Missional Church: A Vision for the Sending of the Church in North America

by Inagrace T. Dietterich, Alan J. Roxburgh, Craig Van Gelder, et al.

Book Overview

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,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0802843506
• ISBN13: 9780802843500
• Release Date: February 1998
• Publisher: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.93 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.9" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

A sign of hope

Missional Church is a humble, yet firm, call by the authors for the church rethink itself. Perhaps rethinking is not exactly the best term to use. Once senses in the pages that the book more or less assumes that the church has always been what the authors suggest it should be, but the people of the church have forgotten who they are. So it is more that the church needs to remember itself than rethink itself. In fact, a good bit of the problem is that all the church has been doing is rethinking itself to the point where it has lost its identity and been washed up in whatever cultural setting it is found. The authors focus directly on the church in North America, identifying the cultural milieu we find ourselves in and offering a helpful examination of how the North American church can reorient itself in such away that it not only doesn't fade away into irrelevance but becomes again what it was always meant to be. One should not read this book with the expectation that it will confirm ones understanding of the nature of the church. Even if one is conversant in the language of culture and willing to hear that the North American church doesn't actually have it all figured out, something new can still be learned. A new language is developed as one enters into the thought of the missional church group, a language based on sending. Whereas for centuries the churches of the West thought they were the ones sending people, for example and American congregation sending a missionary to China, missional church thought would say that sending is the action of God because God is by very nature a missionary God. Now, it is also necessary for North American churches to understand that they are not only to send people "out there" into other parts of the world but that the church is sent into whatever context it finds itself. It is for this reason that the church must become conversant in the language of culture, because culture is the context into which it is sent. The authors take the reader through the relevant history which has brought the culture to where it is. They overview the history of the Enlightenment and show how the autonomous self arose, fracturing society metaphysically and ideologically into a big melting pot of individuals. The individual has been bombarded by numerous metaphors to shape her identity, notably the roles of consumer and product of technique. These identity roles have created an "unresolved tension" for the modern self (31). This history has also shaped the church in North America, from the way the church views itself in relation to the government, to the way members view themselves as consumers of a religious product. The system of denominationalism was developed greatly in North American after peoples from Europe immigrated bringing along their various religious views and ideas shaped by current philosophical and governmental ideals. The product has been "a functional Christendom and forms of church life shaped by

This is a must, excellent read

This is book is the first in a series entitled "The Gospel and our Culture Series." It was written by a team of six authors and it provides an excellent introduction to the relationship of the church and culture and why the church must see itself not as "having" a mission, but "being" a missional community. The book challenges the consumer approach that is found in much of the North American church and promotes a missional ecclesiology that sees the church as a living, breathing organism that is being sent (Apostolically) into the culture to bring transformation where ever it goes. List strengths of book. The book does an excellent job, better than I have ever read anywhere else, on presenting the mission of God. The book also offers an excellent bibliography of more than twelve pages for research on a missional ecclesiology. List weaknesses of book. While the book is probably strengthened by the work of the research team the writing in the book seemed at times to be too varied between authors. Secondly, the book would have been strengthened with concrete examples of what a missional church look likes.

Great book for mainline churches

Keeping in mind the audience for this book, which is mainline churches, the authors do an excellent job of challenging us to rethink how we do church. Society is not what it once was, so should the church remain the same in order to communicate effectively the Gospel story? Though one reviewer did not find the book useful, he was already of the postmodern generation and not necessarily the key audience. My seminary president led a class with this book as one of our main resources. We all found it both thought provoking and well worth reading.

Will use it as a required text in a course I'll be teaching

Guder does an outstanding job of editing this text.The writers present a quality summary of today's American spiritual culture as well as justification for returning the church back to its apostolic (i.e. sent) roots. The mission of God is so well presented in this book that I'm going to use it as a required text in the evangelism/mission course that I'm teaching this fall at a Christian/Lutheran university.

After the Bible, the best book I've read all year.

I've been plugging this book at clergy gatherings for the last 6 months. This book was a partial answer to a prayer that I've had for years, "God, What are you calling us to become, because it seems clear that we can't continue with the Christendom models." I've read a lot of other books, but none come close to giving the depth of anaysis into the problem of Christendom. The essays in this book present an exiciting mission for the church as it moves to the margins of culture. The book is not an easy read for those who have limited theological training. However, with a copy of Westminsters Dictionary of Theological Terms in hand, thoughtful Christians will gain a host of insight into the North American Church context(AND YES! They do separate anaysis for Canada and the USA context). Rev. Jim Love (United Church of Canada)