Toward Global Missional Leadership: A Journey Through Paradigm Shift in the Mission of God

By Kirk J. Franklin

Regnum Books International, 2017

ISBN: 9781911372257

245 pages

USD $9.99

Kindle Edition

Reviewed by Alexander K. Zell, assistant professor, Crown College, St. Bonifacius, Minnesota, former international worker in Brazil with The Alliance.

Why are there less “missionaries” today? Maybe they are just called something else. Many denominations no longer use the term “missionary” which can be viewed as a superior on a mission to convert people who are ignorant. Also, some world governments do not allow people with the title “missionary” to obtain visas to enter their countries. However, Franklin also critiques a newer term of “international worker.” He demonstrates his linguistic prowess when he reports that “the word ‘international’ is semantically tied to a Western concept of territorial expansion” (Kindle location 219). I was not aware of this connotation as I understood the term to be simply a broad term about one’s location. This is just one example of how Franklin’s book is thought-provoking.

There are few books which address partnering with people from other cultures from the beginning stages to join them in missional endeavors which do not begin from the West. Franklin’s purpose in writing this book was “to bring increased awareness to the developing concept-to-reality of global missional leadership, and leadership-in-community” (Kindle locations 200–201). He does this by presenting “seven factors affecting and influencing the early stages of the paradigm shift” (Kindle location 225). One example of those factors is that “models are needed that appreciate and support courageous missional leadership, providing change that builds consensus in complex cross-cultural, multi-cultural and inter-cultural contexts” (Kindle locations 245–247). Although Franklin deduces these principles, he admits that “there is no formula or new methodology, there are no defined next steps showing those in leadership how to cope with increasingly interconnected global issues” (Kindle locations 292–293).

Franklin’s book is chocked full of pedagogical helps for professors to use in a classroom. He provided discussion questions at the end of each chapter for small groups to grapple with the issues or even for individual student reflections (Kindle locations 248–249). Those questions are open-ended, have adequate background information to get to the heart of the issue and are focused on important learning objectives. Franklin also added relevant topics in the form of short essays by his friends and colleagues. These add credibility, application of theory and personal experiences to the subject matter (Kindle locations 250–251). If you are looking for a book as a professor that introduces missional thought from everywhere to everywhere, then I would recommend this book. It introduces most of the major players and important issues and challenges students’ thinking. 

For Further Reading

Fagerli, B., K. Jorgensen, R. Olsen, K. Haug, and K. Tveitereid, eds. A Learning Missional Church: Reflections from Young Missiologists. Oxford, United Kingdom: Regnum Books International, 2012.

Morrison, Bradley T. Already Missional: Congregations as Community Partners. Resource Publications, 2016.