Missional Discipleship After Christendom

It is not a changing culture, reduced resources, or a rescinding Christian memory that creates the greatest challenges for the church in the West. It is the lack of a clear commitment to the intentional, authentic, and contextual expressions of missional disciple-making, which will shape current and future generations of followers of Jesus to express the values of the Kingdom today. This book offers stimulating historical, biblical, and theological reflections on discipleship and considers some of the possibilities and opportunities afforded to us by our post-Christian context. Missional discipleship allows the missio Dei to shape us in our engagement our practices and sustain us in the lifelong journey of becoming and developing disciples that follow Jesus today. ""I am convinced that the endemic non-discipleship in the Western church undermines everything else we seek to do. This excellent book by longterm practitioners and leaders does much to re-educate us in the lost art of disciple-making as it pertains to the mission of the church."" --Alan Hirsch, Award-winning author of numerous books on missional Christianity ""The challenge to 'come and follow me' can sound scandalous to the ears of some. Yet it is precisely the challenge to become like Jesus that keeps the Christian faith fresh and relevant. Living as a disciple of Christ is the issue of the age for believers at a time when discipleship is arguably a lost art. The debate about discipleship has begun. Hardy and Yarnell offer a valuable perspective in deepening such a dialogue."" --Martin Robinson, Principal of ForMission College ""For centuries, it was assumed that 'discipleship'--if it was mentioned at all--was just a matter of faithful attendance at church services . . . Dan Yarnell and Andrew Hardy invite readers to find inspiration in the New Testament and the early church while also drawing on their own experience to offer practical models of discipleship for the twenty-first century."" --John Drane, Professor, University of the West of Scotland Andrew Hardy currently serves as an academic programme director at ForMission College. He is also engaged in doctoral research at Roehampton University in the field of practical and empirical theology. He has coauthored and authored several books, among them Pictures of God: Shaping Missional Church Life. Dan Yarnell is the National Coordinator for the Fellowship of Churches of Christ in Great Britain and Ireland, and a senior lecturer in missional and contextual theology at ForMission College. He is the coauthor of Celebrating the Small Church (1993), Forming Multicultural Partnerships (2015), and Power and the Powers: The Use and Abuse of Power in its Missional Context (2015). He lives in Redditch, Worcestershire with his wife Amy.