A VISION FOR MISSION
IN THE 21ST CENTURY
Christianity is declining in the West. Churches in the United States, Canada, Australia, and Europe are closing their doors at an accelerating rate.
How will the church respond?
In this short but sweeping manifesto, New York Times bestselling author and pastor Timothy Keller argues that this decline should prompt us to rethink the church's mission from the ground up. Using the early church as our guide, churches and individual Christians must examine ourselves, our culture, and Scripture to work toward a new missionary encounter with Western culture that will make the gospel both attractive and credible to a new generation.
A Counterculture for
a Post-Christian World
To have a missionary encounter with Western culture, we must:
Articulate a Christian high theory and apologetic
Ignite a truly post-Christian evangelism dynamic
Teach a counter-catechesis in a digital age
Embody faithful presence in the public sphere
Implement a category-defying social agenda
Display grace to the point
The vision to reach the West again is larger than any church, denomination, or even city. It is a call to exemplify the world-changing, category-defying pattern of the early church and work together to bring it to a new age. It is a call to show the world that the gospel truly changes everything.
Purchasing How to Reach the West Again on this site is the best way to support City to City, but it can also be purchased at other retailers wherever books are sold.
Clip: What Happens When Going to Church is Unthinkable?
We asked our global leaders to respond.
PRAISE FOR “HOW TO REACH THE WEST AGAIN”
“How to Reach the West Again is Lesslie Newbigin’s Foolishness to the Greeks for our time. For any believer, church, or mission organization that is serious about effective mission engagement in a post-Christian, progressive, and pluralistic culture, this is a must-read.”
—Ed Stetzer, Billy Graham Distinguished Chair of Church, Mission, and Evangelism at Wheaton College
“How to Reach the West Again is vintage Tim Keller. In one small book comes a vision for the gospel-centered church that both engages the secular realities and makes space for a missional encounter with the living Christ. A remarkable small book for the giant task that lies before us all.”
—David Fitch, Northern Seminary, Chicago
“Keller gives us a cogent vision of why Christians must adopt a missional stance in our culture. The church is in learning mode once again—and Keller is a great teacher.”
—Alan Hirsch, award-winning author and thought leader
“Keller continues the urgent task of teaching us what it means to sing the Lord’s song in a strange land. He beckons us to the task of being missionaries to late Western modernity and to accurately understand the challenges that Christians face in this project.”
—Richard Lints, Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary
“This book equips us with both ancient wisdom and contemporary insight. As Dr. Keller so ably demonstrates, the gospel contains all that we need to challenge contemporary ideologies and transform them with hope.”
—J.D. Greear, Pastor, The Summit Church, and President, Southern Baptist Convention