The church is living in a time of massive, unprecedented change. Traditional institutions and structures are unraveling in response to rapid social, demographic and economic developments. The existing ways of being the church are no longer meaningful to many. How should the church respond? Many seek to address this situation by tweaking the established institutions, finding new structures, reorganizing congregations or renewing long-established practices. Some even argue that we need to abandon structures and institutions altogether. We regularly hear proposals for missionalchurches, organic churches, simple churches, fresh expressions churches and so on. Alan Roxburgh argues that we need to look deeper. Structures embody the core narratives that shape how people see the world. We cannot simply replace old institutions with new ones. We need to examine the underlying stories, metaphors and cultures that give organizations their meaningfulness. The crisis of the church today is a crisis not of institution but of imagination. In Structured for Mission, Roxburgh challenges the church to become a place where people are empowered to reimagine their religious life and experiment with new ways of being the church in a local context. We are living in a brave new world. Will the church be ready?
"As a pastor who has been involved in several 'revitalization processes' and has the disillusioned scars to prove it, I found much to be hopeful for in Roxburgh's work. He moves with ease in-between biblical and cultural interpretation, and draws from a variety of scholars and texts. And he strikes a fine balance between urging change and gaining discernment. In the end, this book could be a boon to many pastors and denominational leaders."
Gavin Dluehosh, The Englewood Review of Books, Summer 2015
"Alan Roxburgh is a father figure to many of us in the missional movement and like everything he writes, this is a smart book and a wise one. Defending the importance of structures for mission, he calls us to stop naively pouring our energy into trying to change institutions as an end in itself. Rather, he insists we need to change the narratives that shape the structures that will in turn foster the rich, organic, local missional community we all crave."
Michael Frost, Morling College, Sydney, author of The Road to Missional