Product Description

Alan Hirsch is convinced that the inherited formulas for growing the Body of Christ do not work anymore. And rather than relying on slightly revised solutions from the past, he sees a vision of the future growth of the church coming about by harnessing the power of the early church, which grew from as few as 25,000 adherents in AD 100 to up to 20 million in AD 310. Such incredible growth is also being experienced today in the church in China and other parts of the world. How do they do it? The Forgotten Ways explores the concept of Apostolic Genius as a way to understand what caused the church to expand at various times in history, interpreting it for use in our own time and place. From the theological underpinnings to the practical application, Hirsch takes the reader through this dynamic mixture of passion, prayer, and incarnational practice to rediscover the dormant potential of the modern church in the West.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9676 in Books
• Published on: 2007-01-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

From the Back Cover
"Hirsch has discovered the formula that unlocks the secrets of the ecclesial universe like Einstein's simple . . . formula (E=mc²) unlocked the secrets of the physical universe. There are some books good enough to read to the end. There are only a few books good enough to read to the end of time. The Forgotten Ways is one of them."--Leonard Sweet (from the foreword)

"With The Forgotten Ways, Alan Hirsch has brought us closer to the reality of seeing a true apostolic church-planting movement in the West. This is a seminal work that will change our thinking, our vocabulary, and hopefully our way of being the church in this new century. I have already read the book twice and will probably devour it again."--Neil Cole, author of Organic Church: Growing Faith Where Life Happens and Cultivating a Life for God

"A full-blooded and comprehensive call for the complete reorientation of the church around mission. Nothing less than the rediscovery of a revolutionary missional ecclesiology will do for Alan Hirsch. A master work."--Michael Frost, coauthor of The Shaping of Things to Come and author of Exiles

"Every chapter has the kind of rich insight and inspiring challenge that we have come to expect from Alan Hirsch."--Brian McLaren, author of A New Kind of Christian, A Generous Orthodoxy, and The Story We Find Ourselves In

"A fascinating and unique examination of two of the greatest apostolic movements in history (the early church and China) and their potential impact on the Western church at the dawn of the twenty-first century. The book may well become a primary reference book for the emerging missional church."--Bill Easum, Easum, Bandy & Associates

"It is refreshing to read a book relating to the missional church that provides theological depth coupled with creative thinking. The Forgotten Ways helps to rescue the concept of church from the clutches of Christendom, setting it free to become a dynamic movement in place of a dying institution."--Eddie Gibbs, coauthor of Emerging Churches: Creating Christian Community in Postmodern Cultures and author of LeadershipNext: Changing Leaders in a Changing Culture

"The Forgotten Ways is a compelling challenge to awaken the church's innate entrepreneurial instinct and propel it into the fringes of our emerging culture. I recommend it highly, especially to those endowed with the boldness to align the church's operating system with the missional heart of God. markers in the field of mission--this is one such book. It is essential reading for all those who are grappling with the key issue of what the church can and must become."--Martin Robinson, author of Planting Mission-Shaped Churches Today

"This is a provocative and insightful contribution to the discovery of effective missional engagement with post-Christendom Western culture. Grounded in Alan's own experience as a missionary pastor and illustrated by examples from various places, The Forgotten Ways challenges and equips both inherited and emerging churches to recover the dynamic of a missional movement."--Stuart Murray Williams, author of Church after Christendom and Changing Mission: Learning from the Newer Churches

"It is AD 30 all over again. While many church leaders are trying desperately to retrofit institutional expressions of Christianity in hopes of achieving better results, Al Hirsch helps us understand the necessity for us to reengage the movement in its primal missional form."--Reggie McNeal, author of Practicing Greatness: 7 Disciplines of Extraordinary Spiritual Leaders and The Present Future: Six Tough Questions for the Church

"With a scholar's attention to detail and the critical lessons of history, as well as a first-century missionary's creative passion, Alan Hirsch recalls us to a faith life that is flexible, fast-moving, and unbound. He rescues the term 'missional' from the mass grave of church buzzwords in the process."--Greg Paul, author of God in the Alley: Being and Seeing Jesus in a Broken World; founder and director of Sanctuary Ministries in Toronto

"Alan has been shattering paradigms and challenging ideas for years. Now, in The Forgotten Ways, Alan describes missional movements and challenges us to reorder the church around its mission, all filtered through his deeply personal experience. You will be provoked, challenged, and motivated to embrace the missional DNA and incarnational impulse of the early church in your own life and ministry."--Ed Stetzer, author of Breaking the Missional Code and Planting Missional Churches

"The age of Christendom is over, but a renewed age of true Christian movements and discipleship is dawning. Churches and leaders who don't pay attention to the analysis presented here are liable to be deceived into a Christianity that is either locked in the passing Christendom mode or, conversely, lost in mere emerging fads. The biblically based and Jesus-centered focus of this book makes it stand out above dozens of other books on similar themes. It must be read and pondered. Alan Hirsch's analysis is on target historically, biblically, and theologically."--Howard A. Snyder, author of Radical Renewal, The Community of the King, and Models of the Kingdom

About the Author
Alan Hirsch is the founding director of Forge Mission Training Network. His experience includes mission and church planting to the marginalized as well as leading at the denominational level. He is coauthor of The Shaping of Things to Come: Innovation and Mission for the 21st-Century Church.

Customer Reviews

A bit too early
Hirsch's work does a good job of helping us rediscover mission and how the role/gift/whatever of the apostle is something that we have placed off into the corner of the church should be renewed. I appreciated his passion for how the apostle as a missional and theological source is needed, but I felt that his book lacked examples of how this is really being worked out. I think his thoughts are grand, but I wonder if the book is out a bit too early and if we'd be better serve by a book that works out some of the implications of his thoughts.

A great introduction to missional thinking and practice!
Hirsch introduces us to mDNA, the missional DNA of a church or ministry body. This is an extremely useful book to help an existing congregation revision itself and reform itself into a missional community.

The Forgotten Ways
Investigates Missional DNA (mDNA) and Apostolic Genius. Excellent insight into how the early Church flourished in spite of pressures to kill the Jesus Movement. This is not light reading ... you STUDY this one! Highly recommend!