Many of you have prayed for me as I wrote a book telling my own story and explaining what I mean by missional-ecumenism. That book was completed last November, at least the draft was finished. I then gave it to Zondervan, my publisher. After several delays the book was put into the production schedule and will be released in February of 2010 if all stays on track.

When a book is accepted by most publishing companies a process begins that includes choosing a title and subtitle, creating art work for front and back of the book, and doing macro-edits and then micro-edits. The process takes several months. Then the marketing and sales people also get involved. I will personally be very proactive in the work on this book, even meeting with the staff at Zondervan on Monday, April 6, for a private time of dialogue and planning.

Last week the final title for the book was chosen after a process of discussion between me and several editors at Zondervan. The final title is: Your Church Is Too Small: Why Unity in Christ's Mission Is Vital to the Future of the Church. I am very pleased with this choice and believe it accurately reflects the passion of the author.

Pray for the next steps in this process. The designer is working on three looks for the cover. I will interact with this process. Then we will make some decisions about the content and about who might endorse the book. We will also work on various markets. Who might buy the book and why? How might other ministries use it and which ones should we contact? The process, including my writing, will be about 30 months in all.

Related Posts

Comments

  1. ColtsFan March 30, 2009 at 1:35 am

    To John Armstrong or other JA commentators:
    I am a late-comer to the whole “mere Christianity Missional-ecumenism” discussion, though I have been reading JA posts on the subject from the past.
    Currently, I have finished reading a book written by a commentator at this blog concerning this subject.
    My question is:
    does the chair of “mere Christianity” defined by John Armstrong, or “missional ecumenism” rest solely on the leg of N.T. Wright and the New Perspective of Paul?
    Or are there other independent grounds for arriving at the same conclusion that motivates J.A. to write his book, “Your Church is too small.”
    Hypothetically speaking, if I were to say, “I don’t find the arguments of N.T. Wright rationally compelling,” would there be other theological arguments one can bring to the discussion table in order to support the chair of “mere Christianity defined by J.A.??”
    Or does everything ultimately fall back onto N.T. Wright??
    Thank you.
    ColtsFan

  2. Blake White March 30, 2009 at 1:59 pm

    I am looking forward to reading this book John.

  3. Chris Criminger March 31, 2009 at 10:18 am

    Hi John,
    I look so forward to your book and praying that God will bring great fruitfulness from it.
    As far as N. N. Wright, I find it strange at the suggestion that your book on ecclesiology would be linked to N. T. Wright’s thoughts? Actually, I wish Wright would write his own book on ecclesiology but in fact, says so little about it.
    Now I could see someone making a connection to your ecumenism to C. S. Lewis but again, from my perspective, so what? The issue is does God want the church today to be missional? Does God want the church to be ecumenical (and actually visibly demonstate more visible unity?). Those seem to be more the burning questions rather than can we tie someone’s ideas to someone elses ideas.

  4. ColtsFan March 31, 2009 at 3:06 pm

    Hi Chris:
    I haven’t read in depth on this issue as well as I would like. But it appears that the issue of justification comes up frequently on these “ecumenical-missional” posts. That is why I asked earlier if there is another leg on which the stool of “J.A. mere Christianity rests on”?
    Or does the stool fall back solely on the leg of N.T. Wright and his new thoughts concerning Justification?

  5. John H. Armstrong March 31, 2009 at 7:59 pm

    “Mere Christianity” rests in no way, at least historically or organically, on the work of N. T. Wright. This question demonstrates that you would be well served to read Wright for yourself if you want to know what he says and why it matters deeply to getting the biblical narrative rooted in one’s theology. His work is clear, biblical and easy to grasp in this new book. When IVP publishes it please read it and you will see for yourself.

  6. ColtsFan March 31, 2009 at 10:19 pm

    John Armstrong,
    Thank you for your comment.

Comments are closed.

My Latest Book!

Use Promo code UNITY for 40% discount!

Recent Articles

Search

Archive