A Primer on Today’s Missional Church
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 the 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)
Numerous papers, including Jesus and the Woman at the Well: Where Mission Meets Worship 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).
Looking for the Poor in the Suburbs: Ten Ways to Engage Mission in the Suburbs by David Fitch (Professor, Author and Practitioner)
Missional Word Images: Missional People in Everyday Life by Rick Meigs (A Practitioner 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.)
Designing the Missional Church for Formation by Inagrace T. Dietterich (Author, minister and director of Theological Research at the Center for Parish Development in Chicago.) An Allelon Article.
MISSIONAL BOOK REVIEWS
The Open Secret: An Introduction to the Theology of Mission by Lesslie Newbigin
God’s Missionary People: Rethinking the Purpose of the Church by Charles Van Engen
The Mission of God: Unlocking the Bible’s Grand Narrative by Christopher Wright
Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission by David J. Bosch
New Testament and Mission: Historical and Hermeneutical Perspectives by Johannes Nissen
The Great Giveaway by David Fitch
Signs of Emergence: A Vision for Church That is Organic/Networked/Decentralized/Bottom-up/Communal/Flexible/Always Evolving by Kester Brewin
Building a Healthy Multi-Ethnic Church by Mark Deymaz
The Forgotten Ways by Alan Hirsch, click here for lengthier review.
Treasures in Jars of Clay by Lois Barrett, Darrell Guder, George Hunsberger et al:
Emerging Churches: Creating Christian Community in Postmodern Culture by Eddie Gibbs and Ryan Bolger
The Shaping of Things to Come by Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch, click here for a longer review
Leadership Next by Eddie Gibbs
The Selfless Way of Christ: Downward Mobility and the Spiritual Life by Henri Nouwen
A Theology as Big as the City by Ray Bakke
The Missional Leader: Equipping Your Church to Reach a Changing World by Alan Roxburgh and Fred Romanuk
Traditions in Leadership: How Faith Traditions Shape the Way We Lead edited by Richard Mouw
An Eccclesiology for Late Modernity by Kurt Fredrickson
The Starfish and the Spider by Brafman and Beckstorm
Surfing the Edge of Chaos by Pascale, Milleman and Gioja
Leading Without Power by Max Depree
Missio Dei by Fred Peatross
The Sky is Falling: Leaders Lost in Transition by Alan Roxburgh, click here for a longer review.
The McDonaldization of the Church by John Drane
Announcing the Kingdom: The Story of God’s Mission in the Bible by Arthur Glasser
Life on the Vine: Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit in Christian Community by Philip D. Kenneson
Organic Community: Creating a Place Where People Naturally Connect by Joseph Myers
Blogging - Photo by Cayusa at Flickr
MISSIONAL BLOGS
Alan Hirsch – The Forgotten Ways
Andrew Jones – Tall Skinny Kiwi
Andrew Hamilton – backyardmissionary
Andrew Perriman – biblical theology/after Christendom/in a narrative-realist mode
Ben Myers – Faith and Theology
Bill Kinnon – kinnon.tv
Brad Brisco – Missional Church Network
Brother Maynard – Subversive Influence
C. Wess Daniels – gathering in light
Christine Sine – Godspace
Cynthia La Grou – Emerse
Dan Sheffield – The Blog
Dave DeVries – The Missional Challenge
David Fitch – Reclaiming the Mission
Erika Haub – The Margins
Erin Word – Decompressing Faith
Eugene Cho – beauty and depravity
Graham Tomlin – Graham’s Blog
Jamie Arpin-Rici – A Living Alternative (Our Missional Pilgrimage)
John Chandler – some strange ideas
John Stackhouse Jr. – Prof. John Stackhouse’s Weblog
Jonathan Dodson – Church Planting Novice
Jordon Cooper – The Blog
JR Briggs – broken//stained//glass
JR Rozko – lifeasmission
Len Hjalmarson – Next Reformation
Maria Drew – Vehement Adventure
Molly – Adventures in Mercy
Rick Meigs – The Blind Beggar
Ryan Bell – Intersections – life::faith::culture::community
Ryan Bolger – The BlogBlog
Sally Coleman – Eternal Echoes
Scot McKnight – Jesus Creed
Simon Carey Holt – Simply Simon
Todd Hiestand - Missional Living in Suburban America
Tony Stiff – Set’s ‘n’ Service
COLLABORATIVE MISSIONAL BLOGS
Deep Church – Jason Clark and Paul Mayers
Jesus Manifesto – Mark Van Steenwyk and Brandon Rhodes Editors
Open Source Theology – A Collaborative Blog Lead by Andrew Perriman
The Outpost – A Collaborative Missional Community for Churches of Christ (16 Contributors)
The Church Then and Now - Eddie Gibbs and Kurt Fredrickson
Pouring Out - Photograph by Rogilde at Flickr
MISSIONAL RESOURCES
Allelon – A Movement of Missional Leaders
American Society of Missiology – A Community of Scholarship, Fellowship and Mission
Church Innovations – Organization devoted to renewing the Church’s focus on God’s mission in the world
Cooperative Baptist Fellowship – Mission Resources
Church Mission Society (CMS) – Sharing Jesus, Changing Lives
Christian Missionary Alliance – Multiple Articles
Dictionary of Missiological Terms brought to you by Missiology.org
Doctoral Dissertations on Mission Since 1900 – International Bulletin of Missionary Research with Yale Divinity School Library
Ecclesia Network – A Network of Missional Churches
The Ekklesia Project – A Network of Christians from across the Christian Tradition
Emergent Village – A growing, generative friendship among missional Christians seeking to love the world in the Spirit of Christ
European Leadership Forum – Access to God’s Global Resources
Forge Mission Training Network (Australia) – An innovative training agency
Fresh Expressions – Church of England and Methodist Church initiative encouraging people hoping to establish new or different forms of church
Friend of Missional – Learning all about the Missional Church
Fulcrum – Renewing the Evangelical Centre
Global Mapping International – Mission Research Resources
Gospel and Our Culture Network – A Network for encouraging the encounter in North America
International Association of Mission Studies – A Urban Mission Exposure blog with some excellent papers on the right-hand margin.
List of Missiological Journals - From International Association for Mission Studies, IAMS
Mennonite Mission Network – Resources from the mission agency of Mennonite Church USA
MisLinks – A Web-based Missions Directory
Missiological Societies – List from International Association for Mission Studies, IAMS
Missiology and Global Mission – Mission Research Web Sites
Mission Research Databases – Resources for the Mission
Next Reformation (Articles) – Here is an amazing list of rich and helpful articles, by multiple authors, many good ones by Len Hjalmarson. You can get lost in some good reading here.
Percept Group – A full service demographic information company completely dedicated to church leaders
Redeemer Church Planting – Resources from Redeemer Presbyterian Church in NYC
Shapevine – Embracing the Missional Life
The Center for Parish Development – God Has a Mission… and God’s Mission Neeeds a Church, here are some resources for the local congregation
The Christian Vision Project – Culture, Mission, Gospel – A Ministry of Christianity Today
Theology News & Notes – A Journal from Fuller Theological Seminary
Together in Mission – Helping to equip the Missional church in a changing landscape
World Council of Churches – WCC Resources
MISSIONAL STUDIES AND ACADEMIC DISCIPLINE
Why Every Curriculum Ought to Find Some Place for the Study of the Theology of Mission – An Article from British and Irish Association for Mission Studies
Educating for Contextual Mission by Cathy Ross (Dr. Cathy Rose is the Church Mission Society Mission Interchange Advisor and is a fellow in Missiology at the University of Oxford)
Missiology in a Pluralistic World: The Place of Mission Study in Theological Education by Lalsangkima Pachuau (Dr. Pachuau is a member of the Presbyterian Church of India, and teaching in the Department of Missions and Ecumenics at the United Theological College, Bangalore India.)
Current State of Missiology by Hans Kasdorf (A Professor of Emeritus of World Mission at Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary)
FAQ’s (Frequently Asked Questions) ABOUT THE MISSIONAL CHURCH
Common Questions about the Missional Church – at the Mennonite Mission Network
So this concludes my primer on Today’s Missional Church. If you find any spelling errors or bad links, or something else that I just should have included, please let me know. I hope you find it helpful and will pass the word to others who you think might benefit from this labor. Peace.
[...] by unknown « Church of Ireland – A province of the Anglican [...]
wow, jr – what a great gift. thanks for all these links and the hard work that went into collating them.
[...] Original post by Dream Awakener [...]
JR,
This is a fantastic resource. Thanks for the effort you’ve put into it. Two minor points;
the Allelon video interview series is actually called What is Missional Church? without the “the”. And I’ve dropped achievable ends in favor of the simpler kinnon.tv – and I’m honored to be included in the blog list.
[...] Missional Links on the Web J.R. Woodward has compiled what is undoubtedly one of the best lists of missional links on the web. I am not sure how many links he has there but it is well over 100 and it consists of [...]
Hi JR. Thanks for the IMMENSE amount of work you put in on this piece. I very much appreciate that you’ve made it about as demographically and theologically diverse in your sources as is possible at this time. (I wish there were more published voices of women within the missional movement, and trust that will happen over time.) I’ll link to this shortly. Thanks again for your work to create this important resource!
JR – some spelling corrections, as you requested.
I see that your keyboard has acquired the same ‘typelexia virus’ as mine. I … umm, I mean IT … gets ‘practioner’/practitioner wrong every single time! I shall pray the bad stuff gets exorcised. Hmm … or should I pray that the good stuff gets exercised? Huh. That sounds like a SmeaGollum mono-dialogue …
DEFINING THE MISSIONAL CHURCH
Micheal Frost [Michael]
MISSIONAL THEOLOGY
(look above for info about Micheal) [Michael]
MISSIONAL PRACTICES
Five Charateristics [Characteristics]
Missionary Agencies vs. Missional Orders (a practioner …) [practitioner]
Coloring Outside of the Box (A Practioner …) [practitioner]
COLLABORATIVE MISSIONAL BLOGS
The Outpost (16 Contributers) [Contributors]
MISSIONAL STUDIES AND ACADEMIC DISCIPLINE
Current State of Missiology (Mennonite Brethern Biblical Seminary) [Brethren]
[...] 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 … More [...]
[...] a while someone provides a resource that serves as a benchmark along the journey. This just-posted Primer on Today’s Missional Church by JR Woodward looks to be one such time capsule. His Primer is worth more than just a [...]
JR,
One shocking omission: Emergent Village. Kester Brewin’s book and the Bolger/Gibbs book, which you mention, have Emergent connections, of course, but the Emergent Village blog is not listed under “COLLABORATIVE MISSIONAL BLOGS.” I would at least hope to see it listed there.
In your long list of tags/categories, I see everything BUT “emergent” or “emergentvillage.” Is Emergent Village (i.e., the “generative friendship of missional Christians”) so far outside of the “missional” stream that it doesn’t qualify? I’d just be curious as to your rationale there.
Shalom,
Steve K.
Let’s not forget many, many of the folks at Emergent Village: http://emergentvillage.com/
[...] JR Woodward, missional church, missional practices JR Woodward has taken the time to give us a well-organized, long, list of resources for missional church. The list includes definitions, history, theology, and practices. Warning: you might get [...]
Andrew,
Thanks for your encouragement.
Bill,
Your words are refreshing and I have refreshed those words.
Matt,
I’m glad to know that you felt this post to be helpful. Thanks man. I really enjoy your collaborative sight. It is rich with content.
Brad,
Thank you so much for your words. I know you keep your eye on what is happening, so please let me know if you know of more women in particular, because I would love to feature them. And your spelling corrections were extremely helpful. I think I changed them all.
Futuristguy,
Hey, thanks for your words and glad you found this helpful.
Steve,
I’m glad you found the resource helpful, and I have added Emergent Village under Missional Resources. Thanks.
jr:
currently studying missiology under ed stetzer through liberty theo seminary. i think he is one of the preeminent missiologists out there. where’s the love?
would love a mention of my blog series in your post. check it out and feel free to include with other links:
the “sent church” – a missional people
JR, you da MAN!
JR, this is crazy.
I feel like we need to pay you for this resource or something.
Holy cow, man. What a great resource. Thank you. It almost deserves its own page or website. Thanks for including Jesus Manifesto. Now that the election is over, I hope to focus on submissions that fall more into line with everyday missional/incarnational concerns.
Wow, impressive. A great gift to the church.
Shalom from Austin.
This is a tremendous resource. Thank you for putting it together and for putting in a link to my review of Mark Deymaz’s book. I’d recommend another book, which I reviewed, Rick Rouse and Craig Van Gelder, A Field Guide for the Missional Congregation (Augsburg/Fortress, 2008). It’s a nice sized book that should be great for use with lay leadership.
Thank you for this great service to us. I know it must have taken a long time to assemble. It is invaluable.
Wow, what a feast! Thanks for taking the time to pull this together JR.
I think Eugene is right. Where do we contribute!?
JR, I agree, this is an awesome resource. Thanks!
Thanks, JR!
[...] Missional church resources. (HT) Check it. [...]
[...] Woodward over at Dream Awakener has put together an outstanding collection of more than 170 links on a variety of topics surrounding Missional Church. The links include definitions, history, [...]
Here’s a few women … it might get you started:
A Former Leaders Journey – Barb
A Silly Poor Gospel – Peggy Senger Parsons
Adventures In Mercy – Molly Aley
Author Intrusion – Lisa Sampson
Beyond the 4 Walls – Lyn Hallewell
Decompressing Faith – Erin Word
Dry Bones Dance – Christy Lambertson
Emergent Self – Judith Hougen
emerging sideways – bobbie
Emerse – Cynthia
Eternal Echoes – Sally Coleman
Godspace – Christine Sine
happydaydeadfish – Holly Rankin Zaher
How God Messed Up My Religion – Pam Hogeweide
Headspace – Lainie Petersen
Kingdom Grace – Grace
Live With Desire – Heidi Daniels
Onehandclapping – Julie Clawson
Redemption Junkie – Heidi Renee
Run With It – Cindy Bryan
Secret Women’s Business – Janet Woodlock
Spiritual Birdwatching – Maria
Swinging From the Vine – Makeesha Fisher
The Best Parts – Tracy Simmons
The Carnival In My Head – Kathy Escobar
The Margins – Erika Haub
The Margins – Erika Haub
The Virtual Abbess – Peggy Brown
VikingFru’s Place – Lori Bjerkander
[...] JR is an avid blogger as well as a church planter in East Hollywood. He decided to post a Missional Primer for Todays Church on his blog, based on much of the material that we have been studying together. It is an [...]
Thanks JR! You have organized all the pieces that I have scattered throughout my computer from our studies. Love it man.
JR – thanks for your openness to additional voices. I’ll send you some “mega-link” sources on women in the missional movement and related conversations as soon as I can, and then later, compile some additional sources of print publications to consider.
[...] Primer on the Missional Church 5 11 2008 JR Woodward has posted over 175 links on a variety of topics on the missional church from history to [...]
This is a great resource!!!!
I am doing a missional leadership coaching session and I am going to send this out to those involved for their future reference.
Thanks.
wow .. this is awesome … a most beautiful gift indeed for missional church thinking and praxis in Malaysia!
Wow. This is an exceptional list. Best collection I’ve seen since the Friend of Missional website, which I’ve turned to on numerous occasions when trying to explain things. This is now my go to. Thanks.
thanks for the link jr & the huge collection of brain trust. shalom, -gav
The mother of all missional posts, superb. How on earth did you find that piece by me in 2003?
[...] and Oxford next few days. Meantime enjoy this ‘mother of all missional church posts’ by J R Woodward, that is a primer on Missional [...]
Brad Andrews,
Hey, thanks for your suggestions. As I mentioned in the post, this is not an exhaustive list. I’m sure that there are many more people who could be included. I will look things over sometime next week and consider adding more things then. Thanks again for your input.
Brad Brisco,
Your blog is inspiring. Thanks for your encouragement.
Eugene,
You are kind. I enjoy your blog.
Mark Van Steenwyk,
Thanks for your encouragement, and I really appreciate your site and hope that new visitors might visit through this post, so that can hear your voices.
Chris Marlow,
Shalom to you as well. I hope to see you in March.
Bob,
I’m glad you found this a helpful resource and thanks for doing that book review. I will be considering new links sometime next week and that one seems to fit well.
John,
Thanks man. Yeah, it took some time, but it is worth the investment if it helps people to live more missionally.
Rick Meigs,
You are welcome and please invite others to pull up a chair and dine together.
Bill Kinnon,
Thanks for your encouragement. I’m just happy to know that people are finding this a helpful post.
Tyler,
Thanks for your kind words.
Steve K,
You are welcome, and thanks for helping me fill things out.
Sonja,
Someone connected me to a site with many of the same links and I have added a number of the missional women bloggers, and am glad to have your list of posts in the comments. Much love!
Jason,
Thanks for the HT.
Brad,
Thanks for the honor of making a permanent link on your very resourceful blog.
Matt N,
I’m glad that this resource will be helpful to those you minister with. I would have other sources on here, if they were available on the web. I have enjoyed the times we have studied this topic together. Thanks for your post.
Brad,
I look forward to hearing from you about some more articles by women. I look forward to hearing from you.
Michael,
Thanks for the HT.
Malcolm,
I’m glad that this post will be helpful for those you are coaching.
Sivin,
Thanks man. I had the privilege of one visit to Malaysia and hope to be there again someday. I’m glad this post will be helpful.
Joshua,
Thanks for your encouragement. I’m glad to know that this will be a helpful resource for you.
Gavin,
Dude, you took some good notes on McKnight. Thanks for our blog and your encouragement.
Jason,
Hey I have always enjoyed reading your posts. You are so well balanced in your thinking and deep as well. Deep church fits the kind of posts you write. Thanks for sharing your voice with us all, and thanks for the HT.
[...] JR’s blog is among my most frequented stops in the blogosphere. He’s thoughtful, he’s a urban ministry practicioner, and he’s deeply creatively and innovative. And to boot he’s got an intuition about “patterns” in the broader church today. Here’s the link to what I believe is the best primer on the Missional Church today! [...]
JR thanks for the inclusion and for a great resource. I hope it gets dispersed among all the dispersed
Tony
Thanks for compiling this incredible resource. I especially appreciate the attention to Newbigin as a prescient missional thinker.
Wow.. and I thought I was the only obsessive compulsive blogger in town
If you would like links to longer reviews of Fitch, Roxburgh and Frost and Hirsch check out my review links.
And thanks for this
others have said it – but I wish to add my thanks – this is an amazing gift ans I can’t believe how long it must have taken to bring all this together.
Thanks loads.
JR, I really appreciate this. I did my undergrad thesis on the Emerging Church, and although I have tried to get my hands on a lot of Missional Church stuff for personal study, this gives me a lot more. I may have to create my own “independent study” for over winter break and tackle this one. Thanks for doing this
[...] mercurial JR Woodward has written a comprehensive primer on missional church here. Thanks [...]
JR, thanks for this. This is a real gift. I appreciate yo taking the time to lay this out. Let’s catch up sometime in the next few weeks. (server is down so use this e-mail. allelonmp@gmail.com
Hope all is well,
Grace
Mark
JR,
A phenomenal resource you have compiled! Great, super work.
Tony,
Thanks for your encouraging post and life giving words. Your blog is one that I frequent a lot myself.
Michael,
You are welcome and Newbigin’s work is worth devouring.
Len,
I guess we have something in common. I am adding on your longer reviews and some other stuff from your incredibly rich site. I was hoping that there was a place where you have posted all your articles, because more people need to read them.
Rob,
You are welcome. It brings me pleasure just knowing that God might use this post to cultivate more missional people in the world. Thanks for your encouragement.
Maria,
You are most welcome and I would love to get a hold of some of your papers that you have written. Your blog is rich with content.
Alan,
Thanks for the HT. Catch up with you soon. Let me know when life slows down a bit. lol.
Mark,
I would love to catch up with you. I will email you soon. Things are going well for me.
Lance,
Thanks for the encouragement. Peace to you.
[...] Church” für Anfänger und Fortgeschrittene hat JR Woodward (Dream Awakener) in seinem Primer on Today’s Missional Church [...]
[...] R. Woodward has written a primer — an encyclopedic posting and catalog of links, really — on the missional church. This [...]
AWESOME! Thanks so much!
If you want to add missional art to that list you might want to check out my missional blog at http://mattstone.blogs.com/glocalchristianity where I have, as far as I know, the largest collection of missional Christian art on the web.
[...] If you are in any way interested in learning more about the “missional” movement, this site has an unbelievable list of links, videos, blogs and other resources. I appreciate the inclusion [...]
[...] can I go?” Maybe I’m the only one to ask this question, but I have found the answer here. Posted in Brian’s Blogs, Missional Church. Tags: Missional [...]
[...] has done the global church a true service as he compiled a massive resource of all things missional. This list is quite impressive and will be very helpful on many different levels. So swing by [...]
[...] A primer on today’s missional church: can’t remember who tipped me off to this page, but J R Woodward collects a huge resource of web articles, videos, bios of missiologists, book reviews, blogs and reources for all who want to explore the good ship Missional. [...]
JR-
You’ve been linked.
CT
To all who have linked to this post,
Thanks for your encouragement in regard to this post. Let’s find imaginative and spirit imbibed ways to live out God’s mission in our neighborhoods. I’m glad to see that this labor is being multiplied through your links. Peace.
[...] Check out JR Woodward’s work here. Posted in Dissertation. Tags: Dissertation, Missional. [...]
[...] billing for the week easily goes to J.R. Woodward’s A Primer on Today’s Missional Church, an exceptionally thorough set of links and brief notes on what’s up in missional-land. And [...]
Twenty Items of Interest (v.38)…
As I promised last week no political links in this week’s Twenty Items of Interest.
1. Sharon Lindbloom sparked a discussion on The Book of Mormon – Is it true or false?
2. Dr. Michael Horton, professor of apologetics at Westmin…
[...] Eddie has just flagged up this truly tremendous list of missional resources. [...]
WOW… This is quite the extensive resource! Excellent primer. Whoohooo!
Thanks for this gift to the community-at-large.
[...] Woodward, who posted “A Primer on Today’s Missional Church” offers this definition from an older post of [...]
[...] Woodward, who head up Kairos Los Angeles, a network of neighborhood churches in LA, has compiled a huge list of books, articles, and blogs on the theology, historiy and recent developments of the mis… movement. If you are looking for anything related to missional church, this is the place to find [...]
[...] Dream Awakener » A Primer on Today’s Missional Church Wenn ich viel, viel Zeit hätte, würde ich das alles hier durchschauen: [...]
[...] world the missional church, missional theology or missional living is all about, you might bookmark this massive post by my good friend JR [...]
great resource; thanks!
Missional Church Resources…
[...]other day over at GoingtoSeminary.com, but I want to do it again here just to get the word out because it is such a great resource. J.R. Woodward, who is the director of Kairos Los Angeles, a networ[...]…
Thanks for stopping by GoingtoSeminary, JR. We’re so thankful you put this all together! It’s fantastic.
[...] 3.) JR Woodward provides a primer on the missional church. [...]
JR a wonderful resource. Thanks for posting this
[...] Read A Primer on Today’s Missional Church [...]
Long time reader, first time replier.
Wow, what a grand resource to the “blogger nation” and for the “blog-a-holics”. Sweet stuff. Thanks for the hard work.
[...] reading, please see The Death of Religion, an excellent commentary (particularly the second half), A Primer on the Missional Church for a link-fest of further reflections on embracing a missional gospel instead of being [...]
To those who have linked here, thanks for passing the word.
Molly, Chris, Jake and Christine – thanks for the encouragement!
Joe – Glad you enjoyed the post, and thanks for making your first reply. It is always good to hear from those reading this blog. Peace to you.
[...] friend (and church planting coach) JR put together this Primer on the Missional Church — primer is an understatement. This is a [...]
This is a staggering amount of work, JR. I’m so glad I’ve found “missional central”!
It’s gonna take me a while to work through all the good stuff you’ve highlighted here, but I’m so glad I stumbled by via Hirschy’s blog.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Pax
J
Hey JR! I’ve been stalking you for awhile. Thanks so much for this post. I’m still looking for the time when perhaps we stop using the term “missional” besides only ministry geeks, seminarians, planters and maybe pastors mainly use it and hopefully common church folk will live it out because of the dialogue. I can’t wait to see what else comes trickling down from you through his Spirit.
John – thanks man for the ht.
Johnny – You are so welcome. Leave a post in the future on what you found helpful.
LT – Hey man, I’m glad you made a response on my blog so that we can move our relationship to acquaintance and even friends. I’m glad you like the post and yeah language is important, sometimes we need to teach new words, other times invent new ones, but as you say, most importantly the language should assist our living it out. Thanks for your encouragement. I look forward to checking out your blog. Peace my new abc friend.
[...] church, mission, Missional Church For anyone who wants to know more about missional church stuff, here’s an (to say the least, comprehensive) online primer compiled by JR Woodward. Great stuff! No [...]
This is really great stuff, thank you for taking the time compiling this!
[...] has done the global church a true service as he compiled a massive resource of all things missional. This list is quite impressive and will be very helpful on many different levels. So swing by [...]
[...] “Missional” is the ministry-buzzword-du jour. While more vague than intergenerational, it is also more helpful. JR Woodward supplies the only resource you’ll ever need: here. [...]
[...] November 18, 2008 So you want to be missional… Here is a great place to get started. Posted by outofthedesert under Uncategorized Whether you are just starting on the missional journey or are a seasoned veteran, here is a great page chalked full of missional links. [...]
[...] http://jrwoodward.net/2008/11/a-primer-on-todays-missional-church/ [...]
Hi JR. I met you this week in Keith Matthews’ D.MIn. class at Fuller on postmodernism. Awesome list of links with helpful description. Probably the best I’ve seen.
I think I misplaced your card! Drop me an email, and we’ll get connected. I loved your renaming of the 5 gifts of Eph. 4. I’ll look forward to reading the rest of your writings. God bless.
[...] JR Woodward has compiled a massive linked resource to missional church sites on the web. Check out “A Primer on Today’s Missional Church.” [...]
holy crap… well I guess that says it all.
[...] http://jrwoodward.net/2008/11/a-primer-on-todays-missional-church/ [...]
[...] Dream Awakener » A Primer on Today’s Missional Church You want to do some research on the thing called the Missional Church. JR has given you a fantastic gift. This is a massive (perhaps the largest) list of missional resources. Thanks JR! (tags: missional) [...]
I wanted to thank all of you who recently linked to this post and I’m glad you found it helpful.
Mattias,
You are welcome and thanks for your feedback.
James,
I will look for your email or blog and send you my info again.
Lon,
lol.
[...] these: A Primer on Today’s Missional Church A Working Definition of the Missional Church A Missional Proposal for Kairos [...]
[...] a killer link from JR Woodword that serves as a great primer for what it means to be missional with blogs, articles, video and [...]
[...] Woodward truly does us all a big service by putting together this exhaustive primer on the Missional church. Put it on your favorites and refer to it over and over again. I know I [...]
Brad, Rob and David,
Thanks including me in your lists of blogs. I’m glad that you found this post helpful. Peace.
[...] A Primer on Today’s Missional Church 2. Is Conversion a Four-Letter Word Series 3. Developing a Rhythm of Life Series 4. Pints [...]
[...] Arthur just posted a helpful link to J R Woodward’s primer on Missional church. Glancing through the huge list of links I came across a useful paper by Todd Hiestand called The [...]
[...] J R Woodward’s Primer on the Missional Church [...]
It’s good to see that people are still linking this blog entry. I’m glad that it is helpful.
[...] Stats This blog has been read in 39 different languages in the month of February and the Primer on Today’s Missional Church continues to receive many hits. Just in the month of February the post on the primer received an [...]
Dear Brother in christ
Praise and Glory to God
my name is Rev Timothy doing church ministry. And also I do ministries like children, orphanage, widows, adult literarcy, village ministries and bible school. , a village in , Tamil Nadu, India. Thank you
Your Brother In Christ
Rev.Ramesh Timothy
Apostolic Glory Mission Trust of India
[...] The second is an article by JR Woodward available here. [...]
[...] full of quotes I have which is great. (ht) ———————– Primer on today’s Mission church full of links and good information on the idea. [...]
Ramesh,
Great to here from you and nice to hear what you are doing.
JR: This is a awesome!
You have put a lot of work in this list, thanks!
I am glad I just became aware of it
Hope to see you teaching a class on Missional Theology and the Missional Church!
Peace!
JF
Jorge,
I’m glad that you found the post helpful. Thanks for our encouragement. Peace.
Good list. thanks.
[...] Dream Awakener » A Primer on Today’s Missional Church Dream Awakener » A Primer on Today’s Missional Church. [...]
[...] February 16, 2010 by zoodad9 http://jrwoodward.net/2008/11/a-primer-on-todays-missional-church/ [...]