Traditioned innovation -- envisioning the future by honoring the church’s past -- is a way of thinking about how the church engages the world. Consider how to develop missional work and live out the gospel message in response to great needs both in the United States and abroad.

Our resources, while not exhaustive, will allow you to explore this topic more fully. The foundational resources are important for the development of transformative leaders. The formational resources are of a different sort. These are meant to spark your imagination by introducing you to stories and ideas that have surprising insight into the practice of Christian leadership.

Foundational Resources

• Bible and Mission by Richard Bauckham – Presents the Gospel as both particular (God working in and through a particular people) and universal (God working through a particular people to reach the entire world)
• Congregations in America by Mark Chaves – Chaves, the principal investigator for the National Congregations Study, describes the survey’s 1998 results with a particular focus on the way churches provide social services. (For further reflection, see F&L content by Mark Chaves.)
• Considering the Great Commission edited by Stephen Gunter and Elaine Robinson – An exploration of the theology and practice of evangelism in the Wesleyan tradition
• The Cross-Cultural Process in Christian History by Andrew Walls – A look at the historic movement of the Christian faith and why Africa is the church’s future
• DART: Direct Action and Research Training – This website provides resources for training in an approach to congregation-based community organizing
• Evangelism after Christendom by Bryan Stone – Situates evangelism within the church as a corporate and communal practice rather than an individual one
• The Evangelistic Love of God and Neighbor: A Theology of Witness and Discipleship by Scott J. Jones – A look at the ways churches can effectively evangelize
• The Gospel in a Pluralist Society by Lesslie Newbigin – A prominent missiologist exploring the Gospel’s spread in an ever-shrinking world
• Missional Church edited by Darrell Guder – Six missiologists explore the landscape of North America as a mission field
• Roots for Radicals by Edward Chambers – Provides a model for attending to local particulars and context while community organizing
• Saving Women by Laceye Warner – Studies the contributions of six Protestant women from 1800-1950 and their contribution to the theology of evangelism
• Transforming Mission by David Bosch – A broad examination of the history of mission in the Christian Church with an outline of key characteristics of mission for a postmodern paradigm

Formational Resources

• Collapse by Jared Diamond – An exploration of why some of the great societies throughout the ages failed and what we have to learn from their failures today
• The Future Is Mestizo by Virgilio Elizondo – Elevates the historical and cultural concept of ethnic “mixing” (mestizaje) to a theological register
• The Invisible Cure by Helen Epstein – Offers lessons on leadership and community through Uganda’s fight against AIDS in the 1980s and ’90s
• Jean Vanier and L’Arche - The official website of Jean Vanier Jean Vanier, founder of L’Arche, an international organization of family-like homes where people with disabilities live in community with others. (For further reflection, please see videos of Jean Vanier on Of belonging and bonding and What’s Christian about Christian leadership? See also Jason Byassee’s column, Jean Vanier, gentleness and power)