• Directories
    • Business Directory
    • Church Directory
    • Organization Directory
  • Advertise
  • Donate
  • Help
  • Log In
MENUMENU
  • Learning
        • Leader’s Edge
          • Author Interviews
          • Book Summaries
        • Book Reviews
          • Book Look
          • EMQ Book Reviews
        • Publications
          • Anthology
          • Evangelical Missions Quarterly (EMQ)
          • Missiographics
        • Podcasts
          • The Mission MattersNew
          • Missio Nexus
          • People First HR
          • Members Only Feed
        • Blogs
          • Global Issues Updates
          • Member Highlights
          • Mission Advisors
        • Topics
          • COVID-19 ResourcesNew
          • Diaspora Missions
          • Mobilization
          • Muslim Missions
          • Support Raising
        • Media Library
          • Conferences
          • Global Issue Updates
          • On Mission
          • Thought Leader Briefings
          • Webinars
          • Workshop
          • View All
  • Programs
    • Accreditation
    • Alliance for Benefits
    • Bible CertificateNew
    • Church Missions Coaching
    • Cohorts
    • Cybersecurity
    • ImproveNew
    • Mission Jobs
    • Publish
    • RightNow Media
    • The Mission App
    • Women’s Development
  • Events
          • Calendar
          • In-Person Events
          • Virtual Events
          • Event Recordings
          • Awards
        • Premier Events
          • Mission Leaders Conference
          • On Mission
        • Upcoming Events

          • Essentials for Fundraising and Development for Missions Agencies
            Thu Apr 22 2021, 01:00pm EDT
          • Webinar: The Blessed Alliance—Men and Women Serving God Together
            Thu Apr 22 2021, 02:00pm EDT
          • Innovation Labs - Session 4
            Tue Apr 27 2021, 10:00am EDT
        • View All Events
  • Research
          • Missiographics
          • Mission Handbook
          • Research Reports
        • Popular Research
          • Compensation Reports
          • COVID-19 ResourcesNew
          • Field Attrition Report
          • View All Reports
        • Contribute
          • Current Research Projects
          • Submit Data for Mission Handbook
          • Volunteer
  • About Us
        • Who We Are
          • Our Contribution
          • Meet the Team
          • Board Members
          • History (1917–present)
        • Our Beliefs
          • Statement of Faith
          • Community Standards
        • Awards
        • Partner with Us
          • Advertise
          • Donate
          • Sponsorships
          • Volunteer
        • Help
          • Contact Us
          • Advertising Specs
          • Branding Guidelines
  • Join
        • Learn
        • Learn what you cannot learn anywhere else.

        • Meet
        • Meet people you otherwise won’t meet.

        • Engage
        • Engage in a community like none other.

          • Benefits
          • Benefits for Churches
          • Pricing

Sponsored Content

Upcoming Events

  • Essentials for Fundraising and Development for Missions Agencies
    Thu Apr 22 2021, 01:00pm EDT
  • Webinar: The Blessed Alliance—Men and Women Serving God Together
    Thu Apr 22 2021, 02:00pm EDT
  • Innovation Labs - Session 4
    Tue Apr 27 2021, 10:00am EDT
  • Renew: CEO & Spouse Retreat
    Tue May 4 2021, 03:00pm EDT
  • Church Mission Leaders Peer 2 Peer: Diaspora Ministry and the Local Church
    Wed May 12 2021, 01:00pm EDT

View all events »

Topics

author interview Canada CEO Church Church Missions Church Mission Team Church Planting Conference Proceedings COVID-19 Cross Cultural Skills Diaspora Discipleship Evangelism Focus Future Globally Engaged Churches Innovation Islam Justin Long Leadership Management Missiology Missionaries Mission Finance and Administration MLC2019 MLC2020 MLC2021 Mobilization muslim Muslim Diaspora Networks Partnership Personal Productivity Podcast Presenter Research Short-Term Missions Spirituality support raising Training Trends Unengaged Unreached Weekly Roundup Women

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

The Future of the Global Church

Posted on October 1, 2012 by October 1, 2012

William Carey Library, 1605 E. Elizabeth St., Pasadena, CA 91104, 256 pages, 2011, $39.99.

—Reviewed by Justin D. Long, missionary researcher, Mission to Unreached Peoples.

In a world awash in information, we are always looking for improved ways for getting a handle on the current state of Christianity and the missionary task. Resources like the World Christian Encyclopedia and Operation World give us an in-depth look at this on a country-by-country basis. In The Future of the Global Church, Patrick Johnstone has given us a concise, yet popularly-accessible summary of where we’ve been, are now, and might be going.

Johnstone is former editor of Operation World. In the course of that decades-long task, he amassed both enormous amounts of information and a global perspective. He also gained the skill of succinctly boiling huge databases down to the important points. The Future of the Global Church is arranged around nine major themes, each of which is broken down into a handful of topics. For example, “Demography” discusses such topics as population, migration, urbanization, disease, climate change, economies, energy, politics and freedom, and water resources. Each of these gets a two-page spread replete with wonderful maps and charts, as well as a summary of the topic.

Thus, we are given a fantastic introduction to the major challenges, issues, and opportunities in Christian mission today. Using this in tandem with Operation World gives readers the global context for local issues. Patrick’s historical section also offers readers a general grasp of two thousand years of Christian history that have led us to where we are now.

Personally, I greatly benefitted from section number seven on the unevangelized. Here, instead of introducing regions and countries, Johnstone discusses People Group Affinity Blocks and Clusters. This is how many missiologists and missionary strategists are now looking at the world; many organizations are in fact restructuring themselves along these lines. It’s especially important as diasporas are moving worldwide.

Johnstone has written what is likely his magnum opus, a book that deserves careful perusal and a place on the bookshelves of any mission-passionate Christian. I hope that a careful reading especially of the people clusters of the world will unlock the visionary calling and obedience of a new generation of missionaries who will bring the blessing to the ends of the earth.

Check this title:
Barrett, David, George Kurian, and Todd Johnson. 2001. World Christian Encyclopedia. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

….

EMQ, Vol. 48, No. 4, pp. 503-505. Copyright  © 2012 Evangelism and Missions Information Service (EMIS).  All rights reserved. Not to be reproduced or copied in any form without written permission from EMIS.

 

GoToOlder PostNewer PostAll PostsEMQVolume 48 - Issue 4

Comments are closed.

Subscribe to Our Mailing List

Keep up to date with our community.

Menu

  • Home
  • Directories
  • Advertise
  • Donate
  • Contact Us

Join

  • Join
  • Benefits
  • Learn
  • Meet
  • Engage

Help

  • Contact Us
  • Terms
  • Cookies Policy

About Us

  • Who We Are
  • Statement of Faith
  • Awards
  • Resources
Missio Nexus Logo

© Missio Nexus. All rights reserved.


PO Box 398
Wheaton, IL 60187-0398

Phone: 770.457.6677
678.392.4577

Annual Sponsors

ECFA Logo Brotherhood Mutual Logo

Membership website powered by MembershipWorks