Primer on Today’s Missional Church
11.05.2008 | 61 comments »
The Sower - Vincent Van Gogh
With the buzz about the missional church, and a the desire to acquaint people in the congregations I serve on the topic, I decided to write a primer on today’s missional church. A primer is designed to introduce someone to a topic substantively but not exhaustively. I say today’s missional church, because the focus will be with the recent history of the church. My hope is that God might whet your appetite for further study and practice in missional living.
One thing about this primer is that it is an on-line primer. Which means you don’t have to purchase a book, a magazine or a journal to learn about the missional church, you can just read through these rich links. While this post includes links representing different continents, it has a focus on the West.
Before taking time to define the missional church, I want to say that there is always the danger of reductionism. Just like some pick favorite passages from scripture at the expense of others, we can do something similar when trying to define the missional church. As Johannes Nissen has said, “A missiologically relevant reading of the Bible will not lead to any universal missiology but (as in the New Testament itself) to a variety of missiological perspectives. Different theologies of mission do not necessarily exclude each other, ‘they form a multicolored mosaic of complementary and mutually enriching as well as mutually challenging frames of reference.’ Instead of trying to formulate one uniform view of mission we should rather attempt to chart the contours of a pluriverse of missiology in a universe of mission.” (Nissen 1999:16,17)
This is a helpful thought to take with you throughout this entire primer, which includes short articles, mid-sized entries, lengthy articles as well as video and audio. Let’s look at some various definitions of the missional church. There are many ways to define the missional church, by identifying marks of a missional church, distinctives, pictures or straight out definitions. So take a look at these articles:
DEFINING THE MISSIONAL CHURCH
Five Marks of Mission and Five Marks of a Mission-Shaped Church - Notes from the famous Anglican Church statement about The Mission-Shaped Church
Twelve Hallmarks of a Missional Church and Three Overarching Principles - A short summary from The Gospel and Our Culture Network plus a short summary from Michael Frost and Alan Hirsh’s award winning book, The Shaping of Things to Come
Missional Jesus, Missional Church - Scot McKnight (Technorati’s #1 rated blogger on the missional church) as retold by Gavin
The Test of the Missional Church - Lesslie Newbigin (one of the most quoted missiologist of our time)
What is Missiology? by Cathrine Ross (Dr. Cathrine Ross is manager of the Crowther Centre for Mission Education at CMS in Oxford and JV Taylor Fellow in Missiology based at Regent’s Park College and Wycliffe Hall)
The Church as Mission - John Howard Yoder (a well known theologian)
Missional Buzz - Identifying Missional Churches by Tim Conder (pastor and author)
What I Mean When I Say “Emerging-Missional” Church - by Andrew Jones (A Prolific Blogger at Tall Skinny Kiwi and a Missional Cell Developer for CMS)
Missional Synchroblog: The Skinny on Missional - by Andrew Jones (see above)
The Mission of the Church - N.T. Wright (named as one of the top five theologians in the world by Christianity today, an anglican bishop and prolific author)
A Working Definition of Missional Church - JR Woodward (that’s me, you can read my bio above)
Fifty Ways to Define Missional (I’m serious, Brother Maynard composed a missional synchroblog)
The City - Photo by JR Woodward
DEFINING THE MISSIONAL CHURCH - VIDEO
If you prefer to learn about the nature of the missional church through video, instead of through reading, (trying to have equal opportunity learning) then you are in luck for this area. Here are a few videos you can check out:
What is Missional Church? - An Interview with Craig Van Gelder, Professor and Missiologist, contributing author to the landmark book Missional Church: A Vision for the Sending of the Church in North America (17 minutes)
What is Missional Church? - An Interview with Eddie Gibbs, Professor and Missiologist, author of numerous books including Leadership Next and Emerging Churches (30 minutes)
What is Missional Church? - An Interview with Ryan Bolger, Assoc. Professor and Missiologist, co-author of Emerging Churches (30 minutes)
Characteristics of a Missional Church - Tim Keller, Pastor at Redeemer Church in Manhattan and Author of many books, including award winning The Reason for God (5 minutes)
If you prefer to watch by video but hear about the missional church through preaching and teaching, then this video will serve you well:
Being the Missional Church - Michael Frost, Author and Activist, addressing the 2007 Presbyterian Global Fellowship Conference (52 minutes)
RECENT HISTORY OF MISSIONAL CHURCH
History of World Mission and Evangelism, From Edinburgh in 1910 to Today - A mid-sized article by the World Council of Churches (WCOC) recalling the history of world gatherings on this topic.
IMPORTANT ECUMENICAL MISSIONAL AFFIRMATIONS
Edinburgh to Salvador: Twentieth Century Ecumenical Missiology by T.V. Philips, the most important and comprehensive statement on mission made in 1982 by the WCOC after lengthy discussion with churches all over the world.
Mission in the 21st Century - A Summary of Athens 2005 Conference on World Mission and Evangelism complied by Professor Michael Kinnamon, WCOC
The Manila Manifesto - From the Lausanne Movement Documents
Mission and Evangelism in Unity Today - Adopted by the WCC Commission on World Mission and Evangelism in 2000 as a study document to be used during the preparations for the next world mission conference.
B/W Humanity - Photo by JR Woodward
MISSIONAL THEOLOGY
Theology for Beginners - by Ben Myers (Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia and author of one of the most popular theological blogs - Faith and Theology)
Mission for Beginners - by Ben Myers (read about Ben just above)
The Newbigin Triad - Addressed by Darrell Guder (well-known missiologist that I will talk more about later) and presented by Brad Brisco blogger at a great site called the Missional Church Network
A Framework for a Missional Hermeneutic by Michael W. Goheen (Phd, University of Utrecht - is the Geneva Professor of Wordview and Religious Studies at Trinity Wester in Langley, British Columbia, and author of As the Father Has Sent Me, I Am Sending You: Lesslie Newbigin’s Missionary Ecclesiology)
The Missiological Foundations of Theology by Gailyn Van Rheenen (Author, Missionary - in East Africa for 14 years, and Adjunct Professor of Missions)
A Biblical Theology of the City by Tim Keller (Pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in NYC and author of a number of books including The Reasons for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism)
The Trinity: Foundations for Missional Theology by W. David Phillips (a Pastor, blogger at Missional Glocal Theological, and is doing doctoral work at George Fox Seminary with Len Sweet)
Witnessing to the Indiscriminate Love of God, The Holy Spirit and authentic witness by Johannes Nissen (Professor Department of Old and New Testament, Faculty of Theology, University of Aarhus, Denmark, and prolific author)
The 8 Marks of a Robust Gospel by Scot McKnight (Dr. Scot McKnight is a professor, author and blogger)
Narrative Theology and the Missional Church by Ben (Ben is a Ministry Coach and blogger at ben’s blog)
As the Father Has Sent Me, I am Sending You: J.E. Lesslie Newbigin’s Missionary Ecclesiology by Michael W. Goheen (look above for info about Michael) - This is his entire rich dissertation. Feel free to read the whole thing or sections in which you have interest. The bottom of the page contains a link to the entire paper.
Dictionary of Missiological Terms - by Gayle Van Rheenen
The Thinker - Photo by JR Woodward
MISSIOLOGIST (CONTEMPORARY)
C. René Padilla - Learn about him through his bio and some of the books he authored, and articles that he has written.
Cathy Ross - Learn about her through her bio, the mission society where she serves, as well as some articles that she has online, on hospitality and contextual education and the Five Marks of Mission, written with Andrew Walls.
Charles Van Engen - Learn about him through his bio and some of the books that he has written.
Craig Van Gelder - Learn about him through his bio and some of the books he has written.
David Bosch - Learn about him through his bio and some of the books he has written or articles and blogs about him.
Darrell Guder - Learn about him through his bio and some of the books that he has written, or blogs about him.
George R. Hunsberger - Learn about him through his bio and some of the books that he has authored, or articles he has written.
Inagrace T. Dietterich - Learn about her through her bio and books and articles she has written.
Johannes Nissen - Learn about him through his bio and from some of the many publications that he has written.
Karl Barth - Learn about him through his bio and through some books and articles that he has written. You can learn about him through the Center for Barth Studies, at the Island of Freedom as well as bloggers. You can have a taste of Barth by reading Ben’s Church Dogmatics in a week, as well as Ten propositions on Karl Barth which is a part of Kim Fabricius’ well-known ten propositions series.
Lamin Sanneh - Learn about him through his bio, and the many books that he has written. You can download some articles he has written, and read an interview that he had with Bonk at Christianity Today.
Lesslie Newbigin - Learn about him through his bio and the huge number of books that he has written, as well as the large number of books about him or interacting with his ideas. Download on of 281 free on-line articles he authored, or check out what bloggers are writing on wordpress or technorati. If you want to understand the missional church, pick up one of these books that he has written, and read it. You will be hooked.
Paul G. Hiebert - Learn about him through his bio and his books. He passed away on March 11, 2007. A number of bloggers wrote about him and those at books and culture remembered him.
Wilbert R. Shenk - Learn about him through his bio, as well as the books he has written.
The Harvest - Vincent Van Gogh
MISSIONAL PRACTICES
Missional Communities by Jason Clark (Jason is a practioner has a DMin in Church and Culture and is a PhD candidate at Kings College London, researching theological assessments of consumerism and the implications for ecclesiology) Article at Open Source Theology
Transforming Mission Applied - The Methodist Church of New Zealand has taken Bosch’s work and wrote out the implications that it has for them.
Ten Tips for Living the Incarnation by John Santic (Practioner and blogger at Toward Hope- currently on writing sabbatical, but I’m hoping he starts writing again, for he was one of my favorite bloggers.)
Creating Space: Hospitality as a Metaphor for Mission by Cathy Ross (Dr. Cathy Ross works for the Church Mission Society in Oxford, where she overseas the Crowther Centre for Mission Education, she is a practioner and her research interests are in the areas of contextual theology, hospitality and women in mision)
The Six Elements of Apostolic Genius by Alan Hirsch (Alan is an author and activist who exercises great imagination and thinks holistically about the practices of the missional church)
Exploring Your Neighborhood: An Exegetical Walk by Simon Carey Holt (Simon teaches in practical theology at Whitley College, University of Melbourne) Article at Allelon
Incarnational Reality: Learning to See by Judith Hougen (Blogger, Writer and Assistant Professor of English, who blogs at Emergent Self).
Missional Word Images: Missional People in Everyday Life by Rick Meigs (A Practioner who lives in Portland Oregon and who started the Friend of Missional website.)
Prayer=Sex with God by Erin Word (A blogger who lives in Portland, Oregon who writes with passion and honesty.)
Believing in the Future, Six Necessary Elements David Bosch gives for Developing a True Missiology in Western Culture - John Chandler (Church Planter, Blogger with an MA in Christians Studies at Mars Hill Graduate School)
Five Characteristics of a Missional Community from Jonathan Dodson’s site Church Planting Novice taken from Frost’s book Exiles (Jonathan is a church planter, he holds a B.A. in Anthropology, M.Div and Th.M degrees in Theology from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and has many insights on missional living.)
Leadership Requirements for the Multi-Cultural Congregation by Dan Sheffield
In the World but Not Of It: Servant Leadership for the 21st Century by Sally Coleman (Sally is an Ordinand with the Methodist Church in Great Britian, as well as a blogger).
Reading Scripture Missionally by Michael Hanegan (Ministry leader of communications at Northwest Church of Christ) Article at The Outpost, a Collaborative Missional Community of Churches of Christ.
Missional Order and Missional Monastics by Brother Maynard (a mysterious figure, an enigma shrouded in mystery, you will have to visit his blog site subversive influence to discover more about him.)
Missionary Agencies vs. Missional Orders from Jay Lorenzen (A Practitioner and blogger at OnMovements)
Coloring Outside of the Box by Len Hjalmarson (A Practioner who works with street kids, holds a MDiv from MB Bible Seminary and is a blogger)
The Gospel and the God Forsaken: The Challenge of the Missional Church in Suburbia by Todd Hiestand (Todd is a Pastor at The Well, just outside of Philly, a webdesigner and blogger at Missional Living in Suburban America)
Missional Leadership Development by Dave DeVries (Dave completed his doctoral studies at Bakke Graduate School and did his doctoral dissertation on Missional Transformation. He is a church planter and currently equips and empowers pastors and church planters)
Six Ideas to Spark the Missional Imagination by JR Woodward (the six ideas expressed in these writings deal with 1. Leadership in the missional church 2. Helping Your Church Becoming Missional 3. Re-imagining Evangelism 4. Faithfully fulfilling the mission in the digital age 5. Understanding the Good News 6. Learning about Missional Orders from St. Francis)
A Missional Church is Spirit-Driven by Timothy Cowen (Pastor at Rock Hill Baptist Church and blogger.)