Missional Church

Missional Church PDF

Author: Darrell L. Guder

Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing

Published: 1998-02-09

Total Pages: 292

ISBN-13: 9780802843500

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

What would a theology of the Church look like that took seriously the fact that North America is now itself a mission field? This question lies at the foundation of this volume written by an ecumenical team of six noted missiologists—Lois Barrett, Inagrace T. Dietterich, Darrell L. Guder, George R. Hunsberger, Alan J. Roxburgh, and Craig Van Gelder. The result of a three-year research project undertaken by The Gospel and Our Culture Network, this book issues a firm challenge for the church to recover its missional call right here in North America, while also offering the tools to help it do so. The authors examine North America s secular culture and the church s loss of dominance in today s society. They then present a biblically based theology that takes seriously the church s missional vocation and draw out the consequences of this theology for the structure and institutions of the church.

Creating a Missional Culture

Creating a Missional Culture PDF

Author: JR Woodward

Publisher: InterVarsity Press

Published: 2013-09-20

Total Pages: 257

ISBN-13: 0830866795

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Once upon a time, Moses had had enough. Exhausted by the challenge of leading the Israelites from slavery to the Promised Land, Moses cried out to God, "What have I done to displease you that you put the burden of all these people on me? . . . If this is how you are going to treat me, please go ahead and kill me" (Exodus 11:11, 15). If that sounds hauntingly familiar to you, you may be the senior pastor of a contemporary church. The burden of Christian leadership is becoming increasingly unbearable--demanding skills not native to the art of pastoring; demanding time that makes sabbath rest and even normal sleep patterns seem extravagant; demanding inhuman levels of efficiency, proficiency and even saintliness. No wonder pastors seem and even feel less human these days. No wonder they burn out or break down at an alarming rate; no wonder the church is missing the mark on its mission. In Creating a Missional Culture, JR Woodward offers a bold and surprisingly refreshing model for churches--not small adjustments around the periphery of a church's infrastructure but a radical revisioning of how a church ought to look, from its leadership structure to its mobilization of the laity. The end result looks surprisingly like the church that Jesus created and the apostles cultivated: a church not chasing the wind but rather going into the world and making disciples of Jesus.

Planting Missional Churches

Planting Missional Churches PDF

Author: Ed Stetzer

Publisher: B&H Publishing Group

Published: 2006-05-01

Total Pages: 396

ISBN-13: 0805456988

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Planting Missional Churches is an instruction book for planting biblically faithful and culturally relevant churches. It addresses the “how-to” and “why” issues of church planting by providing practical guidance through all the phases of a church plant while taking a missional look at existing and emerging cultures.

A Light to the Nations

A Light to the Nations PDF

Author: Michael W. Goheen

Publisher: Baker Academic

Published: 2011-04-01

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 1441214461

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

There is a growing body of literature about the missional church, but the word missional is often defined in competing ways with little attempt to ground it deeply in Scripture. Michael Goheen, a dynamic speaker and the coauthor of two popular texts on the biblical narrative, unpacks the missional identity of the church by tracing the role God's people are called to play in the biblical story. Goheen shows that the church's identity can be understood only when its role is articulated in the context of the whole biblical story--not just the New Testament, but the Old Testament as well. He also explores practical outworkings and implications, offering field-tested suggestions for contemporary churches.

The Missional Quest

The Missional Quest PDF

Author: Lance Ford

Publisher: InterVarsity Press

Published: 2013-08-26

Total Pages: 210

ISBN-13: 0830841059

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Lance Ford and Brad Brisco walk leaders through the major shifts involved in converting consumer-model churches into congregations on a quest for the kingdom of God. Addressing everything from sowing the seeds of incarnational thinking to stepping out in the local community, The Missional Questwill prepare your church for the long run.

Missional Renaissance

Missional Renaissance PDF

Author: Reggie McNeal

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2009-02-03

Total Pages: 229

ISBN-13: 0470243449

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Reggie McNeal's bestseller The Present Future is the definitive work on the "missional movement," i.e., the widespread movement among Protestant churches to be less inwardly focused and more oriented toward the culture and community around them. In that book he asked the tough questions that churches needed to entertain to begin to think about who they are and what they are doing; in Missional Renaissance, he shows them the three significant shifts in their thinking and behavior that they need to make that will allow leaders to chart a course toward being missional: (1) from an internal to an external focus, ending the church as exclusive social club model; (2) from running programs and ministries to developing people as its core activity; and (3) from professional leadership to leadership that is shared by everyone in the community. With in-depth discussions of the "what" and the "how" of transitioning to being a missional church, readers will be equipped to move into what McNeal sees as the most viable future for Christianity. For all those thousands of churches who are asking about what to do next after reading The Present Future, Missional Renaissance will provide the answer.

Church Unique

Church Unique PDF

Author: Will Mancini

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2010-06-15

Total Pages: 309

ISBN-13: 0470435348

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Written by church consultant Will Mancini expert on a new kind of visioning process to help churches develop a stunningly unique model of ministry that leads to redemptive movement. He guides churches away from an internal focus to emphasize participation in their community and surrounding culture. In this important book, Mancini offers an approach for rethinking what it means to lead with clarity as a visionary. Mancini explains that each church has a culture that reflects its particular values, thoughts, attitudes, and actions and shows how church leaders can unlock their church's individual DNA and unleash their congregation's one-of-a-kind potential.

Missional God, Missional Church

Missional God, Missional Church PDF

Author: Ross Hastings

Publisher: InterVarsity Press

Published: 2012-07-31

Total Pages: 337

ISBN-13: 0830863486

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

"As the Father has sent me, I am sending you" (John 20:21). With the reality of broad-scale secularization in the West and the attendant cloud of insignificance hanging over the church, is there any hope for the re-evangelization of the West? In this comprehensive theology of mission, Ross Hastings directs the fretful gaze of the church to the trinitarian commission of John 20. There we find Jesus granting peace to his disciples by breathing his Spirit on them. He formed them into his community of shalom. Leaving their locked room, these "sent ones" went out to participate in God's own ongoing mission to the world. Hastings also tackles the dual challenges of isolation from and accommodation to the surrounding culture. Building on the works of David Bosch, Lesslie Newbigin, Christopher Wright and Darrell Guder, the author corrects numerous dichotomies that hinder the church. In the power of the Spirit the gathered church is spiritually transformed and also scattered as it proclaims God's forgiveness and freedom. This comprehensive theology of mission opens possibilities for renewal of faithful effort as we join in Christ's mission to the world.

Breaking the Missional Code

Breaking the Missional Code PDF

Author: Ed Stetzer

Publisher: B&H Publishing Group

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 260

ISBN-13: 0805443592

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

The authors provide expert insight on church culture and church vision casting, along with case studies of successful modern missional churches.

The Ministry of the Missional Church

The Ministry of the Missional Church PDF

Author: Craig Van Gelder

Publisher: Baker Books

Published: 2007-08-01

Total Pages: 208

ISBN-13: 9781441200594

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

In a time when churches are focusing on finding strategies and techniques to guarantee success, a movement toward the missional church is emerging. Missional churches are communities created by the Spirit with a unique nature and identity. Purpose and strategies of the church are derivative dimensions, the activities that flow naturally from the church that is focused on Spirit-led ministry. The Ministry of the Missional Church leads pastors, ministry leaders, and laypersons through three simple arguments--the church is; the church does what it is; the church organizes what it does--in order to make sense of how missional churches work. And by focusing the work of the church as the work of the Triune God, this unique book will change the way readers think about the church and the world.