As Christ followers, growing churches is not our primary focus. Rather, our focus is becoming missionaries who participate in what God is doing in the world. As David Bosch said, “It is not that our church has a mission, but rather that God’s mission has a church.” Becoming missional means having a renewed theological vision of the church on mission with God, serving as a sign, servant, and foretaste of the Kingdom of God.

Recognizing the inextricably link between formation and mission, we encourage you to visit our Leadership Formation page as well.

Missional Churches

What makes up a missional church?

Missional Individuals

What is a missional individual?

Ethos

Leaders joining God on mission in your region

Missional Voice

This collection of articles were written by notable authors, teachers, and missiologists. They serve as a primer on the current and historical understanding of what it means to be missional. Some articles are more academic; some are more practical. All of them were written as an encouragement to Christians to reflect on the challenges facing the North American church. The hope is that these articles will help you to better follow in the footsteps of our missional God.

Volume 1: The Missional Church
Volume 2: Gospel, Kingdom, and Leadership
Volume 3: Loving God with All Our Hearts
Volume 4: Loving God with All Our Minds
Volume 5: Loving God with All Our Strength
Volume 6: Loving Our Neighbor

Missional Churches

Throughout history, God has chosen a people who will bear witness to who He is in the world. God created His church to be a blessing to all of the nations through the way we live. He did not create us to isolate ourselves to do spiritual things.

Becoming a missional church means having a renewed theological vision of the church on mission with God, serving as a sign, servant, and foretaste of the Kingdom of God. This looks different for different churches, but many will reflect the nature of our missionary God in the following ways:

a regular gathering of God’s people to bring gifts to the King, not just receive religious goods and services
a commitment to preaching and teaching that God has always been at work in the world to redeem all things
a stewardship of the time, treasures, talents, and terra entrusted by God to humans to care for
a commitment of the people to be in and for the neighborhood, adding value to the place and people through healing the sick, caring for the poor, acting out kindness, and proclaiming the Gospel
a depth of community in its people that is a visible demonstration of what life together can be

For more information and for stories of churches who are becoming missional, visit the Equipping page.

Missional Individuals

Every disciple must recognize that following Jesus means following Him on mission in the world, making each of us missionaries. This means bearing witness in every way to the reality of the risen Christ in our midst. It means being formed into the character of Christ, allowing all to see Jesus in and through who we are becoming. It means being sent to the people of our neighborhoods to live as if Christ were living through us. It means living as spiritual children of God in communities of His people that we call the church.

Because it is about us becoming like Christ and participating in what He is already doing in our neighborhoods, it will look different in different places. However, it will always include caring for the poor and underprivileged and proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus and His Kingdom.

There are many signs that identify a missionary. Some of the ways disciples of Jesus can be known include a heart full of passion for Jesus, a transformed life, generosity, a life lived at a different pace, being known as a great neighbor, and living in a form of community the world longs for.

Visit the Equipping page to learn more about how you might grow in your knowledge of our missionary God. You can also find out some of how He is at work in the world and how you might join Him on mission in your own neighborhood.