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Why create this book?
With everyone getting on the missional bandwagon, and everyone talking "missional," and labeling so much as missional, there is a real danger that what it really means to be missional will become lost in the clutter. I wanted to write a book that distills the basic DNA of what missional really is.
Second, I wanted to give church leaders a way to talk about missional in ways that people would "get it." Third, I wanted to help leaders develop a scorecard that rewarded their missional efforts. The church growth era certainly had a scorecard (one that we are still using) that declared winners and losers at that game. We need a scorecard that gives expression to the multi-dimensional facets of the missional church.
Where did your ideas come from?
The book grew out of the seminars and
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consultations I have conducted over the years since releasing The Present Future. In that book I gave people an idea that something big was up. As I have helped people work out transitioning their ministries in a missional direction, the language and metaphors emerged that framed the descriptions of the three shifts detailed in Missional Renaissance.
The scorecard issue emerged in every congregation I consulted with as they worked to determine how they would measure their success at a new ministry agenda. As I raised this issue in seminars, I would inevitably be queried about what a missional scorecard would look like. In this book I make some very specific suggestions.
What do you say that is new?
I raise the implications of seeing church as a who and not a what. This is sure to rattle the cages of those of us who have our entire identities sown in the Christendom paradigm. This moves the discussion beyond the deconstructionism that has permeated most church renewal literature of the past decade or more.
The scorecard shift is one whose time has come both for congregations as well as individual followers of Jesus. The whole idea that tracking church attendance and church activity signals the health of God's redemptive mission in the world is patently silly. It's time we took seriously the impact we have on the life fabric of the people we live, work, and do life with--our communities--not focusing on transforming them into hyperactive church members, but actually improving their life experience.
What are the three shifts?
The three shifts are three changes in thinking needed in order to embrace a true missional model: from an internal to an external focus, from running programs to developing people, and from church-based leadership to community-engaged leadership.
Who is the book for?
The book is for established church leaders who want to tack into the missional wind. It gives them the language and potential scorecard for moving forward and bringing others along.
The book is also for those who are trying to develop missional church plants, in order to be sure that the DNA is in place, not just methodological and programmatic activities that mimic missional ministries.
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Finally, the book is for those who want to develop their missional life from their current life assignment, whether it is in creating a missional community or becoming a missionary in the work place.
How are church leaders responding to your ideas?
When I talk with church leaders, they respond with hope, for two reasons. First, I give language to what they have thought in their hearts and minds but might not have had ways of expressing. Second, they have hope because they now have rails to run on. The three shifts and scorecard suggestions give them what they need to inspire those they lead to join with God in what he is doing.
About the Author:
Dr. Reggie McNeal is missional leadership specialist for Leadership Network. His past experience includes 20 years in local church leadership. He has lectured or served as adjunct faculty for multiple seminaries, and has been a consultant to local church, denomination and parachurch leadership teams. His books include Revolution in Leadership, A Work of Heart, The Present Future, Practicing Greatness, and Get a Life!
More information about the Missional Renaissance.
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