The Ministry of the Missional Church: A Community Led by the Spirit

by Craig Van Gelder

Book Overview

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...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 080109139X
• ISBN13: 9780801091391
• Release Date: August 2007
• Publisher: Baker Books
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.73 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.9" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

When a book about "Missional Church" really is about Missional Church

This book is two things: (1) a theological discussion about the formation and reformation of the American Church, and (2) an organizational management reference text for navigating both the aforementioned formation and reformation. Van Gelder seeks to address the need to understand the work of the Holy Spirit within and through the church and how leadership is called to respond to and contribute to that work by shifting from "doing" church to "being" the church. His theme focuses on "Spirit-Led Ministry" and begins by discussing this theme in conjunction with the Bible, the Context of the U.S. and the Missional Church. He continues by delving into the application of Organizational Theory, focusing specifically on Discernment, Leadership, Growth and Development. The author is addressing the lack of ability within the church to engage in healthy paradigm shifts because of a disconnect with the work that the Holy Spirit has done (historically) and is doing (currently) in the church. Overall, the book is well written and provides a significant guide for churches and communities to begin to explore a thorough and involved examination of their origin and purpose, to be followed by an opportunity to adjust aspects of the church that hold it back from being able to reconnect with that purpose and encounter the world as originally intended. The second-half of the book is steeped in Organizational Theory and presents several high-level concepts. Van Gelder provides many illustrations to assist the reader in connecting with these concepts and he is very careful to connect his prepositions with the theological foundation that was presented at the beginning of the book. While students of OT and other management science majors may find that these are clear and simple explanations, the second half will not bear skimming for the rest of us. So if you are going to purchase this book (and if you are working in church leadership, you probably should), be prepared to dedicate time to really engage and wrestle with the concepts.

Rediscovering the Mission of the Church

This book is about how and why churches should adopt the emerging "missional church" model in their self-understanding and operations. Van Gelder posits this model against the earlier forms of the "Established Church" (State-run and legitimized) and the modernist-influenced "Corporate Church" (based on voluntary associations, where the individual and the tasks at hand are its foci). Instead, by thoughtfully reflecting on Scripture, Christian confessions, the Postmodern condition, local contexts, social science research, organizational and adaptive models, and communal discernment of the Holy Spirit's guidance by church leadership and lay people (phew!), Van Gelder says a local church can best move forward in its mission of joining in on God's already-initiated work of redeeming the world. I really appreciated Van Gelder's concise but very thorough pneumatology (beliefs about the Holy Spirit). He points out that the Holy Spirit has been the theologically-neglected Member of the Trinity, and it is essential for Christians of all stripes to gain a thorough understanding of how God has and does work in the world by the Spirit. As a Charismatic, I wish he had delved more into how the prophetic element of the Spirit's leading can be incorporated into the discernment process of mission (he only alludes to it), but I also highly recommend this book to fellow Charismatics, since we often need to be reminded that the exercise of "spiritual gifts" is only ONE way the Holy Spirit guides His people. I found Van Gelder's "open systems" organizational diagram to be overly complicated (it reminds me of one of those Dispensationalist timeline posters of Bible prophecy), but many of his specific points in the how and why of helping congregations adapt to the missional model are very helpful, recommending this work to those in churches navigating through generational and cultural transitions.

A Thoughtful and Articulate Look at Missional Ministry

This book is one of the textbooks for my seminary class entitled Congregation as Learning Community. It was a great starting point for this class, which is named after Everist's book with the same title, because Van Gelder forms a solid basis for thinking about ministry as a communal and missional activity. The open-systems perspective he uses integrates theology and organizational theory to craft a vision of how missional living should take place within the church and how pastors and leaders can be a part of shaping that vision. At times the open-systems perspective seemed a little too framed for me, as though we can capture the move of the Holy Spirit within a congregation by using tried and true organizational practices. Something I've noticed about missional communities is that they are open to God working in unexpected ways without trying to go back and deeply analyze the components of His working in that way, since those components usually shift in each individual circumstance. However, Van Gelder's diagrams are definitely valuable and a sight to see. He thoughtfully articulates in them the must-have attributes and processes of any missional ministry.

Practical Implications of the Missional Church Conversation

The missional church denotes the community that follows the Spirit into the work that God is already doing in the world. In the nineteen eighties, questions concerning Christian mission within North America converged with questions about the nature of the church, resulting in the "missional church" concept. Craig Van Gelder presents Christian leaders with a vision of ministry that flows from this missional perspective. The whole life of the church community points to the "reign of God in Christ." Therefore, churches must understand their cultural context and discern how the Spirit is leading the community to participate in the creative action of the triune God. The Ministry of the Missional Church suggests possible structures and patterns that are conducive to creating a community capable of discerning the Spirit. Van Gelder draws from organizational theories, as well as hermeneutics, and he ably weaves these theoretical concepts with practical applications. At the same time, structures must remain fluid and flexible in order to meet changes inside and outside the church. Van Gelder reminds us that the church is always reforming. Ideally, pastors, church leadership committees, and adult education and small groups will read and discuss The Ministry of the Missional Church together. Studied with open hearts and minds, they will find it challenging, and hopefully an impetus to look and see how the Spirit of God is leading them in their own contexts.

Understanding the Nature of the Church to Clarify Its Purpose

There is movement today within the Church actively seeking to move beyond focusing on strategies and techniques that promise success, to understand the nature of the church as a Spirit-led, missional community. Craig Van Gelder skillfully melds theology with organizational theory developing how the church should minister to the world and how ministers should carry out their ministry in the church. The premise of "The Ministry of the Missional Church" is that it is crucial to understand the Spirit's role in the creation of the church if we are to understand the purpose of the church in light of the ministry of the Sprit. Van Gelder provides an outline for strategic action which is Biblically framed, theoretically informed and community discerned. He addresses five phases of the discernment process and a plan for community in a complex, dynamic, congregational open system perspective. Craig then describes decision making coalitions for planned change, the cycle of change, and the responses to change. Craig Van Gelder has masterfully presented a challenge to church ministers and church leadership to "let the church be the church, Spirit led, participating fully in God's mission in its particular context."