Missional Interview with Alan Hirsch

Here is the transcript of an email interview I did with Alan.

A Short Bio from his website:

I am Alan Hirsch. I am hurtling towards 50 and loving it! I live in Australia with my hero and wife Debra and our dog, Ruby. We live in a communal house called ‘Como’ with Mark, Sally, and Andrea. I am a writer, church leader, strategist, educator, and missional activist. I love reading philosophy, studying Judaism, leading a magnificent movement called Forge Mission Training Network, cellaring (and subsequently imbibing) good red-wine, walking, movies, etc.

Now the Interview:

1. How did God move you personally to a Missional mindset? What circumstances or events did He use?

Being involved in an inner city urban environment required us to seriously rethink attractional modes of Church. Also, we had to look seriously at becoming incarnational. But the other thing that sealed it for me was the role I took with our denomination, which required that I begin to assess the situation from a macro perspective of missions-to-the-west. Both of these journeys are articulated in The Forgotten Ways (ch’s 1 + 2)

2. How can becoming missional change a person or a church?

For me it was like a second conversion. It meant a almost totally different reading of myself, my church, and my context. My role was fundamentally altered at the level of identity.

3. What is the hardest hurdle to an individual or a church moving to a missional mindset.

Pre-commitments to the prevailing system, whether it be church growth or traditions. For professional ministers this is particularly difficult, they have so much vested in the system. Economically, personally, and professionally.

4.People around the world are finding creative ways to be missional. Tell us about one or two that you have seen that would exemplify creative missionality.

I have so many listed in The Forgotten Ways and The Shaping of Things To Come, that I don’t think I can really re-articulate them here meaningfully.

5. What has been your greatest reward in being involved in this missional ground swell?

I love seeing people tune into missional ideas. To see the lights come on and so see God move through them in new ways.


6. You can recommend 1 book on missional living. Which book and why?

Missional living particularly? I think Michael Frost’s book Exiles is the best book on missional lifestyle from the point of view of the local missionary. The Forgotten Ways for the macro/systems view (humble eh?)

Make sure you visit Alan's website!

missional, missional church, Missional Living, Leadership, The Forgotten Ways, Alan Hirsch,

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The Forgotten Ways - The Church's Needed Missional Response

Over the weekend my Copy of Alan Hirsch's: The Forgotten Ways arrived. Since then I have been consumed. So I thought I'd share some thoughtson the book. But I fear with so many reviews of this floating around, mine is a little late to the party.

But, I'm gonna add my 2 cents.

This is the book that has been within my soul. It's the call to the church to return to it's calling. Alan wonderfully provides in roads and a map to where the future of the church needs to go. Some critics have said there's nothing new in this book because there is no answers. Well I believe that the answer is different in every situation. But each situation needs a map to the future and this book provides that.

I also jumped for joy at this statement from Alan to the church as a whole:

"A note of warning for those leading in established churches:what Western Christianity desperately needs at the moment is adaptive leadership - people who can help us transition to a different, more agile, mode of church. Such leaders don't necessarily have to be highly creative innovators themselves, but rather people who can move the church in adaptive modes - people who can disturb the stifling equilibrium and create the conditions change and innovation."(pg 257.)


I want to be a part of that movement.

I highly recommend the book.

Thanks Alan for putting to paper this map for the future, may many follow it.

missional, missional church, Missional Living, Leadership, Alan Hirsch,

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