Outside of his love for God and his family, Wayne Hoag's greatest love is for the Body of Christ. For thirty-five years he has been a shepherd of God's flock. The past twenty years he has been the Senior Pastor of Sierra Bible Church in the mountain town of Truckee, California. Several years ago his attention was drawn to the New Testament admonitions that call God's children to either be or do something for their fellow believers in the local church. In fact, the call appears a total of twenty-nine times. Upon further study, Wayne became convinced that the twenty-nine one another admonitions were God's unique strategy to shape and mold His children into the image of His Son. He began to see that following the work of salvation in one's life, God then placed the new believer in a local fellowship where they would be further shaped and refined by and through their life with other believers. That is when the One Another Project was born. The Project was originally a ten week series of sermons that were then further explored in weekly home study groups. The questions that were asked and explored in the small groups are listed at the end of each chapter. Pastor Wayne has not only taught these truths to his Truckee congregation but also to others who want to more fully understand God's strategy of the One Another call. For further information and discussion about this topic please visit www.oneanotherproject.com. The key verse for this study is Romans 12:5, ..".so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another." As you read may you grow in your understanding of just how much you need your brothers and sisters in Christ.

Pascal D. Bazzell brings the marginal ecclesiology of a Filipino ecclesial community facing homelessness (FECH) into contemporary ecclesiological conversation in order to deepen the ecumenical understanding of today's ecclesial reality. He contributes relevant data to support a theory of an ecclesial-oriented paradigm that fosters ecclesial communities within homeless populations. There is an extensive dialogue occurring between ecclesiologies, church planting theories or urban missions and the urban poor. Yet the situation with the homeless population is almost entirely overlooked. The majority of urban mission textbooks do not acknowledge an ecclesial-oriented state of being and suggest that the street-level environment is a place where no discipleship can occur and no church should exist. By presenting the FECH's case study Bazzell emphasizes that it is possible to live on the streets and to grow in the faith of God as an ecclesial community. To be able to describe the FECH's ecclesial narrative, Bazzell develops a local ecclesiological methodology that aims to bridge the gap between more traditional systematic and theoretical (ideal) ecclesiology and practical oriented ecclesiology (e.g. congregational studies) in order to hold together theological and social understandings of the church in its local reality. He articulates a theological framework for the FECH to reflect on who they are (the essence of identity studies), who they are in relationship to God (the essence of theological studies), and what that means for believers in that community as they relate to God and to each other in ways that are true to who they are and to who God intends them to be (the essence of ecclesial studies). The research provides a seldom-heard empirical tour into the FECH's social world and communal identity. The theological findings from the FECH's hermeneutical work on the Gospel of Mark reveal an understanding of church being developed as gathering around Jesus that creates a space for God's presence to be embodied in their ordinary relationships and activities and to invite others to participate in that gathering. Moreover, it addresses ecclesial issues of the supernatural world; honor/shame values; and further develop the neglected image of the familia Dei in classical ecclesiology that encapsulates well the FECH's nature, mission and place.

It would be reasonable to estimate that multiple hundreds of thousands of people have become followers of Jesus Christ as a result of the modern church-planting movement. One characteristic of the literature of this movement has been an almost singular focus on the individual who is sent out to lead the new congregation, rather than on the vital role of the sending or sponsoring church.

Practically all the books are written with one target in mind: this individual leader, the pioneer pastor, usually referred to as the "church planter." "The Mother Church" is not written for pioneer pastors; it is written for the leaders of potential mother churches. It is designed to help leaders assess whether and when the birthing of a new church is a good idea for their congregation and to provide them with tools to birth and nurture healthy, thriving, life-giving new churches.

"Church leaders who desire to see their mission efforts survive and thrive need to give special attention to the hardwon insights of John Bangs' "The Mother Church." Bangs is not only a mission planter and pastor, but he brings the broader view of a church-planting leader ..."
-Charles J. Scalise, Ph.D., Professor of Church History, Fuller Theological Seminary

"The Mother Church will revolutionize the way we view and do birthing of mission churches."
-Kent J. Ingle, D.Min., Dean, College of Ministry, Northwest University