Once upon a time, Moses had had enough.Exhausted by the challenge of leading the Israelites from slavery to the Promised Land, Moses cried out to God, "What have I done to displease you that you put the burden of all these people on me? . . . If this is how you are going to treat me, please go ahead and kill me" (Exodus 11:11, 15).If that sounds hauntingly familiar to you, you may be the senior pastor of a contemporary church. The burden of Christian leadership is becoming increasingly unbearable--demanding skills not native to the art of pastoring; demanding time that makes sabbath rest and even normal sleep patterns seem extravagant; demanding inhuman levels of efficiency, proficiency and even saintliness.No wonder pastors seem and even feel less human these days. No wonder they burn out or break down at an alarming rate; no wonder the church is missing the mark on its mission.In Creating a Missional Culture, JR Woodward offers a bold and surprisingly refreshing model forchurches--not small adjustments around the periphery of a church's infrastructure but a radical revisioning of how a church ought to look, from its leadership structure to its mobilization of the laity. The end result looks surprisingly like the church that Jesus created and the apostles cultivated: a church not chasing the wind but rather going into the world and making disciples of Jesus.



JR Woodward (MA, Fuller Theological Seminary) is a church planter, activist, missiologist and the national director for church planting with V3, a missional church planting movement. He is the author of Creating a Missional Culture and hedesires to awaken people to join God in the renewal of all things. JR is founder of New Life Christian Fellowship (NLCF) and cofounder of Kairos LA, the Solis Foundation, Ecclesia Network and Missio Alliance. He serves locally with the District Church in Washington D.C. and is pursuing a PhD at the University of Manchester (UK). He loves to surf, travel, read, skateboard and meet new people. He enjoys photography and film and tries to attend the Sundance Film Festival whenever he can.



List of Figures and Tables

Foreword by Alan Hirsch

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Part 1: The Power of Culture

1. What Is Missional Culture and Why Does It Matter?

2. How Culture Works

3. What's Going On in the Culture of the Church You Serve?

4. Polycentric Leadership and Missional Culture

Part 2: A Leadership Imagination That Shapes Missional Culture

5. Facing Today's Challenges

6. Hearing the Story

7. Deepening Theological Roots

8. Embracing Emotional Health

9. Relinquishing the Need to Control

Part 3: The Five Culture Creators

10. Jesus the Archetypical Culture Creator

11. Apostles: Dream Awakeners

12. Prophets: Heart Revealers

13. Evangelists: Story Tellers

14. Pastors: Soul Healers

15. Teachers: Light Givers

Part 4: Embodying a Missional Culture

16. The Cultural Web and the Neighborhood Church

17. Cultivating Missional Environments

18. Cultivating an Equipping Ethos

19. Polycentric Leadership at Work

Appendix 1: Equippers and Their Roles

Appendix 2: Equipper Candidate Reference Form

Appendix 3: Equipper CandidateInterview

Notes