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

Daniel L. Guder (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Gospel & Our Culture | Publication Date: February 9, 1998

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, this book issues a firm challenge for the church to recover its missional call right here in North America, while also offering the tools to help it do so.

The authors examine North America’s secular culture and the church’s loss of dominance in today’s society. They then present a biblically based theology that takes seriously the church’s missional vocation and draw out the consequences of this theology for the structure and institutions of the church.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Darrell L. Guder is Henry Winters Luce Chair of Missional and Ecumenical Theology and Dean-elect at Princeton Theological Seminary.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company (February 9, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802843506
• ISBN-13: 978-0802843500
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #40,397 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #46 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Evangelism > Missions & Missionary Work
  • #54 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Religious Studies > Sociology

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good introduction to missional theology., May 27, 2000

By 

Victor McCracken (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Missional Church: A Vision for the Sending of the Church in North America (Gospel & Our Culture) (Paperback)

This 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.

9 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Will use it as a required text in a course I'll be teaching, August 13, 2002

By 

Leon de Huanuco (Huanuco, Peru) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Missional Church: A Vision for the Sending of the Church in North America (Gospel & Our Culture) (Paperback)

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.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good introduction to theory/theology, June 20, 2011

By 

Brian Bain - See all my reviews

This review is from: Missional Church: A Vision for the Sending of the Church in North America (Gospel & Our Culture) (Paperback)

"Missional Church" is a sound volume for someone new to the conversation on what it means to be missional. Its assessment of the current state of the North American church is fair and accurate and the history that got the church where it is is well summarized and to the point. The sections on the shaping and leading of the missional community were especially helpful as they give a general lesson on what the change that needs to be made looks like. The book is much heavier on theory than it is on practice but there are plenty of quality books that deal with the practice. For someone unfamiliar with idea of the church in North America being a "sent community," this book will set them well on an exciting journey.