The Permanent Revolution is an original work of theological re-imagination and re-construction that draws from biblical studies, theology, organizational theory, leadership studies, and key social sciences. The book elaborates on the apostolic role rooted in the five-fold ministry from Ephesians 4 (apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers), and its significance for the missional movement.

Throughout the book, the authors propose a revolutionary missional ecclesiology that is shaped by the New Testament account of apostolic imagination, ministry, and strategy. The aim is to reclaim the ministry by which the church is to remain centered on its calling to be the instrument of God's mission, and that everything it is and does ought to relate to and demonstrate that calling. To (re)capture the practice of apostolicity, the authors explore how the apostolic ministry facilitates ongoing renewal in the life of the church and focus on leadership in relation to missional innovation and entrepreneurship. They examine the nature of organization as reframed through the lens of apostolic ministry and explore how apostolic leadership provides new and missionally creative ways forward.

The Permanent Revolution is filled with challenging concepts and is replete with innovative ideas. Rather than providing a prescriptive model for leadership, it offers spiritual prods and suggestive thought experiments that are designed to stimulate imagination as well as action. If faithful leaders are to take up the work of ministry as laid out in the New Testament, this book offers a significant pathway to help equip them to better fulfill their mission.

About the Jossey-Bass Leadership Network Series xiii

Foreword by Darrell L. Guder  xv

Preface: A Briefing for the Journey xix

Introduction: The Crisis of Infertility and What to Do About It xxvii

Part One Ephesians 4:1-16: Frameworks for Ministry

1 Activating the Theo-Genetic Codes of APEST Ministry 3

2 An Elegant Solution: Distributed Intelligence in the Body of Christ 27

3 Better Together: The Synergy of Difference 55

4 Missional Ministry for a Missional Church: A Church Where Everyone Gets to Play 73

Part Two Apostolic Ministry

5 Custody of the Codes: Mapping the Contours of Apostolic Ministry 97

6 Come Back, Peter; Come Back, Paul: The Relation Between Nuance and Impact 119

7 Living from the Center: Apostolic Ministry and the Renewal of Christianity 137

Part Three Apostolic Leadership

8 The Enterprise of Movement and the Movement of Enterprise 159

9 The Spirit of Innovation: Creating New Futures for the Jesus Movement 183

Part Four Apostolic Organization

10 Movements R Us: Thinking and Acting Like a Movement 205

11 Apostolic Architecture: The Anatomy of Missional Organization 227

Conclusion 249

Afterword by Mike Breen 251

Appendix: A Question of Legitimacy: The Restoration of the Apostolic Ministry 255

Notes 273

The Authors 307

Index 309

The Authors<><>

Alan Hirsch is the founding director of Forge Mission Training Network. Currently he co-leads Future Travelers, an innovative learning program helping megachurches become missional movements. Known for his innovative approach to mission, Alan is considered to be a thought-leader and key mission strategist for churches across the Western world. Hirsch is the author of The Forgotten Ways; co-author of The Shaping of Things to Come, ReJesus, and The Faith of Leap (with Michael Frost); Untamed (with Debra Hirsch); Right Here, Right Now (with Lance Ford) and On the Verge (with Dave Ferguson). Alan is associate professor for the M.A in Apostolic Movements at Wheaton College (Illinois), as well as adjunct professor at Fuller Seminary; and George Fox Seminary. He is series editor for Baker Books' Shapevine series and an associate editor of Leadership Journal.

Tim Catchim is a grassroots church planter experimenting with innovative forms of mission. While working as a church planting assistant and evangelist with the Montgomery (Alabama) Inner City Ministry, he started a mentor program for at-risk youth that gained state recognition. He also started an intensive summer internship that trained students to do missional-incarnational forms of ministry among the urban poor. He is currently planting a network of missional communities in Clarksville, Tennessee. He also serves as the founder and director of Generate, a coaching and consultancy agency for apostolic ventures.