The Church as Movement: Starting and Sustaining Missional-Incarnational Communities - Softcover

JR Woodward is the national director of church planting with V3, a missional church-planting movement, and the author of Creating a Missional Culture.

"One of the strengths of the book derives from the fact that JR and Dan are reflective practitioners: both have planted churches, are leading a wonderful new movement called V3 and have been training planters all across North America. . . . Furthermore, their understanding of movement is wonderfully minimalist without being reductionist. The result is that it can be practiced by ordinary, everyday Christians. Here they activate the essence of movement―where everyone, regardless of race, gender and class, is an active agent in the game. Jesus movement is people movement!" (Alan Hirsch, founder, 100Movements, Forge Mission Training Network, Future Travelers, coauthor of The Permanent Revolution (from the foreword))

"JR and Dan have produced a simple, intensely practical guide for those of us who want to shift from merely sustaining the 'religious industrial complex' to unleashing a dynamic missional church planting movement. The Church as Movement is full of ideas on missional discipleship, rhythms of life, cultural exegesis, fivefold leadership models and more, all anchored in a beautiful biblical vision of the sent-and-sending God." (Michael Frost, author of The Shaping of Things to Come, Exiles and The Road to Missional)

"The Church as Movement is a book I wish I'd been able to get my hands on twenty years ago. I got into church planting because I wanted to be a disciple and make disciples of Jesus. Instead, I encountered a system that largely measured success in terms of attendance, budgets, and buildings. Woodward and White not only offer an alternate transformational vision, they have created an immensely practical resource. I've seen their work firsthand and am deeply encouraged by their ability to come alongside leaders and equip them to embody the way of Jesus in their local communities." (Mark Scandrette, founder, ReIMAGINE, author of Practicing the Way of Jesus, Free, and Belonging and Becoming)

"In The Church as Movement White and Woodward rewrite what it means to cultivate and grow churches in the mission fields of post-Christendom. Accomplishing the impossible, they provide an exhaustive preparation for those who dare to navigate this terrain. It's a learning experience enormous in its aspirations yet so necessary for the task that lies ahead for the church in mission." (David Fitch, B. R. Lindner Chair of Evangelical Theology, Northern Seminary, author of Faithful Presence)

"If you want to see the church through a radically different lens and recover the vision of how ordinary Christians working together in the neighborhood can become the greatest hope for change in these fractured and fragmented times, then this book is your guide." (Tim Soerens, cofounder and director, Parish Collective, coauthor of The New Parish)

"Theologically and theoretically complex and robust, yet practically so transferable in its attentiveness to movement dynamics and awareness of place-based disciple-making. This is a book that will surprise and challenge trained practitioners while offering tools that are adaptable enough for real movement. I believe even the title is a phrase that will become integral to the new vocabulary of church multiplication. I honestly wish I had written it myself!" (Linda Bergquist, church planting catalyst and coach, coauthor of Church Turned Inside Out)

"JR and Dan use their wisdom and experience to help churches plant churches that better reflect the effectiveness of the early church, emphasizing the importance of community and discipleship." (Ed Stetzer, executive director of the Billy Graham Center for Evangelism at Wheaton College)

"This is a book on Christian movement and church planting that I enjoyed reading and want to commend to many others seeking to discern innovative ways of being God's people in a time of massive change. JR and Dan have written with wisdom. They distill their on-the-ground experience into a book that is practical, instructive, and informed with theological imagination. They offer the reader a direction for this journey toward a movement of God's people in our day. Like any book, one isn't going to agree with everything, but this is one of a few books in this field I want to recommend." (Alan Roxburgh, The Missional Network, author of Joining God, Remaking Church, Changing the World)

"Practitioner led, biblically based, and theologically sound. In this book, JR and Dan have been able to navigate the line between missiology and strategy by presenting a team guide for discipleship and church planting. So buy this book, gather your friends together, and learn how to start a movement that will change your city!" (Daniel Im, director of church multiplication, NewChurches.com, coauthor of Planting Missional Churches)

"What I love about JR and Dan is that they don't just write about the stuff of missional discipleship, they live it! The Church as Movement is a real gift to the church. It is not only crammed full of practical wisdom, but is written in a way that is accessible to everybody." (Debra Hirsch, author of Untamed and Redeeming Sex)