Includes bibliographical references (pages 269-280)

Missional Church: From Sending to Being Sent -- Missional Context: Understanding North American Culture -- Missional Challenge: Understanding the Church in North America -- Missional Vocation: Called and Sent to Represent the Reign of God -- Missional Witness: The Church as Apostle to the World -- Missional Community: Cultivating Communities of the Holy Spirit -- Missional Leadership: Equipping God's People for Mission -- Missional Structures: The Particular Community -- Missional Connectedness: The Community of Communities in Mission

"What would a theology of the church look like that took seriously the fact that North America is now itself a mission field? This question lies at the foundation of this volume written by an ecumenical team of six noted missiologists - Lois Barrett, Inagrace T. Dietterich, Darrell L. Guder, George R. Hunsberger, Alan J. Roxburgh, and Craig Van Gelder. The result of a three-year research project undertaken by The Gospel and Our Culture Network, this book issues a firm challenge for the church to recover its missional call right here in North America. The authors examine today's secular culture and the church's loss of dominance in contemporary society. They then present a biblically based theology that takes seriously the church's missional vocation and draw out the consequences of this theology for the structure and institutions of the church."--Jacket