The primary work of leadership is to continually stand in the space where it is compelled to ask the question of what God is about among this group of people who comprise this local church in this specific context at this particular time. This course presents a praxis of missional leadership unique to the discussion in that it takes seriously a biblical theology of creation, incarnation and kingdom that locates both the church and its leadership in what is described as the ‘space between’. It argues that the fatal misapplication of the missional conversation lies, in part, in its continued internalization of both church and leadership that leads almost all missional proposals toward older forms of church growth or church effectiveness even when framed in postmodern language. This course takes seriously Newbigin’s rendering of the missional dynamic between Gospel and culture (society). It introduces basic frameworks of missional leadership and examines the essential practices for effective engagement in a local church or the systems that serve them. The practices of leadership are formed out of the nature of God’s vocation for the church in the world. This vocation was shaped in God’s purposes from before the foundations of the world as is the sign, witness and foretaste for where all creation is moving. This perspective informs and shapes the practices of missional leadership.  

What Others Have Thought:  

"This course has profoundly affected my ministry by challenging and changing the questions lying beneath the surface of my pastoral strategies."  

"This class has opened up a new way forward for me into understanding the context of the pluralistic society in which we live. It has given me keys to understand it and take some action."    

Course Project:   

All students will do a project that relates what they have learned to their current ministry situation. They will describe the functional expectations for leadership and develop a proposal for beginning to initiate the understanding of leadership presented in this course within their church. As well students will create a series of recommendations or scenarios that would assist their church in shaping a missional imagination.  

Sample Readings From This Course May Include:   

Branson, Mark. “Ecclesiology and Leadership in Context” in Craig Van Gelder The Missional Church in Context: Helping Congregations Develop Contextual Ministry. Eerdmans, 2007.  

Newbigin, Lesslie. The Open Secret. Eerdmans, 1994.  

Roxburgh & Romanuk. The Missional Leader. Jossey Bass, 2006. 

Van Gelder, Craig. Ministry of the Missional Church. Baker Books, 2007.     

If you would like more information about this course please email the DMIN office at dmin@fuller.edu 

For a sample course description please click here.  NOTE: This is not to be used as a source for course preparation.