area. Over 1.8 million of Andy’s messages, leadership videos, and podcasts are accessed from North Point’s website monthly.
 
Your Move with Andy Stanley premiered on NBC after Saturday Night Live in 2012 and on CBS after The Late Late Show with James Corden in 2017, giving him an even wider audience with which to share his culturally relevant, practical insights for life and leadership. Currently, over seven million episodes are consumed each month through television and podcasts, underscoring Stanley’s impact not only as a communicator but also as an influencer of culture.
 
Nothing is as personal as his passion for engaging with live audiences, which he has pursued for over two decades at leadership events around the world. In high demand, he speaks at various annual events before audiences of both church and organizational leaders.
 
“I cannot fill their cups,” he often says of the opportunity to impact leaders in business and in ministry, “but I have a responsibility to empty mine.”
 
Andy and his wife, Sandra, have three grown children and live near Atlanta.

About Bill Willits

Bill Willits

Bill Willitts is the Director of Group Life at North Point Community Church. Bill is a graduate of Florida State University and Dallas Theological Seminary and has previously served on other church staffs in Atlanta and Dallas, Texas. His most important small group consists of his wife, Terry, and their daughter, Bailey.

Sneak Peek

Start reading the first few chapters 

Learn how to foster meaningful, lasting connections within your community, whether face-to-face or online, by creating a small-group culture through a proven five-step strategy. Now, more than ever, people need community. Though digital “connections” are skyrocketing in today’s culture, deep relationships are in steep decline. People are eating out (and on the run) more—and going into an office less. As evidence of the stress on our social fabric, rates of loneliness and isolation, along with mental health issues, continue to climb. Our need for community is clear, and people are turning to churches to find a place to connect, belong, and grow. You know that a healthy small-group environment doesn’t just happen. It requires a clear vision, a thoughtful plan, and an experienced guide. It takes intentional effort to make it a reality. This book lays out the plan you need, whether your group is meeting in person or digitally, to intentionally build meaningful, lasting connections and spiritual growth in your church community.

Start reading the first few chapters