Missional Imagination: Preparation for Kingdom Innovation

Advance Praise and Reviews

“With Missional Imagination, Jay Moon inaugurates the next generation of practical ministry studies. I mean that. This book offers a fundamental shift in how we need to approach thinking about the ways we understand and operate as churches. Weaving together Scriptural wisdom, spiritual formation, the latest research across multiple disciplines, and his on-the-ground experience as a missionary, entrepreneur, and evangelism professor, Moon explains that the Western church’s malaise comes from an inability to see God’s vision for what the church is supposed to be. He then provides creative and clear directions for how even the humblest congregation can be formed into that vision. Accessible for all readers—not just pastors and professors—Moon will not only spark your imagination but give you the enthusiasm and the tools to tackle everything from reimagining your mission through prayer and Bible study to aligning your finances and technology to support that mission.” ꟷMark R. Teasdale, E. Stanley Jones Professor of Evangelism, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary

“As the institutional Western Church declines and struggles to engage younger generations, Jay Moon’s Missional Imagination offers a compelling call to Spirit-led creativity in mission. Attentive to both the Spirit and the culture a missional imagination will help Christians discern God’s active presence in the world and discover effective, faithful, and innovative approaches to church and mission.” ꟷStephen Bailey, associate professor, mission and development studies, Asbury Theological Seminary

“Missional Imagination invites us to do far more than “think out of the box” when devising missional strategies; it reminds us that when we live on mission with the God of creation, there are no boxes. Reading Jay Moon’s book will stretch what he calls, your Missional Imagination Quotient, freeing you to dream up whimsical, life-giving expressions of God’s Kingdom.” ꟷLarry Stoess, missional church planter; author, Think Red: Imagine Your Community Living and Loving like Jesus

“In Missional Imagination: Preparation for Kingdom Innovation, Jay Moon names what many church leaders feel but struggle to articulate: the urgent need to see the world as it is, while envisioning what God might yet do through a church aligned with his mission. Drawing deeply from Scripture, global experience, and lived practice, Moon offers more than theory. He provides a hopeful, disciplined pathway for cultivating imagination that leads to faithful innovation and renewed participation in the missio Dei.” ꟷMark DeYmaz, founder & directional leader, Mosaic Church of Central Arkansas; author, The Coming Revolution in Church Economics and Disruption: Repurposing the Church to Redeem the Community

“In this exciting work, Jay Moon reframes mission studies via a focus on imagination as a central virtue for missionary theory and practice, weaving together readings of mission history both old and new, creative interpretations of missional biblical themes, and theoretical insights from a range of disciplines. Geared for teaching, Missional Imagination will also inspire missionary practitioners and prompt debates among theorists, and students, missionaries, and scholars alike will appreciate Moon’s honest recounting of personal missional experiences in Ghana and the US, his capacious range of practical examples and theoretical proposals, and his clear prose.” ꟷPaul Kollman, CSC, University of Notre Dame

“Few books address innovation in the Kingdom, and fewer show its relationship with missiology. In a masterful way, grounded in theology, guided by principles, and illustrated with stories from the field, Moon takes readers on a fantastic journey toward an imagination that provides the Church an understanding of the times and knowledge of what she ought to do.” ꟷJ. D. Payne, Thomas Welby Bozeman professor of Christian Ministry, Samford University

“With the imaginative creativity of an artist, and the attention to detail of a civil engineer, Jay Moon empowers our missiological imagination enabling the reader to discover how we can become kingdom innovators and join God’s mission in the world to reveal the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven. Drawing on the best of missiological thinking, combined with practical guidance, he illustrates a missional imagination in the lives of Matteo Ricci, William Carey, Samuel Ajayi Crowther, the Apostle Paul, and many contemporary examples. Moon teaches us how to cultivate a missional imagination and apply it to the life of the church and reveal the kingdom of heaven on earth. He applies this model to many areas of ministry, including evangelism, church planting, discipleship and even economics and technology with exciting and surprising results. The world of mission has been waiting for a book like this for a long time. We just didn’t realize it.” ꟷDarrell Whiteman, author, Crossing Cultures with the Gospel: Anthropological Wisdom for Effective Christian Witness

AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MISSIOLOGY SERIES vol. 69

Jay Moon invites readers to adopt and practice a “missional imagination” in their Christian ministry. Moon argues for this alternative to dominant social paradigms that have separated sacred and secular, private and public, transcendent and immanent. With decades of experience in foreign and domestic missions and congregational development, Moon offers specific practices in evangelism, discipleship, and mission that can spark and enliven our participation in the Reign of God today.