The Agile Church: A Review

Although the author rarely uses the term, The Agile Church: Spirit-Led Innovation in an Uncertain Age is a useful resource for assisting a mainline church to become more missional. The book incorporates the key ideas of missional theology but also provides insights about what a congregation must do to provide innovative and effective ministry in a complex, fluid culture.

The writer is Dwight J. Zscheile, an Episcopal priest who teaches at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota. He draws on his personal experiences in a local congregation as well as concepts such as trinitarian theology, adaptive leadership, design thinking, and organizational development to provide a path for the local church to respond to the leadership of the Spirit in the 21st century.

A key point is his description of the apostles’ ministry in the book of Acts: “The apostles don’t typically understand what kind of witness God wants to bring forth until they are in the midst of it; it is much more improvisational.” In other words, they were making it up as they went along. This perceptive comment reminds us that we can only do effective ministry when we listen to the Spirit of God and join the Spirit on a sometimes chaotic journey.

As a result, rather than prescribing a rigid framework for becoming an agile church, Zscheile describes an organic process:

Innovation grows out of close listening relationships with neighbors.
Innovation involves iterative small experiments.
Innovation requires a high tolerance for failure.
Innovation is about improvisation.

The is not a primary source on the missional church but a text designed for congregations to read and study together and then enter into a process of spiritual discernment. The author affirms that every congregation has the potential to become missional if they are receptive and ready to do the hard work involved.

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