Synopsis: Reclaiming Mission as Constructive Theology offers a compelling case for the need to integrate God's mission and missional church conversation with a public and post-colonial study of World Christianity. Driven by a commitment to publicly engaged theology that takes seriously the reality of Global Christianity, Paul Chung presents a vital new model for understanding the mission of God as a dynamic word-event. This is argued in conversation with contemporary missional theology and analysis of the development of Global Christianity, and as such brings important transcultural issues to bear on contemporary American conversations about the missional church. All of this serves to innovatively stimulate this missional church conversation and more directly address the various questions that arise in pursuing mission in a multiculuralized American society. Endorsements: "Paul Chung proposes fresh ways to envision the mission of the church within its global, multi-cultural, and inter-religious contexts, and he does so with a view to the future. Grounding his thinking in the biblical narrative of God's salvific drama, Chung aligns missiology with other theological disciplines, providing a breadth of inter-disciplinary scholarship. He engages the contributions of contemporary missiologists and listens to the voices of the global church, past and present. All is brought together to advance our thinking within the new contexts of global mission." -Arland J. Hultgren First Theological Degrees Luther Seminary "In these essays, a noted international theologian takes another creative and constructive look at the concept of the missio Dei. He not only reaffirms the importance of God's mission in the current fragmented world but also revamps the concept in light of the latest developments in post-colonial missiology and mission theology. Part of this intriguing interdisciplinary conversation is the reconsideration of the meaning and significance of the notion of "missional church," a topic widely discussed not only in North America but also elsewhere." -Veli-Matti Karkkainen Fuller Theological Seminary and University of Helsinki, Finland "Reclaiming Mission as Constructive Theology locates the contemporary discussion of missional church in its fullest eschatological horizon. Chung advocates for socially engaged mission that attends to the emergence of world Christianity, the imperative of public theology, and the call to serve God's diakonia for the life of the world. Informed by mission history and recent hermeneutical theory, this book deepens and broadens the study of missiology to address the urgent issues of our time." -Craig L. Nessan Wartburg Theological Seminary "For those seeking a theologically-grounded understanding of mission that is equally as concerned with effective practice, Paul Chung's presentation of 'Mission as Constructive Theology' is an impressive, expansive integration of confessional theology and cultural analysis. Dr. Chung argues that because of the embodied narrative of God in Jesus Christ, anthropology is essential to the development of a faithful and effective understanding and practice of mission. In Paul Chung's innovative missiology, confessional commitments are essential to a faithful understanding of mission; equally essential, if mission is to be effective, is that these confessional commitments be understood and interpreted through the concreteness of each particular context so as to become the living voice of God in each time and place." -Roland D. Martinson Luther Seminary Author Biography: Paul S. Chung is an Associate Professor of Mission and World Christianity at Luther Seminary. His books related to constructive theology and missiological hermeneutic include Martin Luther and Buddhism (Cascade, 2007) and The Cave and The Butterfly (Cascade, 2010).

Ron Lavin maintains that today's Christian believers face the same critical challenge as did the first-century apostles -- the call to witness to people in a corrupt culture by declaring and sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. Using the book of Acts as a model, Witness takes readers on an in-depth exploration of exactly what it means to be a missional church. Lavin examines the vital importance of witnessing, and discusses how we can become vessels for God's work through prayer, repentance, hospitality, koinonia, hope, and encouragement. The call to witness can be difficult (and sometimes even dangerous) -- but planting the seeds of faith often leads to amazing results. Witness is an excellent group study resource that will stimulate discussion, group interaction, and Christian outreach.

In a series of engaging essays and responses, the book explores how evangelism has functioned within Lutheranism historically and articulates a Lutheran theological perspective on evangelism within the broader developments in mission theology over the past several decades. It further helps to show how evangelism from a Lutheran perspective may be differentiated from other theologies of evangelism that are part of the Christian movement in our day. The book moves from theory to practice as it relates this theology of evangelism to the life of congregations that are seeking to proclaim the gospel in the emerging postmodern context, provides congregations with perspectives on how to utilize this theology in shaping the practice of evangelism within their church life. A study guide to encourage group discussion and reflection is included. Other contributors: Wyvetta Bullock Kelly Fryer Craig Nessan J. Paul Rajashekar