by Joseph W. Handley, Jr., Ph.D. Missional Church Model J.R. Woodward presents a polycentric model in his book Creating a Missional Culture. He builds the model on an equipping paradigm based on Ephesians chapter 4. His model identifies the apostle, prophet, evangelist, prophet, and teacher, which he describes as a storyteller, as equippers of the church who […]
collaboration
Embracing Polycentric Leadership: A Biblical Alternative to Hierarchy
GUEST POST BY BOB WILSON For much of its history, the church has largely disregarded Jesus’ teaching in Luke 22:24-30 to lead differently from the Gentiles. Instead, it has “established and embraced the leadership models of ‘the Gentiles’”, leading to church history being “replete with examples of leaders actively accumulating, protecting, and abusing power, frequently […]
Translocal Futures: Michel Bauwens and the Polycentric Transformation of Governance
BY JOSEPH W. HANDLEY, Jr. As our world navigates civilizational disintegration—where nation-states strain under the pressure of global systems and capitalism fails to integrate emerging realities—new models of leadership and governance are emerging. Among the most provocative voices in this arena is Michel Bauwens, founder of the P2P Foundation, who offers a hopeful, decentralized alternative grounded […]
Collaboration not Control
Rethinking the international agency model in the pursuit of mutual mission sending partnerships with the majority world GUEST POST BY MICHAEL PREST The Challenges of the International Model For all the talk of polycentrism in mission circles today, in international mission organizations, it is often the multinational structure that persists. Internationalization strategies that added sending […]
Polycentric Leadership for Kingdom Movements (Part I)
Joseph W. Handley, Jr. Abstract One of the simplest definitions for a Kingdom Movement is that proposed by David Garrison in looking at Church Planting Movements: “a rapid multiplication of indigenous churches planting churches that sweeps through a people group or population segment” (Garrison 2004, 21). Over the years, the terminology has changed but in essence Garrison’s definition captures […]
