The 23rd Annual Outreach Resources of the Year

The Outreach Resources of the Year honors the past year’s best books that emphasize outreach-oriented ideas that churches and organizations of all sizes can use. 

In the fall of 2025, we invited publishers and authors to submit resources released between Nov. 1, 2024, and Oct. 31, 2025. The Outreach magazine editorial team then placed the qualifying titles into 11 key categories for review by expert panelists in each field. After thoughtful consideration, they selected one or more entries as an Outreach Resource of the Year and spotlighted some books as “Also Recommended.” 

Use this article to discover important resources that belong in your library, recommended by people deeply invested in the flourishing of the kingdom of God. Our hope is that you will reach for these books time and again as they enhance your effectiveness in ministry through the years. 

EVANGELISM AND DISCIPLESHIP

Evaluated by Bobby Harrington, point leader of Discipleship.org and Renew.org.

RESOURCES OF THE YEAR

Love Goes First: Reaching Others in an Age of Anxiety and Division by Andrew Forrest (Zondervan)

We are living in a moment marked by fear and mistrust, and the church is not immune to its effects. Love Goes First speaks directly into this reality with rare clarity and pastoral depth. 

Forrest offers a compelling vision for how Christians can faithfully follow Jesus in a post-Christian and often hostile culture. Rooted in Scripture and shaped by decades of cultural change, this book calls believers to move toward others in courageous love rather than withdraw in fear. Practical, prophetic and full of hope, Love Goes First equips the church to rebuild relationships, reach the next generation, and become a healing presence in a fractured world. 

S.P.A.C.E.S.: Permission-Based Discipleship Journey by Rashad Cunningham (TMM Publishing)

S.P.A.C.E.S. paints a clear picture of what personal disciple making is and how it works in real life. With biblical clarity and practical wisdom, Cunningham shows how Jesus used ordinary relational spaces to reach and form disciples and disciple makers. S.P.A.C.E.S. is an accessible, hope-filled guide that removes intimidation and replaces it with confidence. You will want to give this book to everyone in your church.

APOLOGETICS

Evaluated by Thomas Bandy, director of ThrivingChurch.com, and author of over 30 books. His most recent release is Pilgrim Band: Our Shared Quest for Meaning and Purpose (Wipf and Stock).

RESOURCE OF THE YEAR

Believe: Why Everyone Should Be Religious by Ross Douthat (Zondervan)

This book is aimed at modern intelligentsia: materialistic, rationalistic, individualistic but also philanthropic, educated and open-minded. Douthat argues that it isn’t only reasonable to be religious, but also urgent to be Christian. He equips us to hold our own among determined atheists and claim integrity among religious dogmatists and cultural gurus. It can make sense to be faithful, and it can be faithful to make sense. 

The first chapters make the case for taking religion seriously (ordered universe, mind and cosmos, unique humanity, mystery and miracle). The following chapters defend religion against personalized spiritualities and authoritarian institutions. He argues persuasively for community accountability with shared symbols and practices. He outlines our experiential, ethical and liturgical choices, and describes how each eventually leads to the other. Meaning and purpose in life have more to do with history and context than empirical observations or church policies. A grounded, coherent and hopeful appreciation of religion helps one cope with problems of evil, institutional corruption and ideological ambiguities that never go away.

Religion, he argues, does not require total agreement but personal commitment. What makes Christianity the best of all religions is the urgency that Jesus brings to the present moment. The paradox of incarnation simultaneously shatters our certainties and brings us face-to-face with the immanence of God. What we do now has eternal significance.