Shaped By God's Heart: The Passion and Practices of Missional Churches Review

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Shaped By God's Heart: The Passion and Practices of Missional Churches ReviewOne of the criticisms most often levied against the larger body of Missional Church writing (i.e. the GOCN series) is that the writers fail to give "concrete" examples of what a missional church "looks like." Minatrea has attempted to fill that void.
There are some legitimate problems with his effort. Nowhere does he explain his research methodology, so one must assume that his research was primarily personal interviews with pastors and church leaders. Neither does he explain the criteria used to identify the churches included in the research as "missional".
Some of his argumentation is convoluted. One example is when he asserts (I'm paraphrasing) that missional churches don't get bogged down in theological matters that distract from mission. Then, a few pages later in the same chapter, he argues that missional churches will have clearly defined doctrinal statements. One is left wondering, "Which is it?"
Also, in several places it seems as though he and his subjects are creating a straw man of sorts out of "traditional" churches. And the churches he most often cites as examples--Gracepoint (San Antonio), Ecclesia (Houston), Antioch (Waco, TX), and Mosaic (Los Angeles)--while diverse, are all at least loosely assocaited with evangelical Baptists. He tells us in the introduction that missioanl churches can be anywhere and in any denomination. So one wonders why he didn't find some to include in his book.
So it isn't a perfect effort. But...it DOES fill a void in the body of Missional Church literature. Beyond simply identifying nine commonalities of practice among missional churches, he leaves readers with the impression that their church can be both missional and faithful to its current local context at the same time. He also presents a few suggestions for moving a church towards a missioanl ecclesiology.
As stated, this is not a perfect effort. But in addition to practical considerations, Minatrea proviides an appropriate basic introduction to the Missional conversation for those not already familiar with the names Newbigin, Guder, or Hunsberger.Shaped By God's Heart: The Passion and Practices of Missional Churches Overview

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Transformational Church: Creating a New Scorecard for Congregations Review

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Transformational Church: Creating a New Scorecard for Congregations ReviewEd Stetzer and Thom Rainer have well-deserved reputations as "gurus" of church organization. They have both written prolifically on a variety of church-related topics, and have contributed an impressive body of research over the years to help churches understand what makes ministry tick.
Unlike many in their field, their approach has always been grounded in the authority of Scripture (rather than the latest and greatest cultural trends) and fully cognizant of the fact that God is the author of all spiritual growth within churches regardless of their particular ministry methodology.
Transformational Church, the latest from LifeWay Research President Stetzer and LifeWay Christian Resources President Rainer, proposes that the Church is fundamentally about radical change--death to life, rebellion against God to kingdom service, etc.--and that too many churches are mired in the status quo of apathy or inward-focused activity that does not contribute meaningfully to Christ's mission.
Through case studies of churches around the U.S. (some large, some small, of different denominations, but all following after God), the authors develop what they call the "new scorecard" for measuring the effectiveness of ministry; this is in addition to (not necessarily in contrast with) the "old scorecard" of attendance, giving, and programs/facilities. They build a theory of the "transformational loop" of church development, which is comprised of three categories: discern, embrace, and engage. They break down the categories into seven key elements that active churches should evince: a missionary mentality, vibrant leadership, relational intentionality, prayerful dependence, worship (actively embracing Christ), community (connecting people with people), and mission (showing Jesus through word and deed). Each of the elements is fleshed out in detail through a chapter of the book.
Stetzer and Rainer try to avoid a "do this, get that" systematic approach to church ministry, attempting rather to show churches in action demonstrating the principals they describe ministry. It is impossible for them to completely escape the style that lends itself to their subject matter (measuring performance), but they leave the reader with an encouragement to evaluate churches from a biblical perspective of kingdom mission, not simply from a traditional measure of success.
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A Field Guide for the Missional Congregation: Embarking on a Journey of Transformation Review

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A Field Guide for the Missional Congregation: Embarking on a Journey of Transformation ReviewThe book has met my expectations and a valuable resource. The service that I received was timely and without any negative incident.A Field Guide for the Missional Congregation: Embarking on a Journey of Transformation Overview

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Missional Church: A Vision for the Sending of the Church in North America (Gospel & Our Culture) Review

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Missional Church: A Vision for the Sending of the Church in North America (Gospel & Our Culture) ReviewThis is one of the better books currently available introducing church leaders, pastors and lay ministers to ecclesiology from a missional perspective. Guder and his fellow writers do a worthy job of synthesizing contemporary perspectives on church in post-Christian North America. Especially engaging is the way that the writers articulate the distinctive claims a Canadian culture (as opposed to an United States culture) will make on a missional church. There are valuable lessons here for pastors seeking to become more adept in cultural discernment. What is lacking in this book are concrete examples of what a missional church "looks like" in ways different than what one finds in Christendom. One hopes that this is an absence that will be addressed in the next four volumes. In short, check out this book as a synthesis of ecclesiology from a post-liberal perspective (a la Hauerwas, Yoder, Brueggemann). Also, a note for pastors: Chapter 7, "Missional Leadership: Equipping God's People for Mission," is worth the price of the book.Missional Church: A Vision for the Sending of the Church in North America (Gospel & Our Culture) Overview

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