InterVarsity Press and Forge
Pioneering Books for First-World Missionaries
How can God's people give witness to his kingdom in an increasingly post-Christian culture? How can the church recover its true mission in the face of a world in need? These questions and others like them are urgent, yes, but they also offer fertile ground for a missional imagination. It's that kind of imagination that has characterized the innovative work of the Forge Mission Training Network, as well as the publishing strategy of InterVarsity Press.
Now Forge and IVP are joining forces to advance the missional conversation and invigorate the missional imagination, equipping Christians to more fully embrace and pursue the mission of God through the work of the church. In the books you see here (with more on their way in the coming years), you'll find a shared vision and a shared passion: a more missional church in a world ripe for the harvest.
Forge Partnership Books
Beyond Awkward by Beau Crosetto
Evangelism is awkward. Beau Crosetto hasn't solved the problem of awkwardness in evangelism. But he's learned how to push through it and how we can set ourselves and those we love at ease as we enter into conversations of eternal consequence. Read this book and move beyond awkward into the most awesome privilege of God's people: proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ.
Dwell by Barry D. Jones
We dwell in a specific place and time in history, with unique bodies in a world for which God has great purposes of redemption. This presence in the world should lead us to pattern our lives after the life of Jesus. Barry Jones shares his vision for authentic Christian spirituality focused on conforming into the image of Christ who dwells with us for us.
Incarnate by Michael Frost
The church is to be the hands and feet of Christ in the world, showing and telling the kingdom of God. But this incarnational mission is challenged by numerous "excarnational" forces, pulling us ever inward and selfward. In this prophetic cultural study, missiologist Michael Frost helps us find our way back into the mission of God.
Sentness by Kim Hammond and Darren Cronshaw
In defiance of the temptations to make the church all about its members, Kim Hammond and Darren Cronshaw call us to embrace our "sentness," to follow Jesus into our world and call it to faith. Dive into Sentness and you'll discover the six postures of a church that's keeping pace with God's work in the world.
The Missional Quest by Lance Ford and Brad Brisco
Building on their influential work with the network of faith communities KC Sentral, Forge Publishing & Resources Convener Lance Ford and Brad Brisco write a how-to book for churches and leaders who are ready to respond to the missional call. They take leaders step by step through the major cultural changes involved in cultivating a new ethos and practice in their congregations—addressing everything from sowing the first seeds of missional-incarnational thinking to engaging in contextual analysis to actually stepping out into the local community.
Forge Guides for Missional Conversation by Scott Nelson
Scott Nelson (Forge America's director of theological education) offers a short series of discussion guides designed to stoke the missionary imagination in communities across the U.S. The five guides in the series introduce the key ingredients you need to start living out the whole gospel in your local community. Foreword by Alan Hirsch.
Creating a Missional Culture by JR Woodward
Missiologist and church planter JR Woodward offers a blueprint for a church in search of a missional culture. Expanding on the biblical principles giving life to the missional movement worldwide, Woodward calls not for small tweaks to the church's image but for a recasting of the very environment that shapes us.
"More than a strategy, vision or plan, the unseen culture of a church powerfully shapes its ability to grow, mature and live missionally.... Like gravity, the culture of a congregation can either pull people down to their base instincts or lift people up to their sacred potential."
—from the Introduction
