The church is on the verge of massive, category shifting, change.
Contemporary church growth, despite its many blessings, has failed to
stem the decline of Christianity in the West. We are now facing the fact
that more of the same will not produce different results. Our times
require a different kind of church---an apostolic, reproducing, movement
where every person is living a mission-sent life.
Many of the best and brightest leaders in the contemporary church are
now making the shift in the way they think, lead, and organize.
Motivated partly by a vision of the church as ancient as it is new, and
with a driving desire to see Biblical Christianity establish itself in
Western cultural contexts, we are indeed seeing a new form of the church
emerge in our day. Hirsch and Ferguson call this 'apostolic movement'
because it is more resonant with the form of church that we witness in
the pages of the New Testament and in the great missional movements of
history.


In this book, Hirsch and Ferguson share a rich array of theology,
theory, and best practices, along with inspiring stories about leaders
who have rightly diagnosed their churches' failure to embrace a biblical
model of mission and have moved toward a fuller expression of the
gospel. On the Verge will help church leaders discover how these
forerunners and their insights are launching a new apostolic
movement---and how any church can get involved.