Missional Communities: The Rise of the Post-Congregational Church [Hardcover]

Reggie McNeal (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 27, 2011 | ISBN-10: 047063345X | ISBN-13: 978-0470633458 | Edition: 1

The third book in the trilogy that explores the popular missional movement

From Reggie McNeal, the bestselling author of The Present Future and Missional Renaissance, comes the third book in the series that helps to define and illuminate the popular missional movement. This newest book in the trilogy examines a natural outgrowth of the move toward a missional orientation: the deconstruction of congregations into very small Christian communities. For all those thousands of churches and leaders who have followed Reggie McNeal's bold lead, this book details the rise of a new life form in churches.

• Discusses how to move a church from an internal to an external ministry focus
• Reggie McNeal is a recognized leader in the missional movement
• Outlines an alternative to the program church model that is focused on the projects and passions of the congregants

This book draws on McNeal's twenty years of leadership roles in local congregations and his work over the last decade with thousands of clergy and church leaders.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Almost a decade ago, in his bestselling book The Present Future, Reggie McNeal talked about the growing phenomenon of post-congregational Christians, people who, for a variety of reasons, choose to pursue their spiritual journey outside the routines and rhythms of the congregational model of church that has dominated religious activity for centuries. This development has created ripe conditions to produce and to nurture a new life form of church that intersects people in the middle of life—in their homes, their workplaces, their leisure pursuits, their passions to help others.

In Missional Communities McNeal shows us this new form of church and how it differs in its rhythms, its celebrations, its activities, and its scorecard. He maintains that it is not for everyone, nor is it the replacement for centuries of church practice. But it is clearly a growing phenomenon that cannot be ignored. At the very heart of the book are stories about some of these new missional communities, each one illustrating a fresh and different chapter in God's work in and through the church. The settings range from Europe to North America, from suburb to city to college campus, from neighborhood to workplace. McNeal presents these stories in the hopes of exciting the imaginations of those attracted to this burgeoning movement—whether they want to get started in their own distinctive way of doing missional community or want to be more missional in their traditional practices.

For all those thousands of churches and leaders who have followed Reggie McNeal's bold lead, Missional Communities offers a vision of a new and vibrant life form in churches.

From the Back Cover

Praise for Missional Communities

"Once again, Reggie McNeal proclaims what too few have intuited: that God's Spirit is blowing in a new direction like a hurricane headwind. Thank God, we have Reggie to show us how the church can once more 'mount up with wings as eagles.'" —Charles Anderson, directing pastor, University United Methodist Church, San Antonio, Texas

"Every uncharted territory requires a guide who has seen the other side of the mountain. In Missional Communities Reggie serves as that guide who introduces you to the people, practices, and scorecard of this fresh growth plate of the kingdom." —Eric Swanson, coauthor, The Externally Focused Quest and To Transform a City

"Reggie is an iconoclast. His ideas and vision break open our sense of what it means to 'be' and 'do' church. If you love God and believe in the future of the church you will read this book." —Rev. Chip Edens, rector, Christ Church, Charlotte, North Carolina

"Reggie McNeal has given voice to those of us who dream of a church that is not just a conspiracy of strangers but a redemptive community on mission for God. For those who dare to make the journey this book provides some invaluable navigational charts for how to get there." —Gary Brandenburg, lead pastor, Fellowship Bible Church Dallas, Texas

"Classic Reggie McNeal! An in-your-face prophetic wake-up call that congregational ministry business as usual is not going to get the job done. But he gives us hope that we can make the change as he reports on how post-congregational ministry is being effective."—Buford Lipscomb, senior pastor, Liberty Church, Pensacola, Florida

"Our staff team has been deeply impacted by the challenges and thinking of Reggie McNeal. He has served us by helping us think beyond ourselves, reminding us that true community results in mission, and continually bringing us back to the glorious mission of Jesus."—Eric Geiger, Christ Fellowship, Miami, Florida

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 1 edition (September 27, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 047063345X
• ISBN-13: 978-0470633458
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #257,018 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Reggie enjoys helping people, leaders, and Christian organizations pursue more intentional lives. He currently serves as the Missional Leadership Specialist for Leadership Network of Dallas, TX. Reggie's past experience involves over a decade as a denominational executive and leadership development coach. He also served in local congregational leadership for over twenty years, including being the founding pastor of a new church. Reggie has lectured or taught as adjunct faculty for multiple seminaries, including Fuller Theological (Pasadena, CA), Southwestern Baptist (Ft. Worth, TX), Golden Gate Baptist (San Francisco, CA), Trinity Divinity School (Deerfield, IL), and Columbia International (Columbia, SC). In addition, he has served as a consultant to local church, denomination, and para-church leadership teams, as well as seminar developer and presenter for thousands of church leaders across North America. He has also resourced the United States Army Chief of Chaplains Office, Air Force chaplains, and the Air Force Education and Training Command. Reggie's work also extends to the business sector, including The Gallup Organization.

Reggie has contributed to numerous denominational publications and church leadership journals, including Leadership and Net Results. His books include Revolution in Leadership (Abingdon Press, 1998), A Work of Heart: Understanding How God Shapes Spiritual Leaders (Jossey-Bass, 2000), The Present Future (Jossey-Bass, 2003), Practicing Greatness (Jossey-Bass, 2006), Get A Life! (Broadman & Holman, 2007). His latest book, Missional Renaissance: Changing the Scorecard for the Church (Jossey-Bass, 2009) details the three shifts that church leaders must make to engage the missional movement and offers suggestions for a different scorecard to reflect missional ministry.

Reggie's education includes a B.A. degree from the University of South Carolina and the M.Div. and Ph.D. degrees both from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Reggie and his wife Cathy, have two daughters, Jessica and Susanna, and make their home in Columbia, South Carolina.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Great read, but ended too quickly September 23, 2011

By Joshua Reich

Format:Hardcover

As part of the Uprising series at Revolution Church I've been reading a number of books on missional communities and the 4 identities. One of them was Missional Communities by Reggie McNeal. I have to admit, I'd read anything written by McNeal as it always challenges my thinking.

What McNeal does in this book is a real service to the church at large. He chronicles the story and history of missional communities, how they are playing out in America and Europe to see the variety of how they are being done, and how to transition into them.

While this book is a great dive into what missional communities are, churches who are pioneering them, what they look like, structure, etc. It is lacking what a transition looks like for this. That has been one of the difficult things for us at Revolution as we have transitioned from small groups to missional communities. Many of the churches who are centered on missional communities started that way. I have to believe many leaders and pastors will read this book, get fired up and get to the end and wonder what to do next. I would love to have seen more about this crucial transition and how to do it without blowing your church up. Thankfully, we've been able to connect with a number of churches, learn where they are and map a route to that place. I think many leaders will get excited about this concept but not be sure how to make the leap.

Sadly, this book ended rather abruptly because of that.

Still, if you are like I was 15 months ago and feeling like something is missing, feeling like you as a church or individual could be doing more in terms of mission, community, discipleship and care. This is definitely a book worth checking out. Especially if you know nothing about missional communities. It is a great 30,000 foot look at them and what is happening in our culture and in churches that are reaching the culture.

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Inspirational stories of missional communities September 29, 2011

By John Gibbs TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Even with the rise of megacongregations, decades of emphasis on church growth, and large infusions of money and people resources, the congregational approach to "doing church" has entered its declining period, according to Reggie McNeal in this book. The nonchurched are not coming to church, and another approach is needed to reach them.

A post-congregational culture requires a strategy of engaging people where they already live, work, play, go to school, and pursue their hobbies and passions. This is what missional communities aim to do, and the book goes on to tell the stories of some different types of such communities:

* British and European missional communities, typically of 20 to 50 people and aiming to incarnate the gospel to a particular neighbourhood or network of relationships. Examples of this are St Thomas Sheffield and Valgmenighed Church in Denmark.
* Soma Communities, a group of around one hundred missional communities in the US.
* University campus missional communities.
* Future Travelers, a group of megachurches which are attempting to become launching pads for missional movements of the future. Particular examples include Austin Stone and Community Christian Church.
* Mission Houston, which uses a spiritual formation process called Faithwalking to develop missional followers of Jesus, who then form missional communities.

The book does not claim to be a how-to manual on setting up and running missional communities; indeed the diversity of the examples given shows that there are many different successful approaches. The stories are descriptive, and no attempt is made to critique the communities described or compare their effectiveness with other models of church. What the book does do is provide a range of stories which provide ideas and inspiration for those who are considering a missional community church model.

5.0 out of 5 stars Case studies of various missional communities April 17, 2013

By Richard Poulin

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is a look at how, practically, missional communities are doing their thing, in Western countries (mainly US and UK). If you're looking for all sorts of ideas on what to try with your community, this is a great resource!