Project and content management for Contemporary Authors volumes
WORK TITLE: A Mile Wide
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE: 7/25/1972
WEBSITE: http://brandonhatmaker.com/
CITY: Austin
STATE: TX
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY:
http://brandonhatmaker.com/about.htm
RESEARCHER NOTES:
LC control no.: n 2011039041
LCCN Permalink: https://lccn.loc.gov/n2011039041
HEADING: Hatmaker, Brandon, 1972-
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670 __ |a Hatmaker, Brandon. Barefoot church, c2011: |b ECIP t.p. (Brandon Hatmaker) data view (b. 07-25-72; Austin New Church)
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PERSONAL
Born July 25, 1972; married; wife’s name Jen; children: Gavin, Sydney Beth, and Caleb.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Austin New Church, lead pastor; The Legacy Collective and The Legacy Investor Group LLC, founder and managing partner.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Brandon Hatmaker is the lead pastor of Austin New Church, a “missional” church focused on serving the underresourced in Austin, Texas. He has written several religious books on consumer culture and justice. He is also founder and managing partner of The Legacy Collective and The Legacy Investor Group LLC, which focuses on partnering, pioneering, and funding sustainable solutions to social issues. He has appeared on the HGTV and DIY Network series My Big Family Renovation and has had various guest appearances on Brother vs. Brother and Tiny House Arrest. He is also a biker and humanitarian. He lives in Austin, Texas, and is married to author and speaker Jen Hatmaker.
Hatmaker preaches service to the unfortunate and reduction of dependence on a consumer culture. In his social experiment, he and his family went on an electronic fast, giving up social media, Twitter, Facebook, radio, video games, and iPhone apps for a month. This leaves time to “take 7 moments a day to stop, breathe deep, pray for specific things, and hold to the sabbath,” said Hatmaker in an interview with Brian Humek online at Got Interviews.
In 2011 Hatmaker published Barefoot Church: Serving the Least in a Consumer Culture. Acknowledging that serving the poor is one of the most neglected mandates of Jesus, Hatmaker provides advice on initializing individual, collective, and social renewal. Aimed at pastors and laypeople, the book provides practical ideas on serving the poor and applying the principles of benevolence to community needs. Hatmaker explains that consumerism and Western-focused Christians are less likely to take an interest in global concerns. In addition, churches often choose to spend money on themselves first. Rather, Hatmaker suggests that Christians take a more active role in charity work, such as hurricane relief, advocacy against slavery, and serving their local community. Other activities can be inviting nonbelievers to visit the church, caring for people with AIDS, helping children stay in school, caring for the homeless, and sponsoring food banks.
Hatmaker says that he is ready to take off his own shoes for a homeless person. Working globally and locally helps repair some of the damage to the church’s reputation. Writing in Mission Studies: Journal of the International Association for Mission Studies, Darren Cronshaw commented: “With inspiring stories and an appeal to change the scorecard for how we measure churches and their mission, this is excellent reading for any aspiring missionaries-to-the-West looking for practical ideas for serving the poor.”
Hatmaker followed up Barefoot Church with the 2012 The Justice Primer, which expands on principles presented in the earlier book. With the rise of intentionally missional and incarnational communities in the church, many people in the Western church want to serve the poor and the community. The primer is an eight-week study to give people a place to start. Written with the Missional/Incarnational Community in mind, the primer builds on a biblical foundation of mercy and justice as they relate to a holistic understanding of the gospel.
Hatmaker’s next book is the 2016 A Mile Wide: Trading a Shallow Religion for a Deeper Faith. Many people are hungry for more in their faith and want to gain a deeper connection with the gospel. In the book, Hatmaker describes how Jesus changes everything and how a greater understanding of the gospel brings a more fulfilling purpose to life and richer community. He advocates for church members to become more active in their community and give compassion, caring, and assistance to the homeless, hungry, and lonely. According to a reviewer in Publishers Weekly, “Hatmaker offers an opportunity for a paradigm shift that puts the onus on the individual to make a difference.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
California Bookwatch, January, 2012, review of Barefoot Church.
Mission Studies: Journal of the International Association for Mission Studies, 2014, Darren Cronshaw, review of Barefoot Church, p. 125.
Publishers Weekly, July 11, 2016, review of A Mile Wide: Trading a Shallow Religion for a Deeper Faith, p. 61.
ONLINE
Brandon Hatmaker, http://brandonhatmaker.com (April 23, 2017), author home page.
Got Interviews, http://www.gotinterviews.com/ (April 23, 2017), Brian Humek, “Church Planter Brandon Hatmaker.”
Meet Brandon
Brandon is an author, biker, humanitarian, and a huge fan of the underdog.
He is the Founder and Managing Partner of The Legacy Collective (www.legacycollective.org) and The Legacy Investor Group LLC which focuses on partnering, pioneering, and funding sustainable solutions to systemic social issues.
He co-stars in the HGTV and DIY Network series "My Big Family Renovation" and has had various guest appearances on other HGTV shows (Brother v.s. Brother, Tiny House Arrest...)
Brandon currently lives in Austin, Texas and is married to author and speaker, Jen Hatmaker.
Brandon Hatmaker
Brandon HatmakerBrandon is the Lead Pastor of Austin New Church, a missional church focused on serving the under-resourced in Austin Texas. He is author of “Barefoot Church: Serving the Least in a Consumer Culture”, Co-Founder of Restore Communities which serves as a conduit for volunteerism in Austin by connecting the church with Austin based non-profits that serve our city and world, and is the Director of Development for “Missio Local“, overseeing the local expression of Missio’s effort to serve the missional movement.
Brandon is married to author and conference speaker Jen Hatmaker, and is dad to three of the coolest kids in the world: Gavin (11), Sydney Beth (9), and Caleb (7). Adding to the family, Jen and Brandon are on the adventure of their life as they are in the middle of the long process of adopting siblings from Ethiopia.
You can follow Brandon at http://www.brandonhatmaker.com.
Read more here: Brandon Hatmaker - ChurchPlanting.com
Church Planter Brandon Hatmaker
BY BRIAN HUMEK ·
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Check out Brandon’s book Barefoot Church
– A MUST READ!!!
Biker,pastor and author Brandon HatmakerMy interview with Brandon is a bit dated, but filled with great info.
Brandon is the Lead Pastor of Austin New Church, a missional church focused on serving the under-resourced in Austin Texas. He is Co-Founder of Restore Austin which serves as a conduit for volunteerism in Austin by connecting the church with Austin based non-profits that serve our city and world. Brandon is also the Director of Development for “Missio Local“, overseeing the local expression of Missio’s effort to serve the missional movement. And he currently serves as the Missional Director for the newly formed River Conference of the FMC.
Brandon is married to author and conference speaker Jen Hatmaker, and is dad to three of the coolest kids in the world: Gavin (11), Sydney Beth (9), and Caleb (7). Adding to the family, Jen and Brandon are on the adventure of their life as they are in the middle of the long process of adopting siblings from Ethiopia.
Sponsored Link
Leave it to God Cover
Brandon, I follow you on Twitter and just happened to log on to see this tweet from you, “Going social media silent for a month…. starts in 18 minutes. See you in June tweet nation.” My question is “WHY?”
My wife and I are taking part in a personal “social experiment” for 7 months where we are prayerfully asking God to show us (1) areas of extreme excess in our lives (2) issues of materialism/idols and (3) things that are bigger distractions than we know.
It’s a fast of sorts… but certainly not a traditional fast… and we’re trying not to be too legalistic about it (keeping the heart of the fast instead of the letter of the). So we’ve chosen 7 topics in our life and are focusing on each of them once a month for 7 months. For example, the first month we chose seven foods and ate only those (eggs, chicken, spinach, bread, sweet potatoes, avocado, apples … no dressing/condiments/etc… just salt and pepper). For a month and drank only water (no coffee). The next month we gave away 7 things a day for 30 days.
This month is a media… so we’re taking a break from seven things: TV, facebook, twitter, radio in the car, online and video gaming, computer after 5pm, and iphone apps. Future topics are spending money in only 7 places, 7 new habits for green-living, and 7 “sacred pauses” where we take 7 moments a day to stop, breathe deep, pray for specific things, and hold to the sabbath. My wife is writing a book on the journey. There’s been much (especially the unexpected) we have learned so far.
What about your 2000+ followers? How will they know what you’re thinking, what theological thoughts are very important at any given moment and what is happening with Austin New Church?
Funny. I expect they will survive. They can always keep posted at www.ancblog.com or www.austinnewchurch.com. They’ll be kept current… and while I’m limiting my blogging (www.faithparley.wordpress.com)… I’m not intentionally breaking from that area of media.
How often do you fast from Twitter and is it only Twitter, Facebook, and other forms of social media? Or do you fast from blogging, creating website content and email too?
This is actually my first social media fast. I don’t miss it yet. however, I did have a question for the twitter-verse that I wanted some feedback on for a sermon I was preparing earlier today… instead I had to just depend on books, online commentary, and studies already posted. What’s next? Carrier pigeons?
As in Biblical fasts, will you now spend more time in prayer?
Certainly. And with my family. And in God’s Word. I wonder if I’ll become a better Pastor?
How would you recommend someone begin a social media fast? For someone who has never done so, it could be very difficult.
Drop the iPhone application first. That’s a good way to wean off facebook or twitter. If it’s literally not right in front of you… unless you’re in front of your computer… you’ll be less curious what’s going on with your social media friends. Out of site, out of mind. Maybe dump the iphone all together and activate a regular old-school cell phone for a month. While that advice comes with the assumption you have an iphone, same goes for any web capable phone, blackberry, or media shortcut. Come to think about it… maybe I should do that. To Be Continued….
In today’s world, and maybe especially in Austin, Christians are deemed to be the weird ones compared to being the called out ones. Do you think your social media fast enforces that stereotype or says something altogether different to the unchurched?
Honestly I don’t think it enforces any stereotype other than that we’re human beings living in 2010. I think Christians and non-Christians alike understand that they have some serious media and sensory overload. Also, I don’t think we actually ever called it a fast (intentionally so)… more of a break… or just going silent. Most who have heard about it have not only encouraged us, but expressed a desire to join us.
I’m thrilled with your approach to church, the Christian life, church planting and everything else you are doing in Austin. Can you describe how your approach differs from how Christianity and the church has been perceived for the past thirty years?
Recent studies show that 35-40% of people in America say they “might” visit a church if a good friend invited them. That percentage includes those who currently attend as well and is a rapidly shrinking demographic. This leaves 60-65% (and growing) of America saying they’d never come no matter what. Meanwhile, the vast majority (some say 85-95%) of our current churches are postured to reach those who would already come. It’s a “come to us” strategy more than a “go to them” strategy, which works for some and doesn’t for others.
We kinda feel like missionaries to our city. What I mean by that is that we have made a commitment at ANC to try and posture our church to appeal to those who say they might not ever come. To change their minds/misconceptions about church. What that will take is to change their perception of the church. It starts with us as individual Christians. Since many have the impression that a church has a CREED that rarely matches their DEED, we’ve tried to structure a church that does what we say we’re about (Kingdom mindedness through Partnerships, Focus on relationships and community, Serving the poor, etc…) So we make structural sacrifices to that end. We just believe that you can’t engage a culture without engaging the needs of culture. And that’s what we’re trying to do.
One of my favorite @brandonhatmaker tweets I’ve received in the past few months was one that affirmed this stance. After posting a few theological views and encouragements on serving those in need I got this message on Twitter from someone living in NYC who I had never met before but somehow was following me on twitter: “just wanted you to know that if I wasn’t a back-slidden Jewish Athiest, you would be my pastor.”
Random.
I replied to him that that might have been the best compliment I had ever had in my life.
He replied that he really meant it and hoped that I did indeed take it as encouragement. wow.
How many churches are part of the Austin New Church network at this time?
We’re only a two year old church plant so it’s a small network so far. But in addition to us, we’ve helped plant two other churches in Austin, have partnered with a small network of house churches, have a handful of other church plants that serve with us regularly, and have plans to plant 2-3 churches in the next 12 months. All are a part of our network (Newly named Restore Austin Network).
We also have several other churches who are “unofficially” affiliated, and serve with us regularly (a ton of non-Christians, and some non-faith based organizations as well). We typically have a couple pastors, church leaders, church planting core teams, and other groups join us from out of state for our Serve Austin experiences.
We recently connected nationally with a network of missional churches called Missio and are about to connect with the New Thing Network.
Is each church similar in beliefs, worship style, size and type of people who attend? If not, can you describe the differences?
Very similar in theology, ecclesiology, and missiology. Very diverse in style, size, etc… We’re a pretty diverse white/hispanic church in south Austin. We helped plant a majority Hispanic east-Austin church that started with more of a liturgical format, and we have an African American plant in downtown Austin seeking to redefine missional for the African American church. House church speaks for itself.
In this world that has a church building on every corner, sometimes four churches on a corner, why plant new churches?
First, I think it’s biblical to plant the gospel in community not just plant churches. Second, and strategically speaking, I just think we need to continue to not just plant churches, but to continuously discover new forms of church. Historically the church has moved forward when we do. That, and the truth is, of the four churches on every corner in most towns, the majority of those churches are no longer growing (or very close to dying).
I’ve heard recently that 43,000 Christians leave the church in a week in America. That’s a lot. 2% a year give or take. In one year that doesn’t seem like that much… but over 10 years, wow! That just affirms my belief that we need to continuously pioneer new forms of church… and celebrate all forms of church.
As some Christian research states, 83% of Americans do not attend church and that number is rising each year. Is the answer to solve this problem creating new mega churches, planting micro-church networks, revitalizing old and dying churches or a combination of all three?
I do think it’s all three. mostly because all three exist already in our culture with actual people who know people already in them. different gifting will result in different forms. In most towns we have only mega churches and small churches wanting to be mega churches. But there are so many people who crave different forms. I think ANC is called to plant as many healthy “middle” sized churches as possible. We’d rather be 10 churches of 400 than 1 church of 4000. Hope that answers your question.
As a church planter, do you have a set schedule or are you on call 24/7?
There’s no part time ministry, bottom line. But this form we’ve found has given me more margin in my life than I’ve ever had. I spend nearly half my time with other church planters and emerging leaders. I love pouring into others and helping them succeed. I love seeing Kingdom partnerships emerge. We do simple church, so our leadership is decentralized in many ways, so our form requires less unscheduled time from me than other forms I’ve been a part of. The exchange is that it requires more upfront planning time, but that is probably one of the things that comes more naturally to me. As a dad of three kids with two on the way from ethiopia… I love the pace of my life right now.
Did you pastor a traditional church before Austin New Church began? If so, what inspired you to leave become a leader of ANC?
Some say that the new “traditional” church is the suburban megachurch. If that’s so, then yes… that was my background prior to ANC. Why did we leave? God led us to start ANC more as a moral imperative than it was to leave or start a church. He told us to go serve the poor and be kingdom minded. We did and ANC emerged out of that vision. It’s obviously been more complicated and intentional than that… but that’s the nutshell.
This is almost over now, just two more questions. I couldn’t end before having you share one of your most amazing life stories that have come out of Austin New Church.
I know this is a cheap way out… but you’ll have to chose between one of three: http://www.austinnewchurch.com/#/about-anc
Finally, will you please tweet me when your social media fast is over so I know when June begins? I’m like so many other people in this world. If I don’t see it on Twitter, I don’t think it’s happened. Maybe it’s time I go on a social media fast too. : )
Sounds like a deal.
A Mile Wide: Trading a Shallow Religion for a Deeper Faith
Publishers Weekly.
263.28 (July 11, 2016): p61.
COPYRIGHT 2016 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
A Mile Wide: Trading a Shallow Religion for a Deeper Faith.
Brandon Hatmaker. Thomas Nelson, $22.99 (224p) ISBN 978-0-7180-7850-8
Author and TV personality Hatmaker, once the leader of his local church, experienced a series of events that made him reconsider his role within
his congregations and made the conscious choice to give more to his church community. Instead of encouraging his congregants to attend a
traditional church service, he asked them to become more active in the community, helping the homeless, hungry, and lonely. His church
members became church "partners," and their faith became missional and deeper. In this newfound role, Hatmaker formed the Legacy Collective,
a giving community that focuses on sustainable solutions to social issues. In this insightful book, Hatmaker describes the deepening of his faith in
a conversational manner, sprinkling the narrative with references to Scripture and explaining how Jesus created disciples through his example of
compassion and caring. By exploring topics such as identity, discipleship, community, and justice, Hatmaker explores how the Gospel works in
the lives of believers to enhance their faith. Aiming his book at Christians who may be struggling with their faith because of a lack of enthusiasm
for attending a traditional church, Hatmaker offers an opportunity for a paradigm shift that puts the onus on the individual to make a difference in
the lives of others, rather than becoming absorbed in their own. (Sept.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"A Mile Wide: Trading a Shallow Religion for a Deeper Faith." Publishers Weekly, 11 July 2016, p. 61. General OneFile,
go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA458915388&it=r&asid=9aa80353a29d4840194bfaf8a5b044bb. Accessed 14 Mar.
2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A458915388
---
3/14/2017 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1489548374501 2/2
Barefoot Church
California Bookwatch.
(Jan. 2012):
COPYRIGHT 2012 Midwest Book Review
http://www.midwestbookreview.com
Full Text:
Barefoot Church
Brandon Hatmaker
Zondervan Publishing House
5300 Patterson Avenue, S.E.
Grand Rapids, MI 49530
9780310492269, $18.99, www.zondervan.com
BAREFOOT CHURCH: SERVING THE LEAST IN A CONSUMER CULTURE shows how the modern church can be a catalyst for individual
and social change, and uses the author's own journey to document how serving ideally affects the entire community. Practical ideas for applying
the principles of benevolence to community needs are accompanied by many examples in a pick highly recommended for any spirituality
holding.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Barefoot Church." California Bookwatch, Jan. 2012. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA277602435&it=r&asid=ab80c56bf3477f453f811ece8ef142ed. Accessed 14 Mar.
2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A277602435
Cronshaw, Darren1
Source:
Mission Studies: Journal of the International Association for Mission Studies. 2014, Vol. 31 Issue 1, p125-126. 2p.
Brandon Hatmaker is a pastor of Austin New Church in Austin, Texas, and also serves his city as co-founder of Restore Austin while being engaged as a missional strategist with Missio. He writes about how he transitioned from being a self-confessed consumer Christian on a megachurch staff, to being prepared to do whatever it takes to lead his church to serve the poor, and to take off his own shoes for homeless people - to become a "barefoot church". Here Hatmaker outlines practical strategies for helping a local church focus beyond itself - in its own neighborhood, and to the whole world as our neighbor. Unfortunately, lack of awareness and access can limit Western Christians from taking an interest in global concerns. He challenges Christians to take initiative, as his church has done with hurricane relief, advocacy against slavery, and serving Austin locally on fifth Sundays. His challenge is to be good news as well as speak it: "The church is on the fringe of our society, and we need to find new ways to undo the damage to our reputation. We have to change the way we are seen by the world. We have to become good news again Mercy and justice ministry is a life mate to the spoken word in this equation. In an increasingly post-Christian and postmodern context where moral authority trumps positional authority, we would be wise to make sure that our deed matches our creed" (pp. 73,79). Hatmaker critiques the tendency in churches to spend first on ourselves (e.g., to look after Sunday Staff, or to add administrative staff before mission workers).
And he explains how he invites unbelievers to join the church in service initiatives, and how they partner with non-profit agencies and are prepared to give up the agenda and the glory, as with their programs for caring for people living with AIDS, helping kids stay in school, caring for families and the homeless, and sponsoring food banks and reforestation. The wisdom I most appreciated in Barefoot Church was how to transition a church in these directions. Hatmaker explains his missional community multiplication strategy, and he seeks to empower those small groups to serve their city. He counsels leaders to expect tension, and not to celebrate the sort of tension that comes from making change about us and defending our position. He explains how leaders can share the vision, give permission, protect margin for mission, pray, and be intentional about surveying and community needs and unconventionally addressing them. With inspiring stories and an appeal to change the scorecard for how we measure churches and their mission, this is excellent reading for any aspiring missionaries-to-the-West looking for practical ideas for serving the poor. Darren Cronshaw Baptist Union of Victoria, Australia