Top 40 books for a thorough understanding of the missional church conversation:
Barrett, Lois Y.
Treasures in Clay Jars: Patterns in Missional Faithfulness
Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2004.
Blauw, Johannes.
The Missionary Nature of the Church: A Survey of the Biblical Theology of Mission
New York: McGraw-Hill, 1962.
Bosch, David J.
Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission
Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis, 1991.
Brafman, Ori and Rod A. Beckstrom.
The Starfish and the Spider
Portfolio Trade, 2008.
Cole, Neil.
Organic Church: Growing Faith Where Life Happens
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2005.
Cole, Neil.
Organic Leadership
Baker Books, 2010.
Dubose, Francis.
God Who Sends: A Fresh Quest for Biblical Mission
Nashville: Broadman, 1983.
Fitch, David.
The Great Giveaway: Reclaiming the Mission of the Church from Big Business, Parachurch Organizations, Psychotherapy, Consumer Capitalism, and Other Modern Maladies
Baker Books, 2005.
Frost, Michael and Alan Hirsch.
The Shaping of Things to Come: Innovation and Mission for the 21st Century Church
Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 2003.
Frost, Michael and Alan Hirsch.
ReJesus: A Wild Messiah for a Missional Church
Hendrickson Press, 2008.
Frost, Michael.
Exiles: Living Missionally in a Post-Christian Culture
Hendrickson, 2006.
Frost, Michael.
The Road to Missional
Baker, 2011.
Guder, Darrell
Missional Church: A Vision for the Sending of the Church in North America
Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998.
Guder, Darrell
The Incarnation and the Church’s Witness
Wipf & Stock, 2005.
Guder, Darrell
The Continuing Conversion of the Church
Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000.
Halter, Hugh and Matt Smay.
The Tangible Kingdom
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2008.
Halter, Hugh and Matt Smay.
And: The Gathered and Scattered Church
Zondervan, 2010.
Hauerwas, Stanley.
After Christendom? How the Church Is to Behave If Freedom, Justice, and a Christian Nation Are Bad Ideas
Nashville: Abingdon, 1991.
Hirsch, Alan.
The Forgotten Ways: Reactivating the Missional Church
Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2006.
Hirsch, Alan and Deb.
Untamed
Baker Books, 2010.
Hirsch, Alan and Lance Ford.
Right Here, Right Now
Baker Books, 2011.
Hirsch, Alan and Dave Ferguson.
On The Verge
Zondervan, 2011.
Hirsch, Alan and Michael Frost.
The Faith of Leap
Baker, 2011.
Hirsch, Alan and Tim Catchim.
The Permanent Revolution
Jossey-Bass, 2012.
Hunsberger, George, and Craig Van Gelder.
The Church Between Gospel and Culture: The Emerging Mission in North America
Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1996.
McNeal, Reggie.
Present Future: Six Tough Questions for the Church
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2003.
McNeal, Reggie.
Missional Renaissance: Changing the Scorecard for the Church
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2009.
Newbigin, Lesslie.
Foolishness to the Greeks: The Gospel and Western Culture
Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1986.
Newbigin, Lesslie.
The Gospel in a Pluralistic Society
Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1989.
Oldenburg, Ray.
The Great Good Place: Cafes, Coffee Shops, Bookstores, Bars, Hair Salons, and Other Hangouts at the Heart of the Community
Marlowe & Company, 1999.
Pohl, Christine D.
Making Room: Recovering Hospitality as a Christian Tradition
Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999.
Roxburgh, Alan J.
The Sky is Falling: Leaders Lost in Transition
Eagle, Idaho: ACI Publishing, 2005.
Roxburgh, Alan.
Misisonal: Joining God in the Neighborhood
Baker, 2011.
Roxburgh, Alan and Scott Boren.
Introducing the Missional Church
Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2009.
Roxburgh, Alan J. & Fred Romanuk.
The Missional Leader: Equipping Your Church to Reach a Changing World
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2006.
Stetzer, Ed and David Putman.
Breaking the Missional Code
Broadman & Holman, 2006.
Swanson, Eric and Sam Williams.
To Transform a City: Whole Church, Whole Gospel, Whole City
Zondervan, 2010.
Van Gelder, Craig.
Confident Witness – Changing World: Rediscovering the Gospel in North America
Eerdmans, 1999.
Van Gelder, Craig.
The Ministry of the Missional Church: A Community Led by the Spirit
Baker, 2007.
Van Gelder, Craig.
Missional Church in Perspective
Baker, 2011.
Wright, Christopher J.H.
The Mission of God: Unlocking the Bible’s Grand Narrative
Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006.
I think the writings of folks like Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove (JWH) and others in the new monastic camp are an important addition to the missional conversation. Their emphasis on life together in our community is an important aspect of any attempt to engage in missional-incarnational life and ministry. A few good books from this area:
New Monasticism: What it has to say to today’s Church – JWH
The Wisdom of Stability: Rooting Faith in a Mobile Culture – JWH
God’s Economy: Redefining the Health and Wealth Gospel – JWH
Schools for Conversion: 12 Marks of a New Monasticism – Rutba House, eds
The New Friars: The Emerging Movement Serving the World’s Poor – Scott Bessenecker
Inhabiting the Church: Biblical Wisdom for a New Monasticism – Jon Stock, Tim Otto and JWH
Follow Me To Freedom: Leading as an Ordinary Radical – Shane Claiborne and John Perkins
The Mystic Way of Evangelism – Elaine Heath
Longing For Spring: A New Vision for Wesleyan Community – Elaine Heath and Scott Kisker
Bret, great list. I have read “Schools fro Conversion”, “New Monasticism” and “Inhabiting the Church” all very good reads. Thanks for the reminder.
How about Roland Allen’s classics, “Missionary Methods: St. Paul’s or Ours?” and “The Spontaneous Expansion of the Church?” “The Bridges of God,” by Donald McGavran is pretty foundational (never mind a lot of the Church Growth pragmatics elsewhere). Some titles by Howard Snyder and Raymond Bakke wouldn’t hurt either. After Guder and the Gospel and our Culture Network, not much real work on ecclesiology has been done. Maybe hitching it as a trailer to mission has its downside.
Bob, really good suggestions, always like Allen and Snyder. Maybe we will have to make it top 50!
Please recognize that this is simply our “top 40.” There are several other great resources for the missional conversation. For a more complete (over 100) listing you can check out this list: http://missionalchurchnetwork.com/reading-list/
Lest we not leave “missions” out of missional here is a list on global issues from my library in not particular order.
Sanneh, Lamin. Disciples of All Nations: Pillars of World Christianity. Oxford: Oxford University, 2008.
__________. Whose Religion is Christianity: The Gospel Beyond the West. Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 2003.
Medearis, Carl. Muslims, Christians, and Jesus: Gaining Understanding and Building Relationships. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 2008.
Hanciles, Jehu J. Beyond Christendom: Globalization, African Migration, and the Transformation of the West. Maryknoll: Orbis, 2008.
Walls, Andrew and Cathy Ross, Ed. Mission in the 21st Century: Exploring the Five Marks of Global Mission. Maryknoll: Orbis, 2008.
Wan, Enoch. Diaspora Missiology: Theory, Methodology, and Practice. Portland: Western Seminary, 2011.
Addison, Steve, Movements That Changed the World. Smyrna: Missional Press, 2009.
Miley, George. Loving the Church Blessing the Nations: Pursing the Role of Local Churches in Global Missions. Waynesboro: Gabriel, 2003.
Pirolo, Neil. Serving as Senders: How to Care for Your Missionaries. San Diego: Emmaus Road, 1991.
Ramachandra, Vinoth. Faiths in Conflict? Christian Integrity in a Multicultural World. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1999.
__________. Subverting Global Myths: Theology and the Public Issues Shaping our World. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2008.
Rah, Soong-Chan, The Next Evangelicalism: Freeing the Church from Western Cultural Captivity. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2009.
__________. Many Colors: Cultural Intelligence for a Changing Church. Chicago: Moody, 2010.
Jenkins, Philip. The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity. Oxford: Oxford University, 2007.
Escobar, Samuel. The New Global Mission: The Gospel from Everywhere to Everyone. Downers Grove, InterVarsity, 2003.
Kling, Fritz, The Meeting of the Waters: 7 Global Currents That Will Propel the Future Church. Colorado Springs: David C. Cook, 2010.
Hesselgrave, David J. and Ed Stetzer, Ed. Mission Shift: Global Mission Issues in the Third Millennium. Nashville: B&H Academic, 2010.
Noll, Mark A. and Carolyn Nystrom. Clouds of Witnesses: Christian Voices from Africa and Asia. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2011.
When I have a missional book in one hand, I often have the Imitation of Christ in another. For me the missional conversation only makes sense when I bolt it to the works of faithful, long-dead, followers of Jesus. I recognize this is a list of contemporary works for a contemporary conversation, but I imagine the missional practitioners/theologians I admire most spend a great deal of time in spiritual reflection with people like Therese of Lisieux, Brother Lawrence, or Thomas a Kempis.
I think any list on missional needs to include
The Celtic Way of Evangelism by George G. Hunter III
Missional Church by Darrel Guder
David, the Guder book is on this list, and I do agree with “Celtic Way”, thanks.
Great list Brad. I combined yours with some of the suggestions in the comments to come up with a reading-list, posted on my blog, that I hope to get through in the next year.
Thanks for the inspiration!