The other missional conversation: Making way for the neo-Anabaptist contribution to the missional movement in North America

Abstract

This article explores the strengths and weaknesses of two of the dominant streams of missional practice in North American church: the GOCN/TMN group associated with Craig Van Gelder and Alan Roxburgh, and what I call the “missional evangelicals” led by Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch. I then propose a third stream in the neo-Anabaptists who comprise people like Stuart Murray, Shane Claiborne, and a host of other authors/leaders influenced by Hauerwas and Yoder and others. This article argues that this third stream is a necessary part of the conversation that fills in the gaps of Roxburgh/Van Gelder and Frost/Hirsch, and that the three together are necessary for the fleshing out of what mission looks like for the Protestant churches in North America.