Alan Hirsch

Alan Hirsch was born on October 24, 1959 in South Africa and is the author of two influential books on missional theology, "The Shaping of Things to Come" (2003) with Michael Frost and "The Forgotten Ways" (2006). Currently based in North America, living in Southern California, he is a noted speaker on the missional church model.

He is the co-founder of Shapevine and the founding director of Forge Mission Training Network, a highly innovative action-learning system focused on developing missional leaders in western contexts. He defines a "missional church" as "one whose primary commitment is to the missionary calling of the people of God." ["The Forgotten Ways", Brazos Press, 2006, p 284]

The basic gist of "The Forgotten Ways" is to explore a 'a phenomenology of apostolic movements'. Hirsch suggests that every church, and in fact every authenitc believer, carries the potential for world transformation in them. He calls this force or potential "apostolic genius" and it lies dormant in most contemporary expressions of ecclesia. Apostolic Genius is thus the life force that pulses through Christian movements that achieve spontaneous expansion, or exponential growth curves. Apostolic Genius is comprised in turn of 6 elements, namely

1. Jesus is Lord: This 'element' comprises the theological as well as the spiritual center of all genuine expression of apostolic movement. This assumes the Hebraic worldview that is generated by monotheism, but reinterprets it Christologically. 2. Missional-Incarnational Impulse: This connotes the twin impulses of remarkable missional movements, namely the dynamic outward thrust and the related deepening impulse which together seed and embed the gospel into different cultures and people groups. 3. Apostolic Environment: This looks at another element of authentic mDNA—apostolic influence and the fertile environment that this creates in initiating and maintaining the phenomenal movements of God. This will relate to the type of leadership and ministry required to sustain metabolic growth and impact.4. Disciple-Making: Essentially this involves the irreplaceable, and lifelong, task of becoming like Jesus by embodying his message. This is perhaps where many of our efforts fail. Disciple-making is an irreplaceable core task of the church and needs to be structured into every church’s basic formula. 5. Organic Systems: This is the next element in mDNA, the idea of appropriate structures for metabolic growth. Phenomenal Jesus movements grow precisely because they do not have centralized institutions to block growth through control. Here we will find that remarkable Jesus movements have the feel of a movement, structure as a network, and spread like viruses. 6. Communitas not Community: The most vigorous forms of community are those that come together in the context of a shared ordeal or, communities who define themselves as a group with a mission that lies beyond themselves—thus initiating a risky journey. Over-concern with safety and security, combined with comfort and convenience, have lulled us out of our true calling and purpose.

Hirsch has been directly involved in church planting and mission among various subcultures in inner city Melbourne, Australia.

Notes

Works

* "The Shaping of Things to Come: Innovation and Mission for the 21st Century Church", coauthored with Michael Frost, Peabody: Henrickson Publishers, 2003.
* "The Forgotten Ways: Reactivating the Missional Church", Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2006.

Links

* [http://www.theforgottenways.org The Forgotten Ways]
* [http://www.forge.org.au Forge]
* [http://www.shapevine.com Shapevine]