Breaking the Missional Code: When Churches Become Missionaries in Their Communities Book

Across North America, many pastors are excited to see churches growing as they achieve their mission to connect the message of the gospel with the community at large. Still others are equally frustrated, following the exact same model for outreach but with lesser results. Indeed, just because a "missional breakthrough" occurs in one place doesn't mean it will happen the same way elsewhere.

One size does not fit all, but there are cultural codes that must be broken for all churches to grow and remain effective in their specific mission context. Breaking the Missional Code provides expert insight on church culture and church vision casting, plus case studies of successful missional churches impacting their communities.

"We have to recognize there are cultural barriers (in addition to spiritual ones) that blind people from understanding the gospel," the authors write. "Our task is to find the right way to break through those cultural barriers without removing the spiritual and theological ones."

Ed Stetzer has planted churches in New York, Pennsylvania, and Georgia and transitioned declining churches in Indiana and Georgia. He has trained pastors and church planters on five continents, holds two masters degrees and two doctorates, and has written dozens of articles and books. Ed is a columnist for Outreach Magazine and Catalyst Monthly, serves on the advisory council of Sermon Central and Christianity Today's Building Church Leaders, and is frequently cited or interviewed in news outlets such as USAToday and CNN.

Ed is Visiting Professor of Research and Missiology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Visiting Research Professor at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, and has taught at fifteen other colleges and seminaries. He also serves on the Church Services Team at the International Mission Board.

Ed is currently interim teaching pastor of First Baptist Church of Hendersonville, TN.

Ed's primary role is President of LifeWay Research and LifeWay's Missiologist in Residence.

He has written the following books:

· Planting New Churches in a Postmodern Age(2003),

· Perimeters of Light: Biblical Boundaries for the Emerging Church (w/ Elmer Towns, 2004),

· Breaking the Missional Code (w/ David Putman, 2006),

· Planting Missional Churches(2006),

· Comeback Churches (with Mike Dodson, 2007),

· 11 Innovations in the Local Church (with Elmer Towns and Warren Bird, 2007), and

· Compelled by Love: The Most Excellent Way to Missional Living (with Philip Nation)

David Putman is executive pastor at Mountain Lake Church, which is located just outside Atlanta, Georgia.