We’ve put together a round-up of thought-provoking books that encourage us to step outside the traditional church building and engage more deeply with our communities. These works offer fresh perspectives and practical guidance on how to live out our calling in the world and challenge us to rethink what it means to be the church today.

The Shaping of Things to Come: Innovation and Mission for the 21st Century Church, 2009 By Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch

In "The Shaping of Things to Come," Australian authors Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch present a groundbreaking vision for how the church can better engage with the spiritual hunger evident in the Western world. This innovative book challenges traditional church paradigms and offers a fresh perspective on mission and community.

Described as a "bountiful multi-course meal" by Leonard Sweet, the book is praised for its charm and depth, making it a must-read for those seeking to rethink church and mission. Eddie Gibbs highlights the value of the authors' Australian perspective, noting their firsthand experience in one of the most secularized societies in the Western world. Frost and Hirsch's extensive reading in theology, culture, and mission, combined with their practical church-planting experience, provide a substantial and engaging contribution to the literature on missional church.

The book is divided into four sections and twelve chapters, each designed to provoke thought and inspire change. It moves beyond traditional church models, advocating for a shift from organization to movement, from attractional to incarnational ministry. Leonard Hjalmarson describes it as a "tour de force" that frames new questions and highlights the need for new ways of seeing and being the church.

"The Shaping of Things to Come" is not about adopting a specific model but about providing tools to incarnate the gospel in various contexts. Reviewers from around the world, including Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States, commend the book for its thought-provoking and life-changing insights. It stands out for its refusal to offer a one-size-fits-all approach, encouraging readers to think outside the box and imagine new forms of church and leadership.

Whether you are a church leader, planter, or simply someone interested in the future of the church, "The Shaping of Things to Come" is a compelling and essential read. It challenges the status quo and invites readers to reimagine church in a post-Christian, postmodern world.

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The Art of Neighboring: Building Genuine Relationships Right Outside Your Door, 2012
By Jay Pathak and Dave Runyon and Randy Frazee

What if Jesus meant that we should love our actual neighbors?
When Jesus was asked to sum up everything into one command, he said to love God with everything we have and to love our neighbors as ourselves. Most of us have turned this simple idea of loving our neighbors into a nice saying, putting it on bumper stickers and refrigerator magnets and then going on with our lives without actually putting it into practice.

What would happen if every follower of Jesus took the Great Commandment literally? Is it possible that the solution to our society's biggest issues has been right under our noses for the past two thousand years?

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The Very Good Gospel: How Everything Wrong Can Be Made Right, 2016
By Lisa Sharon Harper

God once declared everything in the world “very good.”
Can you imagine it? 
A Vision of Hope for a Broken World 
Shalom is what God declared. Shalom is what the Kingdom of God looks like. 
Shalom is when all people have enough.
It’s when families are healed.
It’s when churches, schools, and public policies protect human dignity. 
Shalom is when the image of God is recognized in every single human.
Shalom is our calling as followers of Jesus’s gospel. It is the vision God set forth in the Garden and the restoration God desires for every relationship.
What can we do to bring shalom to our nations, our communities, and our souls? Through a careful exploration of biblical text, particularly the first three chapters of Genesis, Lisa Sharon Harper shows us what “very good” can look like today, even after the Fall.
 Because despite our anxious minds, despite division and threats of violence, God’s vision remains: Wholeness for a hurting world. Peace for a fearful soul. Shalom.

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Organic Church: Growing Faith Where Life Happens, 2005
By Neil Cole

Churches have tried all kinds of ways to attract new and younger members - revised vision statements, hipper worship, contemporary music, livelier sermons, bigger and better auditoriums. But there are still so many people who aren't being reached, who don't want to come to church. And the truth is that attendance at church on Sundays does not necessarily transform lives; God's presence in our hearts is what changes us. Leaders and laypeople everywhere are realizing that they need new and more powerful ways to help them spread God's Word. According to international church starter and pastor Neil Cole, if we want to connect with young people and those who are not coming to church, we must go where people congregate. Cole shows readers how to plant the seeds of the Kingdom of God in the places where life happens and where culture is formed - restaurants, bars, coffeehouses, parks, locker rooms,and neighborhoods. Organic Church offers a hands-on guide for demystifying this new model of church and shows the practical aspects of implementing it.

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The Next Worship: Glorifying God in a Diverse World, 2015
By Sandra Maria Van Opstal

Christianity Today's Book of the Year Award of Merit

What happens when a diverse church glorifies the global God?

We live in a time of unprecedented intercultural exchange, where our communities welcome people from around the world. Music and media from every culture are easily accessible, and our worship is infused with a rich variety of musical and liturgical influences. But leading worship in multicultural contexts can be a crosscultural experience for everybody. How do we help our congregations navigate the journey?

Innovative worship leader Sandra Maria Van Opstal is known for crafting worship that embodies the global, multiethnic body of Christ. Likening diverse worship to a sumptuous banquet, she shows how worship leaders can set the table and welcome worshipers from every tribe and tongue. Van Opstal provides biblical foundations for multiethnic worship, with practical tools and resources for planning services that reflect God's invitation for all peoples to praise him.

When multiethnic worship is done well, the church models reconciliation and prophetic justice, heralding God's good news for the world. Enter into the praise of our king, and let the nations rejoice!

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The Forgotten Ways: Reactivating Apostolic Movements, 2016
By Alan Hirsch and Ed Stetzer and Jeff Vanderstelt

Alan Hirsch's paradigm-shifting classic remains the definitive statement of the church as dynamic missional movement. The bestselling first edition ignited a conversation about how to harness the power of movements for the future growth of the church. In this major update, Hirsch shares significant insights gained along the way, provides fresh new examples of growing churches, and reflects on the last ten years of the missional movement. The new edition has been thoroughly updated and revised throughout and includes charts, diagrams, an expanded glossary of terms, new appendices, an index, a new foreword by Ed Stetzer, and a new afterword by Jeff Vanderstelt.

Known for his innovative approach to mission, Hirsch is widely acknowledged as a thought leader and mission strategist for churches across the Western world. He considers The Forgotten Ways the guiding work to all of his other writings. The book explores the factors that come together to generate high-impact, exponentially explosive, spiritually vibrant Jesus movements in any time and context. This extensive update to Hirsch's influential work offers a system of six vital keys to movements that will continue shape the future of the missional movement for years to come.

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Kingdom Come: Why We Must Give Up Our Obsession with Fixing the Church--and What We Should Do Instead, 2015
By Reggie McNeal

There’s a reason Jesus taught us to pray “Thy Kingdom come . . .” and not “Thy church come.” The church clearly plays an important role in God’s plans. It was established by Christ, and he is its Head. But have we put too much emphasis on the church? Have we confused a means of participating in God’s Kingdom with the Kingdom itself?

In Kingdom Come, church ministry consultant Reggie McNeal reveals why it’s crucial to realign the church’s mission with God’s ultimate Kingdom agenda. You’ll discover how you can get in on―and help lead―the Kingdom movement currently underway.

Join the mission to help the Kingdom break into our hearts . . . and break out into the world.

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The Externally Focused Church, 2004
By Rick Rusaw and Eric Swason

If Your Church Vanished, Would Your Community Weep? Would Anyone Notice? Would Anyone Care?"I will never forget the comment of one fourth-grade teacher as she stood there, amazed at the work being done on her classroom by complete strangers: 'If this is Christianity, then I'm interested,' she said."from Forward by Rick Rusaw and Eric SwansonLearn from churches that have made serving their communities a priority--with dramatic results. Your church can be a firm pillar in your community because of the unwavering truth and love of its members.Use case studies from churches that have mastered community service, and apply the action steps to: Attract new believers and reach hurt and skeptical people through service Use the resources your church already has to impact those in need Learn how churches have made community service a part of their DNA Help your members deepen their spiritual commitment through service Discover practical ways to change your community--starting nowFrom the minister to the mechanic and the teen to the tenured, your church will expand God's kingdom when it extends his love to the people in your community.

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Missional Renaissance: Changing the Scorecard for the Church, 2009
By Reggies McNeal

Reggie McNeal's bestseller The Present Future is the definitive work on the "missional movement," i.e., the widespread movement among Protestant churches to be less inwardly focused and more oriented toward the culture and community around them. In that book he asked the tough questions that churches needed to entertain to begin to think about who they are and what they are doing; in Missional Renaissance, he shows them the three significant shifts in their thinking and behavior that they need to make that will allow leaders to chart a course toward being missional: (1) from an internal to an external focus, ending the church as exclusive social club model; (2) from running programs and ministries to developing people as its core activity; and (3) from professional leadership to leadership that is shared by everyone in the community. With in-depth discussions of the "what" and the "how" of transitioning to being a missional church, readers will be equipped to move into what McNeal sees as the most viable future for Christianity. For all those thousands of churches who are asking about what to do next after reading The Present Future, Missional Renaissance will provide the answer.

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The Tangible Kingdom: Creating Incarnational Community, 2008
By Matt Smay, Hugh Halter

Written for those who are trying to nurture authentic faith communities and for those who have struggled to retain their faith, The Tangible Kingdom offers theological answers and real-life stories that demonstrate how the best ancient church practices can re-emerge in today's culture, through any church of any size. In this remarkable book, Hugh Halter and Matt Smay "two missional leaders and church planters" outline an innovative model for creating thriving grass-roots faith communities.

Buy the book here