Becoming a Missionary Church event

KLC’s emerging Missional Hub invites you to an event with Mike Goheen and Tim Sheridan in relation to their exciting new book Becoming a Missionary Church: Lesslie Newbigin and Contemporary Church Movements (Baker Academic 2022).

Lesslie Newbigin’s influence on the ecclesiological landscape in North America is unmistakable. His ideas have been developed and contextualized, but some insights have been lost.

In Becoming a Missionary Church, Goheen and Sheridan explore the depth and breadth of Newbigin’s thought, offering an analysis of three popular contemporary church movements: missional, emergent, and centre church. The authors provide an historical assessment and balanced critique of these contemporary church movements, especially in the light of Newbigin’s missional ecclesiology. They explain that some of his insights have been neglected and need to be retrieved for the present day. This book calls for the recovery of the missionary nature of the church and commends church practices applicable to any congregation. 

Alongside an introduction to the argument of the book by the authors, we will also have two respondents: Dr Cas Monaco and Dr C. Hugo Herfst, ObISB.

• Cas Monaco, PhD, is VP of Missiology and Gospel Engagement for FamilyLife (a ministry of Cru) and an Associate Fellow with KLC. She recently earned her PhD in North American Missiology and Applied Theology from SEBTS and currently resides in North Carolina with her husband Bob. Cas has served in various leadership roles in Cru for forty years both in the US, Europe, and the Former Soviet Union.
• C. Hugo Herfst, OblSB, worked as a pioneer missionary and supervisor of a Bible translation project among the Achí people in Guatemala before teaching at various seminaries. He received his PhD in Applied Theology from Universidad Panamericana in Guatemala. His thesis explores missional ecclesiology through the lens of the Kingdom of God and proposes an integrated approach based on a conversation with Biblical theology, missiology, ethics and liturgy. After a few years at Redeemer University in Canada where he designed an Urban and Intercultural Ministry program, Hugo recently returned to Guatemala with his wife Jackie. In addition to working with youth in the local parish in San Jerónimo, Baja Verapaz, Herfst is the Latin American Coordinator for the Henri Nouwen Society. He is also an Associate Fellow of KLC where he serves as the coordinator for the Spirituality Hub. Hugo and Jackie have five married children in four countries. 

Attendees will be able to purchase the book at a discount. RSVP on our Events page today: https://staging.kirbylaingcentre.co.uk/events/#missionary.