Customer Reviews

Introducing the Missional Church: What It Is, Why It Matters, How to Become One (Allelon Missional Series)

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One wonders, with all that has been written over the past decade on the missional church through books, blogs, websites, and articles - can anything new truly be added to the missional conversation? After reading through, Introducing the Missional Church by Roxburgh and Boren, the answer is clearly yes. They resist the temptation to define the missional church with simplicity, precision and straightforwardness (and make a great case as to why), but rather paint of colorful portrait of what the missional church looks like. The metaphor they use to describe the missional church is that of a river with three powerful currents: mystery, memory and mission. After reading this section I found myself somewhat freed from my modernistic tendencies to define the missional journey logically and pragmatically. Furthermore, they clearly show in numerous ways what the missional church is not - such as, a missional church is not simply about becoming external. Those already engaged in the missional conversation will find familiar terrain such as: the attractional - missional contrast, reconsidering the nature of our context (that it is truly a mission field), rethinking the Gospel through the Missio Dei lens, and reimagining the church via a kingdom framework. I appreciated their discussion on space and place spirituality, and that the missional journey is to be concerned with place spirituality. Part 3 of the book is focused on the leadership piece of the missional journey - how do we translate the discussion into action. Those having read, The Missional Leader by Roxburgh and Romanuk will find repeated material, but material written in a much less technical, heady manner. Whether one is already well versed in the missional discussion, or just a newbie - Introduing the Missional Church is a must read, and does indeed move the discussion further ahead. Do get the book!

The authors of this book invest many pages of the text explaining why it's so hard to succinctly define the missional church. In fact, they take a whole chapter to explain what it isn't to help readers figure out what it is! I learned one thing with my first read: it's not attractional.

My takeaway from this book was that a missional church is filled with individuals who are passionate about being in and extending God's kingdom in unique ways. It's certainly not a program or a model one can hastily create in an existing church and expect instantaneous results. Many of the examples of missional living the authors cite surround individuals who discover ministry opportunities in their communities and start doing ministry, not about churches who started a new missions initiative. Nor can a pastor or church launch a program to make members or small groups of members "missional." It's all about empowering people to be missional and effectively supporting their efforts.

For some, this book will be a very frustrating read. They want a straightforward recipe for moving consumer Christians out of their comfy chairs and into missional activities...and it cannot be found in this book. Others will be pleased with the absence of "six ways to become missional" or a list of practical how-to's for small groups to move into missional living.

This is far more of a "how to be" than "what to do" kind of book. I will read it again soon because I want to be a missional believer and pastor a missional church. What Roxburgh and Boren offer concerning the missional church is somewhat elusive, but still very good--and very different from what you might have read from Ed Stetzer Or Reggie McNeil. Boren and Roxbourgh suggest experimenting in different ways to introduce it to your church to see if it emerges naturally.

I was excited about reading this book. I heard some good reports about it. The book is good in some ways. There is a good section on the nature of the missional church. Of course, there is no definition, but to the authors, this is an incorrect way of labeling the church. They do build a good case on how labels and terms can distort or change the nature of something. There is also an excellent chapter on what the missional church is not. In this chapter, the authors explore some of the misrepresentations that are being promoted as a missional church.

The next section provides the model for transformation to a missional church. The authors have a lot of experience working with churches during this time of change. This is a good model and in "Missional Leader" one of the authors provides this model with more of a leader's perspective in mind. The final section concerning the role of the board is excellent. Of course in the churches of Christ, we have elders, but this model will work with them just as well. You cannot move in this direction unless the leadership is on the team.

This was a good book to introduce the missional church, it was not as good for me because at this point I am writing my dissertation on this stuff, so the material was mostly a repeat. If you have little experience with the missional church, this is a good starting point, but there are even better books out there for deeper reading.

This book is, in many ways, one of the best introductions to what it means to be a missional church. It is highly readable, thorough without being overwhelming and accessible in every sense. I made a list of people I wanted to share the book with as I read, a sure sign of a good book.

My only criticism is that there is too much in the application of the book that seem reliant on programs offered by the authors. Not only did it leave me feeling like I hadn't got my moneys worth, the cost of the programs quickly made it clear that only certain kinds of churches (not mine) could afford such a next step.

Over all, though, it is a good book.

Roxburgh and Boren, Introducing the Missional Church

Roxburgh and Boren provide an easily understandable introduction to the theology and practice of the missional church. In their work, they provide and honest and insightful look at what the missional church is, why the missional church conversation is an important one for modern Christianity, and what church leaders and members need to do in order to join the missional movement for themselves.

I think the most important aspect of this book is the repeated, honest recognition that the issues that surround living as a missional church simply take time. They require patience. To be a missional church is to completely change the mindset of the church. It requires the courage to abandon the comfortable, systematic programs that the church has provided for decades and adopt a new focus - that of focusing on the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the church and the community. This requires conversations, listening, and relationships. This requires courage and honesty. It requires the ability to recognize when something works well, and the humility to admit when something has failed and needs to be changed or forgotten. But the results of this patience are worth it - a revitalized body of believers that lives as community, studies and meditates in community, and lives their lives in mission in community, listening to the guiding hand of the Holy Spirit and powerfully impacting those around them.

Roxburgh and Boren often use the metaphor of a missional river. We follow and flow along the river, not necessarily knowing exactly where we are going, but trusting that the God of the river will show us how to act in each step of the way. One of the most helpful illustrations, however, comes from the story of Jesus and Nicodemus. As Roxburgh and Boren wrote on page 121, Jesus tells Nicodemus that he needs a "new imagination." Jesus replies to Nicodemus' questions, saying, "The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." (John 3:8) In other words, being missional involves being open to the Spirit's leading, recognizing that God is already at work in the church and in the lives of individuals, and looking for ways to join God in what God is already doing.

As daunting as this may sound, Roxburgh and Boren conclude their book with helpful ideas on how to carry out the discussion. While it might be tempting to take these ideas as a "one size fits all" approach making your church missional, they are given as tools to help each church understand their own context and seek answers to their unique questions. The tools function more like conversation starters than strategies, and that's exactly what the conversation needs.

I finished this book feeling daunted, to be honest - yet encouraged. While the work to be done is large, Roxburgh and Boren wrote in a comforting way that assured me that the work is not really mine to do. The work is God's; I just need to be open to receiving and following the Spirit's leading in the lives of God's people.

This book gives a thorough treatment of the subject of a missional church. Before reading this book I had a general idea of what a missional church was. Now I have a more definitive understanding just what it is and what it is not.