Cray, Graham. 2024. On Mission with Jesus: Changing the Default Setting of the Church

What is the context of this book?Twenty years ago, the Church of England published a report entitled Mission-shaped Church: Church Planting and Fresh Expressions of Church in a Changing Context (London: Church House Publishing, 2004).Unlike many other church reports, this document received significant response.By 2024 some 21,000 copies had been sold, and the reception of the missional theological theses continues to this day -not only in England, but also in mainland Europe.In essence, the report was about understanding and appropriating the missional mandate of the church anew in the face of major social changes (and thus the decline in church life), admittedly not primarily in order to stabilize the church.No "church-shaped mission" was propagated, in which one would immediately sense the church's own interests.Rather, the church is depicted as an instrument of divine mission, sent to the people so that as many people as possible can share in the gospel.