Missional: Joining God in the Neighborhood

by Alan J. Roxburgh

The burgeoning missional church movement is a sign that believers are increasingly feeling the call to impact their communities, which is a good thing. But, says Alan J. Roxburgh, these conversations still prioritize church success over mission--how can being missional grow my church? But to focus on such questions misses the point.

In Missional , Roxburgh calls Christians to reenter their neighborhoods and communities to discover what the Spirit is doing there--to start with God's mission. He then encourages readers to shape their local churches around that mission. With inspiring true stories and a solid biblical base, Missional is a book that will change lives and communities as its message is lived out.

Genres: Church, Nonfiction, Christianity, Theology, Christian

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Alan Roxburgh is a pastor, teacher, writer and consultant with more than 30 years experience in church leadership, consulting and seminary education. Alan has pastored congregations in a small town, the suburbs, the re-development of a downtown urban church and the planting of other congregations. He has directed an urban training center and served as a seminary professor and the director of a center for mission and evangelism. Alan teaches as an adjunct professor in seminaries in the USA, Australia and Europe. In addition to his books listed here on Amazon, Alan was also a member of the writing team that authored "Missional Church: A Vision for the Sending of the Church in North America".

Through The Missional Network, Alan leads conferences, seminars and consultations with denominations, congregations and seminaries across North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the UK. Alan consults with these groups in the areas of leadership for missional transformation and innovating missional change across denominational systems. Along with the team at TMN, he provides practical tools and resources for leaders of church systems and local congregations.

When not traveling or writing, Alan enjoys mountain biking, hiking, cooking and hanging out with Jane and their five grandchildren as well as drinking great coffee in the Pacific North West.

Reviews

[Steven Cauley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Despite the goofy looking cover, this book has a lot to offer regarding Missiology. I found myself highlight and gleaning exciting stuff in most all section of the three sections. Roxburgh offers thoughts about re-framing our "language house" which includes moving from a Matthew 28 imperial church to a Luke 10 missionary model. I'll be utilizing and "unpacking" a lot of his suggestions as I seek to lead a faith community into a new "language house" as we discover, more deeply, what God is up to in our neighborhood.

This book deserves a 5-star rating. It's readable and offers a lot of solid background on the interweaving of the church, the gospel, and culture.

[Daniel Pearson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good read, very helpful in thinking about how the church can (should?) function. I recently read Bruggemans Prophetic Imagination and this book lines up well, taking a more communal view than an individual view. The author is more concerned with changing your view of the church, rather than how to improve/grow the church.

It is not a "How-to" book. if you are looking for the latest trend to grow "your" church this is not the book for you.

[Jeremy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great book. Would have given it 4 stars but found a lot of the book written very theoretically and above the heads of most people. This improved in the later chapters enough that I was able to fully grasp the main concepts and feel encouraged to be Missional.

[Jon Stout · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alan Roxburgh, the keynote speaker of our upcoming Episcopal Diocesan Convention, attempts to elaborate on the “missional” movement in the church, that is, the movement to revitalize the church by engaging the struggles and the activism of the community at large. Unfortunately the book seems to duplicate the self-centeredness and the arcane language which it sees as the problem.

Roxburgh argues that the Episcopal Church is obsessed with itself and is locked in a “language house” which is Eurocentric or “Euro-tribal”(colonial in attitude) and which emphasizes “individualism, consumerism, and careerism.” I can go along to a degree. I certainly do not favor colonialism or consumerism.

Roxburgh recommends following the example of Luke, the only non-Jew among the Gospel writers, in addressing his Gospel, and the book of Acts, to the gentile followers of Jesus, who lived after the fall of Jerusalem and after the eschatological (apocalyptic) expectations of the early church. In Luke, Jesus sent out disciples, saying, “Lo, I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. Do not take a purse or bag or sandals.” In other words, leave the baggage behind and be open to new experience.

This advice is remarkably similar to the advice offered by the keynote speaker of a year ago (Dwight Zscheile, People of the Way; Renewing Episcopal Identity, see my review). To me it seems bland and repetitive. I would be open to taking the message to a more radical level, for example, to be open to rethinking Christian theology in the light of other worldviews, such as those of atheists or of Buddhists.

In the last two chapters, Roxburgh does offer concrete suggestions for a congregation’s being open to change from the outside. We as a church struggle to be relevant, but we rarely get outside of our comfort zone.

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In fairness, after I heard Roxburgh speak at the convention, I had a much better impression of him. He showed a vivid sense of the dangers of new ideas getting turned into "programs" and insider jargon. And he demonstrated great experience in getting churches to think beyond self-preservation, and to actually look for the presence of God in the community.

[Corey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've met the author in person and have heard and read some of his personal story. He strikes me as a failed clergyman who found a way to make a living as a guru who can go around telling people still in churches what they're doing wrong. He is good at that. He dedicates the first part of the book - and spends a good portion of the second - to explaining what churches are doing wrong. And in many respects, he's right. He also has a good handle on the cultural shifts that are happening and why they present a challenge to the church. But you can tell that his comfort zone is in the abstract. The middle section of the book is essentially Bible study (narrowly focused on Luke 10) as well as some literature review on Lesslie Newbigin. He has some great things to say, many of which are indisputably true, but when you get to his last section in which he tries to be more practical for the established church, you can tell that the things he puts forth do not come out of trying and testing them himself. It's full of sentences that begin with "try to find a way to...", and he either misunderstands or disregards organizational theory. And at one point, he recommends that churches form "neighborhood teams, " contradicting something he had said one chapter previous about missional living not being accomplished through church structures. From attending one of this author's workshops, I can tell you that he does not follow his own advice about listening to and learning from others. I can recommend this book to anyone who is totally new to the word "missional" and needs to get some of the basic cultural analysis and biblical interpretation, but beyond that, Roxburgh is someone who only knows where the church is NOT going and loves to write and speak about it. He knows the missional "concept," but that's it, and he is not very helpful to church leaders who are stuck with one foot in both worlds.

[Albert Hong · Rating 2 out of 5]

So the introduction had this tantalizing statement about this pastor who was hosting all these community events but had no idea how that was going to translate into people coming to faith. I read most of the book hoping to get an answer to that question. The answer, it turns out, is that the pastor was asking the wrong question. Instead, he should have been asking how do I notice God's presence already present in the community. Not a bad idea at all for redefining the role of the faith community in a neighborhood, but it took a long, winding route to get there.

Ultimately the main things I wanted to get from this were practical ideas for what it looks like to live this out. These ideas were 25 pages at the end - chapters 12 & 13.

So I got a bit of what I was looking for, but also ended up feeling like the "missional" conversation is a conflicted and cantankerous one.

[Jeff Free · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was my 3rd foray into the concept of a slow, radical, missional, community approach to the gospel. I love the idea and feel inspired to pursue it.

This book was about 120 pages too long (out of 190). Chapters 9 & 10 pretty much cover his thesis. Those 2 chapters are worth a read if you are interested in a solid argument for wandering out of the safe confines of your insulated religious community and seeing what the neighborhood has to teach us about Jesus.

[Naomi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great questions to help church-embedded folk join the Holy in the wider world and stop being so church-focused. Discipleship matters. Theological foundations of the work include Leslie Newbigin's work and a moderate christian Biblical read (although replicating some of the issues Pamela Eisenbaum is trying to correct in _Paul Was Not A Christian_).

[Christie Lothamer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read with a few profound Kairos- the first three chapters are worth the whole book for the challenge as to how the church in the west actually engages or doesn't with culture. Inspiring and thought provoking as you work out mission in your own context. This is the text book for my church planting course at Springdale College.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. Don't think I could have handled reading this a few years ago. Fun to discover someone writing 5 yrs ago who is recommending the exact action steps that we have been living these past 2 years (commit to long-term local presence, and begin listening to the neighborhood for where God is at work).

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hard to implement but definitely worth reading.

[Kim Zimmerman]

book makes you go 'hmmm'

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author discusses church mission in theoretical concepts, but I was left confused on the practical application.

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not what I thought it was going to be. Hoped it would be more practical. Read more like a textbook to me, unfortunately.

[A.L. Stumo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good as a prophetic call to do something differently and wake up to reality. Not as good as delivery of how to join the neighborhood if not a small parish/small neighborhood church.