The church is on the verge of massive, category shifting, change. Contemporary church growth, despite its many blessings, has failed to stem the decline of Christianity in the West. We are now facing the fact that more of the same will not produce different results. Our times require a different kind of church---an apostolic, reproducing, movement where every person is living a mission-sent life. Many of the best and brightest leaders in the contemporary church are now making the shift in the way they think, lead, and organize. Motivated partly by a vision of the church as ancient as it is new, and with a driving desire to see Biblical Christianity establish itself in Western cultural contexts, we are indeed seeing a new form of the church emerge in our day. Hirsch and Ferguson call this 'apostolic movement' because it is more resonant with the form of church that we witness in the pages of the New Testament and in the great missional movements of history. In this book, Hirsch and Ferguson share a rich array of theology, theory, and best practices, along with inspiring stories about leaders who have rightly diagnosed their churches' failure to embrace a biblical model of mission and have moved toward a fuller expression of the gospel. On the Verge will help church leaders discover how these forerunners and their insights are launching a new apostolic movement---and how any church can get involved.
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'On the Verge is one of those pace-setting books that will cause you to think, rethink and change your paradigm for what the church can become. Dave Ferguson and Alan Hirsch share a great blend of theory and practice that will help you re-envision the way you do church with practical ways to make it a reality. This is a must read if you want to transition your church into the future.' -- Craig Groeschel, Lead Pastor, Life Church <br><br>
From the Back Cover
Two prominent thought-leaders in church planting and mission express a comprehensive vision for a truly apostolic--that is, mission-sent--future of the church. In an idea laden book, they relate inspiring accounts of churches recapturing the apostolic ethos and vision, and explain how a missional approach can bring wholesale transformation to existing churches that want to be all that Jesus intended them to be.
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
The church needs to recover her most ancient, potent and beautiful form, that of the apostolic movement, according to Alan Hirsch and Dave Ferguson in this book. The book represents an attempt by the authors to articulate a dynamic learning journey called Future Travelers which is being undertaken by a group of large US churches that are reframing themselves as high-impact exponentially reproducing missional movements.
Readers who are not familiar with Alan's previous books will quickly discover that there is a whole new vocabulary to learn. The new paradigm of apostolic movements arises from the convergence of church growth theory, exponential thinking, and incarnational missiology. The new paradigm, which is referred to as "Apostolic Genius", encompasses mDNA which has six elements:
* Jesus is Lord
* Disciple-making
* Apostolic environment
* Missional-incarnational impulse
* Organic systems
* Communitas
Alan's perspective as a missional strategist and apostolic theologian is communicated in chapters 2 to 6, with Dave providing a short response to each chapter, and then Dave's perspective as an apostolic practitioner is communicated in chapters 7 to 10, with Alan providing a short response to each chapter. The two authors have distinctly different writing styles, but it is helpful to get the interposed theoretical and practical perspectives.
Most readers will find this a challenging book to read, partly because of the new vocabulary and partly because many of the ideas raised are likely to be unfamiliar to the typical church leader. However, in my view the book is well worth the struggle because of the importance of considering and thinking through the issues raised. Apostolic movements are a work in progress , so it is OK to disagree with the authors' ideas.
I personally struggled with the idea that "all of God's people already have everything in them to be able to get the job done". My understanding is that God gives different people different spiritual gifts so that we need to work together with others who have complementary spiritual gifts to get the job done, and this is why a church can accomplish mission far more effectively than lone-ranger Christians, and small groups which do not have an adequate balance of spiritual gifts tend to be ineffective.
I highly recommend the book to church leaders and gave it five stars, not because of its literary style or even the answers it gives but because of the critical importance to the church in Western countries of addressing the questions the book raises.
Readers who are not familiar with Alan's previous books will quickly discover that there is a whole new vocabulary to learn. The new paradigm of apostolic movements arises from the convergence of church growth theory, exponential thinking, and incarnational missiology. The new paradigm, which is referred to as "Apostolic Genius", encompasses mDNA which has six elements:
* Jesus is Lord
* Disciple-making
* Apostolic environment
* Missional-incarnational impulse
* Organic systems
* Communitas
Alan's perspective as a missional strategist and apostolic theologian is communicated in chapters 2 to 6, with Dave providing a short response to each chapter, and then Dave's perspective as an apostolic practitioner is communicated in chapters 7 to 10, with Alan providing a short response to each chapter. The two authors have distinctly different writing styles, but it is helpful to get the interposed theoretical and practical perspectives.
Most readers will find this a challenging book to read, partly because of the new vocabulary and partly because many of the ideas raised are likely to be unfamiliar to the typical church leader. However, in my view the book is well worth the struggle because of the importance of considering and thinking through the issues raised. Apostolic movements are a work in progress , so it is OK to disagree with the authors' ideas.
I personally struggled with the idea that "all of God's people already have everything in them to be able to get the job done". My understanding is that God gives different people different spiritual gifts so that we need to work together with others who have complementary spiritual gifts to get the job done, and this is why a church can accomplish mission far more effectively than lone-ranger Christians, and small groups which do not have an adequate balance of spiritual gifts tend to be ineffective.
I highly recommend the book to church leaders and gave it five stars, not because of its literary style or even the answers it gives but because of the critical importance to the church in Western countries of addressing the questions the book raises.
12 of 15 people found the following review helpful
On the Verge of a Paradigm Shift of Missional Christocentric Networked Exponential Mega Churches
August 7, 2011
Format:Paperback
I wanted to like the book on the verge by Alan Hirsch and Dave Ferguson, I really did. (My first clue should have been the cutesy capitalization of their book cover, they are not e.e. cummings.) The ideas in the book, whatever they are, might transform churches. But until the authors learn to abandon jargon, no one will be able to figure out what they are saying. Is it really that bad you might ask? Here is an example from page 43:
So when exponential/viral/networked thinking informs church growth savvy, which in turn is being reframed around missional-incarnational theology, then history is in the making.
This may be true, whatever it means. The Venn diagram that followed this jargon fest was somewhat helpful, but if the terms remain undefined, communication is lacking. If I really wanted a church like this, I would just join Amway.
The authors reference a lot of interesting books. I am reading one right now that they praise--Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath. If they had understood the book they praise they would have written a book without jargon. Stick's main point that I have gotten so far is to NOT "bury your lead." Wikipedia describes burying your lead this way:
In journalism, the failure to mention the most interesting or attention grabbing elements of a story in the first paragraph is sometimes called "burying the lead."
In other words, make what you are saying crystal clear right from the start. on the verge miserably fails this standard. If they do not understand one of the books they praise, I have to wonder if they also do not understand the other books they talk about.
Mega Churches have a big problem trying to form a community. Most of the attendees do not become active in the congregation. They attend for the required one hour and then they go home. Most Mega Churches understand this is a problem and try to alleviate it though small groups. Some succeed, but based on the constant restating of this problem in Mega Church books, my guess is that they fail in this attempt to form a community.
Hirsch and Ferguson decide that they do not have enough jargon, so they invent more jargon on this issue. The new word is communitas, which the authors tell us is different from community. How is it different? I am not sure, but the authors assure us it is. But of course the authors will never abandon some "good" jargon, especially jargon that makes things foggy so they can appear deep.
New ideas are not necessarily good ideas. Edible underwear is a new idea. No doubt it sells in some shops. But I doubt it will ever achieve mass market appeal. on the verge is the publishing equivalent of edible underwear. Maybe there is a new wave of churches like the ones this book promotes. But this book will not help these churches, in fact it stands in the way. on the verge is destined for those book stores that periodically show up in abandoned K Marts-selling books no one wants at bargain prices
So when exponential/viral/networked thinking informs church growth savvy, which in turn is being reframed around missional-incarnational theology, then history is in the making.
This may be true, whatever it means. The Venn diagram that followed this jargon fest was somewhat helpful, but if the terms remain undefined, communication is lacking. If I really wanted a church like this, I would just join Amway.
The authors reference a lot of interesting books. I am reading one right now that they praise--Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath. If they had understood the book they praise they would have written a book without jargon. Stick's main point that I have gotten so far is to NOT "bury your lead." Wikipedia describes burying your lead this way:
In journalism, the failure to mention the most interesting or attention grabbing elements of a story in the first paragraph is sometimes called "burying the lead."
In other words, make what you are saying crystal clear right from the start. on the verge miserably fails this standard. If they do not understand one of the books they praise, I have to wonder if they also do not understand the other books they talk about.
Mega Churches have a big problem trying to form a community. Most of the attendees do not become active in the congregation. They attend for the required one hour and then they go home. Most Mega Churches understand this is a problem and try to alleviate it though small groups. Some succeed, but based on the constant restating of this problem in Mega Church books, my guess is that they fail in this attempt to form a community.
Hirsch and Ferguson decide that they do not have enough jargon, so they invent more jargon on this issue. The new word is communitas, which the authors tell us is different from community. How is it different? I am not sure, but the authors assure us it is. But of course the authors will never abandon some "good" jargon, especially jargon that makes things foggy so they can appear deep.
New ideas are not necessarily good ideas. Edible underwear is a new idea. No doubt it sells in some shops. But I doubt it will ever achieve mass market appeal. on the verge is the publishing equivalent of edible underwear. Maybe there is a new wave of churches like the ones this book promotes. But this book will not help these churches, in fact it stands in the way. on the verge is destined for those book stores that periodically show up in abandoned K Marts-selling books no one wants at bargain prices
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This honestly is one of the best books on the topic of the future of the church that I have read to date- it goes beyond theory and actually lays out practical examples of people that are doing it.The authors recognize that God is moving and we are in fact "on the verge" of a major movement of the church! This is a must read for anyone who is ready to reclaim church as identity and movement centered around the core truth "Jesus is Lord".
Most Recent Customer Reviews
re-Jesusing the church
A few things struck me when I first started reading. There is a recurring theme of hope, especially for the future of the church, in the comments from the pastors and authors who... Read more
Published 3 days ago by Matte
Loved it
This was a fantastic book on the missiology of the church. Great reviews of what actual churches are trying and doing. Read more
Published 5 months ago by bhofmeister
Best of missional and megachurch
Alan Hirsch's writings are like old friends that help me think and act as a missionary in suburban Melbourne. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Darren Cronshaw
Helpful for thinking through MISSIONAL CHURCH LIFE
ON THE VERGE
By Alan Hirsch and Dave Ferguson
ISBN 978-0-310-33100-1
Published by Zondervan
Reviewed by Clint Walker
What is the future of the... Read more
By Alan Hirsch and Dave Ferguson
ISBN 978-0-310-33100-1
Published by Zondervan
Reviewed by Clint Walker
What is the future of the... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Clint Walker
Not just for church planters
The On the Verge book is FULL of helpful, yet challenging, insights and possibilities for the present and future church of God. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Karen Nelson
Superbly Theor-actical
Of the books I have read from Alan (beginning in Seminary with The Shaping of Things to Come), and Dave (Exponential), this one is superb. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Jathaniel
Hope for the Future!!!
This book is an absolutely must read for Church Planters and Church Leaders. Before I even finished the 1st chapter, I was filled with hope for the future. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Joe in Siberia
On the Verge Book Review
Book Review: On the Verge: A Journey into the Apostolic Future of the Church
The authors, Alan Hirsch and Dave Ferguson, point out the need for doing and being church in a new... Read more
The authors, Alan Hirsch and Dave Ferguson, point out the need for doing and being church in a new... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Ministry Design Coach
A must read for all who want more from church
I've only been acquainted with the writings of Alan Hirsch for a short time, but - wow! - do his thoughts resonate with me. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Craig T. Owens
A Helpful Model Book
For those that are fans of the missional movement, Alan Hirsch and Dave Ferguson have provided fuel for the missional imagination in their new book, On the Verge: A Journey Into... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Benjamin A. Simpson
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