I’ve been watching the missional movement now ever since Alan Hirsch landed on our shores and spent a couple of days at my place. And I’ve watched the evolution of the movement during that time. The one thing that has concerned me is the whether or not the movement is fact or a mere hope of better things to come for the Western Church. Also, understanding the movement has been difficult because everyone seems to want to hitch onto the missional bandwagon to the point that the word “missional” can mean almost anything.

Michael Frost came along last year (2011) with his book, The Road to Missional, and provided the first hint of how to apply the missional concept to small groups.

But finally, Reggie McNeal has lifted the cloud over the missional concept by doing two things: One, he defines the movement in such practical terms that there can never be any doubt what the movement is about; Second, he shares examples of how the concept is being worked out in actual missional communities and by doing so he has proven to me that the movement is fact and not mere hope. What I specifically like about the book are the practical examples of how institutional churches can incorporate or transition to a totally missional church. This book is more fact than theory.

Missional Communities is one of the top three books on the missional movement and should be read by every pastor no matter whether pastoring an attractional church, missional community, or hybred.