Summary: The term polycentric mission has become popular. While the term has a more recent origin, the concept can be traced to the inception of the church. In its earliest days, no one place held authority. The West became a Christian center for a millennia, but now we see a return to polycentric Christianity that […]
mission
Church Formation through the Gospel
#12 『Gospel and Leadership (11)』 GUEST POST BY KOHEI TAKEDA The Worldwide Body of Christ “Domo, domo, Takeda Sensei!” About 10 years ago, it was less than a week after we moved to Boston, America from Tokyo, Japan, there was an American who helped our family. This was my wife’s first time living abroad and […]
View from the shared ‘top’: A case study in leading as a team
Anonymous case study In 2017 our organization decided to go from a single International Director to an International Director team. There were lots of questions about whether this would work. No one knew of a good example of this at a top level of an organization. In fact, one leader that we suggested the idea […]
Polycentric Leadership for Kingdom Movements (Part II)
Joseph W. Handley, Jr. Published in Global Missiology, www.globalmissiology.org, April 2022 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 […]
Decentralising leadership: from monolithic to modular and polycentric
GUEST POST BY DANIEL OSPINA Original article at RnDAO Why talk about leadership? Let’s bring it back to the people. If you’ve ever been in an executive position, been an influential DAO member, or founded a new organisation, you’ll likely viscerally know the weight of responsibility. There can be so much work, so much uncertainty […]
BMS World Mission: A Case Study toward Polycentric Mission Leadership
Rev. Joseph W. Handley, Jr., Ph.D. and Rev. Kang-San Tan, D.Min. Ph.D. The British Baptist Missionary Society (BMS World Mission) holds a treasured place in the history of the modern mission movement. It was William Carey, often called the father of modern missions, who catalyzed the work with his famous An Enquiry into the Obligation […]
A Case Study in Polycentric Mission [AR1] A3-SIM: Strategic Partnership [AR2]
Robert Adair From 2011 to now, A3 (formerly Asian Access) missionaries (A3m) have made two transitions that have placed them under polycentric governance. This case study will attempt to explain the context and challenges of the current structure. Background In 2011, A3 formed a strategic partnership with SIM to deploy missionaries to Japan. SIM provided […]
Case Study: USA Unites
By Noel Becchetti Vision: To inspire, connect, and equip youth to transform global societies through movements that promote hope, non-violence, and reconciliation Mission: To work alongside local leaders and transform conflict by hosting international summits, national conferences, specialized workshops, and strategic trainings to empower youth as agents of sustainable change “You want your leadership to […]
A Case Study in Polycentric Mission
A LOOK AT LAWRENCE TONG OF OPERATION MOBILIZATION By Mary T. Lederleitner This case study is an excerpt from the journal article titled “Navigating Leadership Challenges in a Polycentric World” written by Mary T. Lederleitner, PhD. The article helps people understand this leadership paradigm and learn how to become a more effective polycentric mission leader. […]
A Case Study in Polycentric Leadership Structure for a Movement
R. Elliott Snuggs This case study is taken from an article titled “How Movements Organize” written by R. Elliott Snuggs. The article helps modalities and sodalities understand themselves as movements rather than organizations. It was written for the Asian Access movement and is adapted here to understand movement structure in relationship to polycentric leadership Core-Network-Cloud: […]