The largest missional challenge facing the church of Christ in the West is to equip every member to engage in missionary endeavor in third places. Third places are those social zones in society like coffee shops, gyms, shopping malls, pubs, etc., that everyone and anyone can meet in as commonly owned spaces. The authors argue that for too long the church has not equipped and trained its members to engage in mission in the public square. The mobilization of every member to become the hands and feet of the missional sacramental body of Christ to carry the message of God's generous love to not-yet-Christians is vital, if we want to witness the kingdom reign of God extend into their lives. Places are important to the sovereign Lord of mission and this book challenges the churches of Christ to become what they properly need to be, equipping agencies for every member mission and ministry.
Andrew Hardy has been involved in planting missional churches and developing missional leaders for about thirty years. He has had extensive experience in leading churches, as well as having been the chair of the National Leadership Team of a UK-based Christian denomination. He has spent the last fourteen years in designing and offering degree-level missional leadership programs for a UK-based mission college. He currently works as Director of Research for ForMission College. He has also been extensively involved in mentoring missional church leaders and doing consultancy work in the field of missional education and missional church change management processes.