One of the better books to come out recently about “being a missional church” is Creating a Missional Culture by J.R. Woodward. The book has three salient parts: 1) a four-part description of a missional church culture; 2) a proposal for something Woodward calls “poly-centric leadership,” which seems to be a fancy  term for team leadership or communal leadership; 3) five functions of leadership, based on the five-fold ministry Paul describes in Ephesians 4.

Here’s a more lengthy review: http://jonathandodson.org/2013/10/book-review-creating-a-missional-culture-jr-woodward/

Overall, I think this is an excellent book and one that gives a pastor/student a very good introduction to what “missional” means and good ideas about how to become a missional church community. Woodward speaks from practical experience; he has a good cultural anthropology in his work; and he has a good theology of a diversified ministry, rooted in scripture and for the equipping of the church.  The only critique I have is that the book might read too much like a “model” or “how-to” for becoming a missional church. If a pastor wants to apply these insights, it’s going to be a lot more messy and organic than “five environments” and “five equippers” might lead one to think.

So, if you want a solid book on moving toward becoming a missional church, buy this one!