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Missional Church: A Vision for the Sending of the Church in North America (The Gospel and Our Culture Series
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.
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.
288 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 1998
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
February 13, 2012
I strongly agree with this book's essential premise, which is that we should not think of a church SENDING people to do mission, but rather as a body whose very nature is missional. Thus "'Mission' is not something the church does, a part of its total program. No, the church's essence is missional, for the calling and sending action of God forms its identity. Mission is founded on the mission of God in the world, rather than the church's effort to extend itself." Through this understanding we see that the church is more than a "vendor of religious services and goods", with its members being the primary consumers of those religious services and goods. Members need to be those living out and incarnating the mission. Pastoral leadership needs to lead and equip them in doing this, instead of being the primary instruments of mission themselves. As such, one problem with this book is its highly academic, even esoteric language; language which might speak to ministers, but which does not speak to most laity, those who need to start thinking of themselves as involved in mission.
I also agree with this book's view on what a successful church is: "...the indicators of a successful missional community are not determinded by quantitative measures: the size of its budget, the number of its members, the quality of its musical efforts, or even the amount of its social services. Instead, success is exhibited in the quality of Christian love experienced in the midst of its common life and ministry." Like the song says, "They will know we are Christians by our love." But this should not be inbred, incestual love, love for all our fellow members, while disregarding those outside the walls of the church's building(s).
Here is where I get to my central areas of discomfort with this book. First of all the authors seem to put down the idea of a church responding to the needs of the people around it: "When leaders are shaped primarily by contextual needs, they fail to connect the gospel in a specific setting with its eschatological nature." Again, highly academic language, but it seemed to be encouraging church leaders to be (in the words of a former preacher of my youth), "so heavenly minded they are no earthly good." Christ had his disciples provide those around them with bread, and he himself brought them physical healing. In fact the main way a church can incarnate the love of God's kingdom is to respond lovingly to human need. They speak of worship as the center of a church's corporate life, but they seemingly forget how God speaks through Isaiah to say that worship without showing justice is abhorrent to him (Is 1:12-28; 58:6-7.)
A second area of discomfort relates to the authors' view that the primary mission of a church was to its own context. There is certainly truth in this. Some church leaders used to trip over their own family and neighbors while trying to reach out to the "lost souls of Africa." A good example of this can be found in the recent novel "The Help" where the women's group mistreats their help while raising money for African orphans. The authors rightly point out that today it is the people of Africa and the Southern Hemisphere who are often the most faithful Christians, and the people who need a faith perspective are those in secular America. But the perspective of the authors can also fail to confront a dangerous American tendency toward parochialism. "Why help people in need in Haiti or Africa, when OUR OWN PEOPLE have needs right here?" The needs of people in the developing world absolutely dwarf the needs of people in our country, but a idolatrous nationalism still says "let's take care of our own first, and if we have any crumbs left over..." Preaching the Gospel in our own context and declaring the kingdom of God in our own context MUST include expanding America's view of who our neighbor is. Virtually everyone in the world is just the click of a few computer keys away, and all are equally loved by our God. America (and the American church) has too large of a percentage of the world's assets to not see beyond our own borders. So I would say that to truly be a missional church, a church must minister to its own context, but also connect that context to a wider world and God's full family. I did not find that emphasis in this book.
I also agree with this book's view on what a successful church is: "...the indicators of a successful missional community are not determinded by quantitative measures: the size of its budget, the number of its members, the quality of its musical efforts, or even the amount of its social services. Instead, success is exhibited in the quality of Christian love experienced in the midst of its common life and ministry." Like the song says, "They will know we are Christians by our love." But this should not be inbred, incestual love, love for all our fellow members, while disregarding those outside the walls of the church's building(s).
Here is where I get to my central areas of discomfort with this book. First of all the authors seem to put down the idea of a church responding to the needs of the people around it: "When leaders are shaped primarily by contextual needs, they fail to connect the gospel in a specific setting with its eschatological nature." Again, highly academic language, but it seemed to be encouraging church leaders to be (in the words of a former preacher of my youth), "so heavenly minded they are no earthly good." Christ had his disciples provide those around them with bread, and he himself brought them physical healing. In fact the main way a church can incarnate the love of God's kingdom is to respond lovingly to human need. They speak of worship as the center of a church's corporate life, but they seemingly forget how God speaks through Isaiah to say that worship without showing justice is abhorrent to him (Is 1:12-28; 58:6-7.)
A second area of discomfort relates to the authors' view that the primary mission of a church was to its own context. There is certainly truth in this. Some church leaders used to trip over their own family and neighbors while trying to reach out to the "lost souls of Africa." A good example of this can be found in the recent novel "The Help" where the women's group mistreats their help while raising money for African orphans. The authors rightly point out that today it is the people of Africa and the Southern Hemisphere who are often the most faithful Christians, and the people who need a faith perspective are those in secular America. But the perspective of the authors can also fail to confront a dangerous American tendency toward parochialism. "Why help people in need in Haiti or Africa, when OUR OWN PEOPLE have needs right here?" The needs of people in the developing world absolutely dwarf the needs of people in our country, but a idolatrous nationalism still says "let's take care of our own first, and if we have any crumbs left over..." Preaching the Gospel in our own context and declaring the kingdom of God in our own context MUST include expanding America's view of who our neighbor is. Virtually everyone in the world is just the click of a few computer keys away, and all are equally loved by our God. America (and the American church) has too large of a percentage of the world's assets to not see beyond our own borders. So I would say that to truly be a missional church, a church must minister to its own context, but also connect that context to a wider world and God's full family. I did not find that emphasis in this book.
January 21, 2024
There will soon be a day where missionaries come to the US to preach the gospel.
March 23, 2021
A good book. My understanding is that this is in fact THE groundbreaking book on missional hermeneutics/ecclesiology. It is easy to see why, both because the content of the book is so thoughtful and because its influence is present in the thinking of a lot of authors I enjoy (Wright, Goheen, Bolsinger, McKnight, to name a few). I benefitted from the authors' articulation of the mission/witness of the church as representing the reign of God in community, service, and proclamation. I found that easy to remember and transliterate (so to speak) into my own congregational context. This is a solid book for getting a "lay of the land" for both missional hermeneutics and "The Gospel and Our Culture" series.
My gripes are twofold. 1) As is often the case, this book didn't have to be this long (268 pages of reading). The final chapter was, in my view, gratuitous, and could have been dispersed throughout the other chapters. Also the chapters in general could have been condensed. 2) There were a number of moments where the academic disconnect was so blatant that I couldn't help but think "yeah right." One example is their concern for the concept of congregational "membership." I understand where they’re coming from, I just think it's silly to suggest that "membership is an irrelevant concept" and that we would be better off using "venerable terms like novices or catechumens." For congregations where catechesis is a part of congregational life, perhaps such a notion could be entertained, but my Baptist parishioners would laugh at the idea. Sometimes the best way to redeem structures is to redefine the concept, not replace it.
My gripes are twofold. 1) As is often the case, this book didn't have to be this long (268 pages of reading). The final chapter was, in my view, gratuitous, and could have been dispersed throughout the other chapters. Also the chapters in general could have been condensed. 2) There were a number of moments where the academic disconnect was so blatant that I couldn't help but think "yeah right." One example is their concern for the concept of congregational "membership." I understand where they’re coming from, I just think it's silly to suggest that "membership is an irrelevant concept" and that we would be better off using "venerable terms like novices or catechumens." For congregations where catechesis is a part of congregational life, perhaps such a notion could be entertained, but my Baptist parishioners would laugh at the idea. Sometimes the best way to redeem structures is to redefine the concept, not replace it.
January 9, 2018
As it is known today, the book that popularized the term missional and its shift of seeing the North American church from sending to being sent in our own society. Also had a shaping influence on the emerging church movement. I read this first for a class and then to prepare some discussion on the theme. I have perhaps more underlining and notes in this volume than almost any other book on my shelf. Obviously, it had a profound impact on me and it still does in the organization I work for. It provides a clarion call and vision to being involved in the mission of the church, not merely being storefront vendors of religious goods and services. This time around maybe some of the ideas are not so earth-shattering novel as they were when this came out, but still very much worth studying about understanding the nature of the church ahead of mere technique.
August 15, 2019
A foundational book by multiple authors, outlining the meaning and method of missional church. They explain the need - how North America has become a mission field. They explain what needs to happen - that the established church become flexible and responsive and outward oriented. They call us to go beyond the great command (love one another) to fulfilling the great commission. The church is sent into the world, not retreating from it.
The book reads like a textbook - highly informative, but fairly dense. It also lacks stories and specific examples - it's a good theoretical resource, but I'd also recommend later works on the topic to fill out the overall picture and help with application.
The book reads like a textbook - highly informative, but fairly dense. It also lacks stories and specific examples - it's a good theoretical resource, but I'd also recommend later works on the topic to fill out the overall picture and help with application.
October 7, 2022
Missional Church is a frustrating book. What it contains is mostly insightful and accurate. But, what it doesn't have makes the book a shell of what it could be. There is no indication that the centrality of the church's mission and the mission of God are congruent. The reign of God here on earth is mentioned but not centrally. The death and resurrection of Jesus are believed, but not made the fulcrum of mission in the world. There is a "form of godliness" in this book, but it denies the power that the form needs to be effective. The result is a book that posits more human effort to remake the church. And this is an enterprise doomed to failure. I suppose there's a place for this book, but I'm not sure what it is.
July 20, 2019
One of my single favorite reads outside of the Bible.
Currently reading
October 21, 2020i want to read for my thesis.
June 13, 2012
I wish I could give the book 3.5 stars, because it's somewhere in between good and great. This is *the* book that kicked off the curernt "missional church" movement and the wide range of resources that have come in that stream. If you're a student of the missional church, then it's worth reading if for no other reason than to understand where it all started. For those who simply want an introduction to the missional church, it would be helpful, but there are other books written more recently that may be better or more practical.
The authors are a combination of pastors and theologians, but the nature of the book (written by committee after decades of discussion) means that it is rather theoretical. This is not necessarily bad, but it means that much work remains in bringing it down to ground level. The authors come from a variety of Protestant traditions (albeit all low-church), which has the beneficial effect of smoothing out denominational quirks; however, they are almost exclusively trained and experienced in mainline circles, which ironically leaves them with a somewhat parochial perspective, seemingly ignorant of parallel developments in evangelical circles.
As presented in the book, the idea of the missional church is grounded in an understanding of God as being by nature apostolic (borrowed in large part from Newbigin). In other words, God is a sending God: the Father sends the Son, and the Son sends the Spirit. This combines with an already/not-yet view of God's kingdom to suggest that Jesus' mission, and thus the church's mission, is to proclaim and demonstrate the in-breaking of "God's reign." This "sent-ness" should, according to the authors, be the primary ordering paradigm for all aspects of church organization, leadership, community life and action.
As the subtitle implies, throughout the book the authors make a project of contextualizing the missional church to the post-modern North American culture (i.e., that of the US and Canada). It is their belief that the American church is faltering as it heads into the 21st century because of errors introduced both in the establishment of Christianity under Constantine ("Christendom") as well as in philosophical shifts introduced during the Enlightenment ("modernity"). The argument is that Christendom and modernity introduced critical weaknesses into the church that have begun to fracture under the stress of postmodernism. The solution, therefore, is to refocus on the initial mission of God and start fresh in applying it to contemporary life.
Quotes of interest to me:
"The historic transformations and current existence of the church in North America form a complex reality that we must deal with in considering the development of a missional ecclesiology. ... We do not believe, however, that the context itself defines the mission and message of God's people." (p. 76)
"Over time, these '[Reformation] marks [of the church]' narrowed the church's definition of itself toward a 'place where' idea." (p. 80)
"As Jurgen Moltmann has put it, 'The historical church must be called "apostolic" in a double sense; its gospel and its doctrine are founded on the testimony of the first apostles, … and it exists in the carrying out of the apostolic proclamation, the missionary charge. The expression "apostolic" therefore denotes both the church's formation and its commission.'" (p. 83)
"To proclaim the divine reign [verbally] is to add the signature of Jesus; to refrain from proclamation leaves all else anonymous, ambiguous, and subject to misreading the situation." (p. 107)
"Virtually every Christian public ethic justifying behavior that runs counter to the example and teaching of Jesus does it on the grounds of responsibility. … Jesus' example is deemed irrelevant or irresponsible." (p. 124-5)
"The more accurately the church locates the key points of difference between its surrounding culture and that culture called for by the reign of God, the more faithfully the church lives a distinctively holy life in its place." (p. 129)
"A false distinction arises between the spiritual world where the Spirit supposedly resides and the material world of ordinary, everyday life. ... In essence, the Spirit becomes a totally mysterious power used to explain incomprehensible statements of faith, gaps in human knowledge, or extraordinary spiritual experiences." (p. 143)
The authors are a combination of pastors and theologians, but the nature of the book (written by committee after decades of discussion) means that it is rather theoretical. This is not necessarily bad, but it means that much work remains in bringing it down to ground level. The authors come from a variety of Protestant traditions (albeit all low-church), which has the beneficial effect of smoothing out denominational quirks; however, they are almost exclusively trained and experienced in mainline circles, which ironically leaves them with a somewhat parochial perspective, seemingly ignorant of parallel developments in evangelical circles.
As presented in the book, the idea of the missional church is grounded in an understanding of God as being by nature apostolic (borrowed in large part from Newbigin). In other words, God is a sending God: the Father sends the Son, and the Son sends the Spirit. This combines with an already/not-yet view of God's kingdom to suggest that Jesus' mission, and thus the church's mission, is to proclaim and demonstrate the in-breaking of "God's reign." This "sent-ness" should, according to the authors, be the primary ordering paradigm for all aspects of church organization, leadership, community life and action.
As the subtitle implies, throughout the book the authors make a project of contextualizing the missional church to the post-modern North American culture (i.e., that of the US and Canada). It is their belief that the American church is faltering as it heads into the 21st century because of errors introduced both in the establishment of Christianity under Constantine ("Christendom") as well as in philosophical shifts introduced during the Enlightenment ("modernity"). The argument is that Christendom and modernity introduced critical weaknesses into the church that have begun to fracture under the stress of postmodernism. The solution, therefore, is to refocus on the initial mission of God and start fresh in applying it to contemporary life.
Quotes of interest to me:
"The historic transformations and current existence of the church in North America form a complex reality that we must deal with in considering the development of a missional ecclesiology. ... We do not believe, however, that the context itself defines the mission and message of God's people." (p. 76)
"Over time, these '[Reformation] marks [of the church]' narrowed the church's definition of itself toward a 'place where' idea." (p. 80)
"As Jurgen Moltmann has put it, 'The historical church must be called "apostolic" in a double sense; its gospel and its doctrine are founded on the testimony of the first apostles, … and it exists in the carrying out of the apostolic proclamation, the missionary charge. The expression "apostolic" therefore denotes both the church's formation and its commission.'" (p. 83)
"To proclaim the divine reign [verbally] is to add the signature of Jesus; to refrain from proclamation leaves all else anonymous, ambiguous, and subject to misreading the situation." (p. 107)
"Virtually every Christian public ethic justifying behavior that runs counter to the example and teaching of Jesus does it on the grounds of responsibility. … Jesus' example is deemed irrelevant or irresponsible." (p. 124-5)
"The more accurately the church locates the key points of difference between its surrounding culture and that culture called for by the reign of God, the more faithfully the church lives a distinctively holy life in its place." (p. 129)
"A false distinction arises between the spiritual world where the Spirit supposedly resides and the material world of ordinary, everyday life. ... In essence, the Spirit becomes a totally mysterious power used to explain incomprehensible statements of faith, gaps in human knowledge, or extraordinary spiritual experiences." (p. 143)
January 15, 2022
Great book for dealing with opportunities in the 21st century
The only major weakness in the book
is excessive use of “Church Babble” making it challenging for most of us.
The only major weakness in the book
is excessive use of “Church Babble” making it challenging for most of us.
November 29, 2011
I have a great deal of tension over this book and how to rate it. On the one hand, the message of this book is powerful and thought-provoking. It forces its readers to ask hard questions about the nature of the church, the cultural context of North American and how to be in the church in the world today.
However, I found myself dreading this book each time I picked it up (it was required for my doctoral reading). Admittedly, I typically do not enjoy books in which different authors write each chapter, so I knew that this book would be more difficult for me.
But several other factors led to me dreading this book:
1. The chapters were ridiculously and unnecessarily long. They should have been divided into several sections with shorter chapters. Because I like to read chapters in one sitting, I grew very frustrated over the longer chapters.
2. I found the authors to be academicians and theoreticians who consistently gave esoteric opinions on how the church should "be." There was little, if any, practicality to the book. This bothered me because it led to a thousand requests that the "church needs to do something" but little insight on how ministry leaders should do this.
Two conditions in my own life would have made this book more bearable: First, if I were a pastor of a local congregation, I believe that I would have gained more from this book; Second, if I would have read the book with a discussion group that would have regularly wrestled with some of the ideas.
As I said, I have a great deal of tension over the book. I believe it is very valuable for pastors to read and would recommend it for a book group, but I found it to be overly-theoretical and cumbersome.
However, I found myself dreading this book each time I picked it up (it was required for my doctoral reading). Admittedly, I typically do not enjoy books in which different authors write each chapter, so I knew that this book would be more difficult for me.
But several other factors led to me dreading this book:
1. The chapters were ridiculously and unnecessarily long. They should have been divided into several sections with shorter chapters. Because I like to read chapters in one sitting, I grew very frustrated over the longer chapters.
2. I found the authors to be academicians and theoreticians who consistently gave esoteric opinions on how the church should "be." There was little, if any, practicality to the book. This bothered me because it led to a thousand requests that the "church needs to do something" but little insight on how ministry leaders should do this.
Two conditions in my own life would have made this book more bearable: First, if I were a pastor of a local congregation, I believe that I would have gained more from this book; Second, if I would have read the book with a discussion group that would have regularly wrestled with some of the ideas.
As I said, I have a great deal of tension over the book. I believe it is very valuable for pastors to read and would recommend it for a book group, but I found it to be overly-theoretical and cumbersome.
October 2, 2008
Excellent book but too intellectual and dry for my taste. I read one section thoroughly on recommendation. pp 199-220. ..."we are constantly losing the best and most creative leaders to more visionary and challenging areas of life because the systems of leadership identification that we have created are for a form of church life that no longer has the veracity of the power to engage these kinds of people. The maintenance and servicing of these institutions does not challenge those wanting to give their lives to something more..."
November 16, 2009
Guder is a significant presence in the missional church world, and as such he and his team of writers offer depth and originality lacking in some newer literature. His understanding of "The Reign of God" has been significant in my own understanding of The Church. It is a more biblical-based alternative to the valuable bur consumer-based Purpose Driven approach. This volume is a must in a missional church library.
January 30, 2014
Perhaps had I read it in a timely manner (instead of over the course of 8 months), I would have gotten more out of it than I actually did. While the overall premise is important and I found myself highlighting and underlining several key parts in each chapter, I continued to have a hard time staying engaged with the text. Maybe seminary did me over, and I still need a break from any near-theological like reading.
September 11, 2011
Overall this book is OK. The first few chapters really get you hooked but then everything seems to get repetitive. I read this book for a missions class in college and it was good for the purposes of the class but unless you are intent on Missions or church planting I would not suggest reading this book. It's good educationally but not great for leisure reading.
March 20, 2013
Lots of gold in here, though one has to throw out a sentence here and there. Not comfortable with the Barthian view of Scripture as mere 'witness' rather than the actual Word of God, but there is a lot of good stuff in this book. Not entirely practical, but the reader should mark up the margins with concrete applications from some of the ideas laid out.
March 26, 2015
The idea and some of the information of the book was good but often it was dry and pedantic. They tried to make it applicable by using some potential real-life situations but I don't think they did a good job of connecting the information to the situations that were presented. Often times there was too much exegesis of biblical passages that bogged it down for my taste.
December 26, 2013
The foundational text on the missional church paradigm/movement. A must-read for any pastor, elder or other church leader seeking to influence their congregations toward a missional mindset and model of ministry.
September 6, 2008
This is one of the books that revolutionized my thinking about the local church. Don't read it unless you want to love the church again or deepen your current love for it.
May 3, 2012
Another 'classic' in the missional category
July 25, 2012
Guder and friends have written a seminal work that every serious Christian should read. Missional theology is still an emerge field of study. These guys literally "wrote the book" on it.
Read
September 6, 2015I wasn't that impressed with it at the time, but everybody else raves about it, so maybe I ought to pick this one up again.
November 19, 2015
This is one of a few of our most important texts to help us on our journey of transformation to become communities on mission.
June 8, 2012
A good compilation of insights from several of the big voices in the missional church movement.
October 12, 2015
Dated, but helpful study of the beginnings of the missional movement in North America.
Read
February 20, 2016classic
Want to read
March 28, 2017The book is excellent.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews