The Sending Church Defined Bibliography

This resource is the full bibliography from The Sending Church Defined, a curated library of excellent books in missiology, ecclesiology, theology, and formation. Church leaders can use it as a guide to deepen their own study, equip their teams, and point missions leaders toward trusted resources that will help them grow in sending well.

Missiology

• Andreas J. Kostenberger | Salvation to the Ends of the Earth: A Biblical Theology of Mission 

• Robert L. Plummer & John Mark Terry | Paul’s Missionary Methods: In His Time and Ours 

• Christopher J. H. Wright | The Mission of God: Unlocking the Bible’s Grand Narrative 

• George W. Peters | A Biblical Theology of Missions 

• Roland Allen | Missionary Methods: St. Paul’s or Ours? 

• Bruce Riley Ashford | Theology and Practice of Mission: God, the Church, and the Nations 

• Tom Telford | Today’s All-Star Missions Churches: Strategies to Help Your Church Get into the Game 

• Eric E. Wright | A Practical Theology of Missions: Dispelling the Mystery, Recovering the Passion 

• Eckhard J. Schnabel | Paul the Missionary: Realities, Strategies, and Methods 

• R. Stanton Norman | The Mission of Today’s Church: Baptist Leaders Look at Modern Faith Issues

• David J. Bosch |   Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission 

• Nik Ripken | The Insanity of God: A True Story of Faith Resurrected 

• Mike Barnett | Discovering the Mission of God: Best Missional Practices for the 21st Century

• Ruth A. Tucker | From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya: A Biographical History of Christian Missions 

• Larry McCrary, Caleb Crider, Wade Stephens, & Rodney Calfee | Tradecraft: For the Church on Mission 

• Jason C. Dukes | Live Sent: You Are a Letter 

• David Horner | When Missions Shapes the Mission: You and Your Church Can Reach the World 

• Christopher J. H. Wright | The Mission of God’s People: A Biblical Theology of the Church’s Mission 

• John Piper | Let the Nations Be Glad: The Supremacy of God in Missions 

• Ed Stetzer | Planting Missional Churches: Planting a Church That’s Biblically Sound and Reaching People in Culture 

• Jason Mandryk | Operation World: The Definitive Prayer Guide to Every Nation 

• George Miley | Loving the Church, Blessing the Nations: Pursuing the Role of Local Churches in Global Mission 

• Alan Roxburgh & Fred Romanuk | The Missional Leader: Equipping Your Church to Reach a Changing World 

• Paul G. Hiebert | Anthropological Insights for Missionaries 

• J. D. Payne | Pressure Points: Twelve Global Issues Shaping the Face of the Church 

• Michael Pocock, Gailyn van Rheenen, & Douglas McConnell | The Changing Face of Missions: Engaging Contemporary Issues and Trends 

• Miriam Adeney | Kingdom without Borders: The Untold Story of Global Christianity 

• Paul Borthwick | Western Christians in Global Mission: What’s the Role of the North American Church? 

• A. Scott Moreau | Contextualization in World Missions: Mapping and Assessing Evangelical Models 

• Neal Pirolo | Serving as Senders Today 

• Paul A. Beals | A People for His Name: A Church-Based Missions Strategy 

• Thomas Hale | On Being a Missionary 

• David Harley | Preparing to Serve: Training for Cross-Cultural Mission

• David J. Hesselgrave | Paradigms in Conflict: 10 Key Questions in Christian Missions Today 

• Roland Allen | Missionary Principles and Practice 

• Greg Carter | Skills, Knowledge, Character: A Church-Based Approach to Missionary Candidate Preparation 

• John Gibson Paton | The Story of John G. Paton Or Thirty Years Among South Sea Cannibals 

• Craig Ott & Gene Wilson | Global Church Planting: Biblical Principles and Best Practices for Multiplication 

• Clifford G. Howell | The Advanced Guard of Missions 

• Roland Allen | The Spontaneous Expansion of the Church, and the Causes Which Hinder It 

• Craig Ott, Stephen J. Strauss, & Timothy C. Tennent | Encountering Theology of Missions: Biblical Foundations, Historical Developments, and Contemporary Issues

• Patrick Johnstone | The Future of the Global Church: History, Trends, and Possibilities 

• Ralph D. Winter | Perspectives on the World Christian Movement: A Reader 

• Duane Elmer | Cross-Cultural Servanthood: Serving the World in Christlike Humility 

• Mary T. Lederleitner | Cross-Cultural Partnership: Navigating the Complexities of Money and Mission 

• David A. Livermore | Cultural Intelligence: Improving Your CQ to Engage Our Multicultural World 

• Jerry Rankin | To the Ends of the Earth: Churches Fulfilling the Great Commission 

• Kelly O’Donnell | Missionary Care: Counting the Cost for World Evangelization 

• Rob Hay, Valerie Lim, Detlef Blocher, Jaap Ketelaar, & Sarah Hay | Worth Keeping: Global Perspectives on Best Practice in Missionary Retention 

• Marion Knell | Burn-Up or Splash Down: Surviving the Culture Shock of Re-Entry 

• David C. Pollock and Ruth E. Van Reken | Third Culture Kids: Growing Up Among Worlds 

• William Taylor | Too Valuable to Lose: Exploring the Causes and Cures of Missionary Attrition 

• Neal Pirolo | The Reentry Team: Caring for Your Returning Missionaries

• Sue Eenigenburg & Robynn Bliss | Expectations and Burnout: Women Surviving the Great Commission 

• Harvie M. Conn & Manuel Ortiz | Urban Ministry: The Kingdom, the City, and the People of God 

• Timothy J. Keller | Ministries of Mercy: The Call of the Jericho Road 

• Steve Corbett & Brian Fikkert | When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor . . . and Yourself 

Ecclesiology

• Mark Dever | Nine Marks of a Healthy Church 

• Gregg R. Allison | Sojourners and Strangers: The Doctrine of the Church 

• Kevin DeYoung & Greg Gilbert | What Is the Mission of the Church? Making Sense of Shalom, Social Justice, and the Great Commission 

• Michael S. Horton | People and Place: A Covenant Ecclesiology 

• Dietrich Bonhoeffer | Life Together 

• Tim Chester & Steve Timmis | Everyday Church: Gospel Communities on Mission 

• Jonathan Leeman | Church Membership: How the World Knows Who Represents Jesus 

• Robert K. Cheong | God Redeeming His Bride: A Handbook for Church Discipline 

• Brad House | Community: Taking Your Small Group off Life Support 

• Jim Belcher | Deep Church: A Third Way Beyond Emerging and Traditional 

• Tim Chester & Steve Timmis | Total Church: A Radical Reshaping around Gospel and Community 

• Mike Cosper | Rhythms of Grace: How the Church’s Worship Tells the Story of the Gospel 

• Pat Hood | The Sending Church: The Church Must Leave the Building 

• Donald S. Whitney | Spiritual Disciplines within the Church: Participating Fully in the Body of Christ 

• Timothy Keller | Center Church: Doing Balanced, Gospel-Centered Ministry in Your City 

• Timothy Paul Jones | Family Ministry Field Guide: How Your Church Can Equip Parents to Make Disciples

• Randy Stinson & Timothy Paul Jones | Trained in the Fear of God: Family Ministry in Theological, Historical, and Practical Perspective 

• Brian Haynes | Shift: What It Takes to Finally Reach Families Today 

• David Horner | Firmly Rooted, Faithfully Growing: Principle-Based Ministry in the Church 

• Mark A. Noll | Turning Points: Decisive Moments in the History of Christianity 

• Randy Pope | The Intentional Church: Moving from Church Success to Community Transformation 

Theology

• T. Desmond Alexander | From Eden to New Jerusalem: An Introduction to Biblical Theology 

• John Frame | Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Christian Belief 

• Bruce A. Ware | Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: Relationships, Roles, and Relevance 

• Ross Hastings | Missional God, Missional Church: Hope for Re-Evangelizing the West 

• John Calvin | Acts 

• R. Kent Hughes | Acts: The Church Afire 

• James Montgomery Boice | Acts: An Expositional Commentary 

• Jonathan Edwards | A Treatise on Religious Affections 

• Greg Gilbert | What Is the Gospel? 

• John Stott | Basic Christianity 

• Philip Graham Ryken | Luke 

• E. Randolph Richards & Brandon J. O’Brien | Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes: Removing Cultural Blindness to Better Understand the Bible 

• Craig L. Blomberg | From Pentecost to Patmos: An Introduction to Acts through Revelation 

• John R. W. Stott | The Epistles of John

Formation 

• Dietrich Bonhoeffer | The Cost of Discipleship 

• David Platt | Follow Me: A Call to Die, a Call to Live 

• Dietrich Bonhoeffer | Meditations on the Cross 

• John Piper | Andrew Fuller: I Will Go Down If You Will Hold the Rope! 

• C. S. Lewis | The Weight of Glory 

• E. M. Bounds | The Complete Works of E. M. Bounds 

• Dallas Willard | Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God 

• D. A. Carson | A Call to Spiritual Reformation: Priorities from Paul and His Prayers 

• Scott Thomas & Tom Wood | Gospel Coach: Shepherding Leaders to Glorify God 

• Steve Ogne & Tim Roehl | Transformissional Coaching: Empowering Leaders in a Changing Ministry World 

• Matt Perman | What’s Best Next: How the Gospel Transforms the Way You Get Things Done 

• Dan Kimball | They Like Jesus but Not the Church: Insights from Emerging Generations 

• Bill Hybels | Too Busy Not to Pray 

• David Platt | Radical: Taking Back Your Faith From the American Dream

Next Steps

The journey toward sending well happens one step at a time. Here are four ways you can continue growing in your understanding and application of healthy missiology:

1. A list like this can be overwhelming. First, check off any of the books you see that you’ve already read. If you already have some of them in your library but haven’t read them, pull them off the shelf and set them in a reading stack. Finally, look for one book whose title really resonated with you and order it right now.

2. If you haven’t read The Sending Church Defined, start there. Pay attention to footnotes as you go and highlight books that you’d like to explore further.

3. Download the Upstream resource “The Sending Church Defined Study Guide” to utilize in a personal study or group discussion through The Sending Church Defined.