mission shaped evangelism

I have just finished reading MISSION SHAPED EVANGELISM by Steve Hollinghurst. I wish I had read it 2 years ago when it was first published. It's a book I would strongly recommend to anyone involved in church leadership. Personally I think churches in general are experiencing a missional crisis in the West today insofar as we seem largely incapable of impacting with our good news beyond the boundaries of the church and its culture. If you were to have a show of hands in any average church today, there would be practically no one present who hasn't had some kind of church background. "The vast majority of those our curent evangelism reaches come from the dwindling minority who have church backgrounds."We appear to be fishing in an ever decreasing pool. This reality is one which really troubles me, and so I'm glad to have read a book that looks at this very issue and asks how we might look at our situation today in Scotland as if we were cross cultural missionaries.

Hollinghurst doesn't offer any quick fixes. Indeed he writes, "We will need long term projects in the new foreign mission fields of the once Christian nations of the West."

The strength of the book lies in the fact that it is the fruit of a life rooted in experience as an evangelist in a post Christian culture. For any Christian leader who is becoming increasingly disillusioned today by the churches seeming irrelevance, this is a must read. The review on Amazon sums it up well:

This book is essential reading for all church leaders who have a passion to engage with the local community they serve. As the iceberg of Christendom melts, many still see the task of evangelism as catching the drips and freezing them back on to the iceberg! Steve Hollinghurst addresses the need for a new approach, rooted in the truth of the gospel and suited to the post modern culture that is emerging around us. Earthed in practical experience and careful research, this book encourages churches to 'wake up to the cultural changes around us' and points the way to an programme of evangelism which reflects the radical inclusivity of the kingdom. A must read!