Below are some books our professors recommend in the areas of missions, global Christianity, and cross-cultural studies. Beneath each book you’ll see the professor who recommended it. Click “Read More” for a note from the professor about the book and why it is worth a read. Clicking on the book itself will take you to a website where you can purchase the book.
*Not all content in these books reflect the views of Gordon-Conwell.
Dr. Todd Johnson
Eva B. & Paul E. Toms Distinguished Professor of Mission & Global Christianity
“This important book is carefully researched and offers a clear biblical admonition to disentangle mission from power and empire. Kwiyani’s historical analysis and personal stories from Malawi are especially convincing and poignant. The future of mission is humility and service with a greater emphasis on the Holy Spirit and prayer.”
Recommended by Dr. Scott Sunquist, Gordon-Conwell President & Professor of Missiology:
“This is an excellent and practical volume with biblically and theologically informed solutions to one of the greatest issues in mission today: helping people from different countries work together. Lingenfelter, former Dean of the School of Intercultural Studies at Fuller, has broad global experience that makes this a very well-informed volume regarding the problems that often threatens good mission work. However, the volume will also be helpful for multi-cultural teams in churches in the United States. Chapters can be studied and discussed with ministry or mission teams.”
Recommended by Dr. Todd Johnson:
“Reyes encourages us to take a posture that desires to see the world through other people’s eyes, value what they value, and both centers and honors their way of life. We all need to learn what it means to adapt and transform ourselves to better love and serve the diverse peoples around us. Her book is immensely practical and full of engaging stories.”
“I have found the writings of the Chinese house church pastor Wang Yi to be spiritually refreshing, personally convicting, and ultimately transformative in how I think about the proper relationship between human government and the Church of Jesus Christ.”
Recommended by Dr. Donald Fairbairn
“This book is majestic in scope and comprehensive in its grasp of modern history, mainly in Europe and North America but also in the majority world as well. Its explanation of the causes of the contemporary situation in the western world is varied, nuanced, and persuasive. The author describes seven facets of the contemporary world and their and critiques both politically-liberal and politically-conservative explanations gently yet significantly. Most striking is Wilson’s insistence that as western societies have rejected Christianity, they have not actually offered anything to replace it, and their anti-Christian alternatives all have a profoundly Christian basis to them. This enables him to conclude on a very hopeful note that the Christian Gospel offers a more profound freedom than what the ex-Christian West offers, an antidote to self- and works-righteousness in the form of a genuine Gospel of grace, and an ultimate standard of truth in contrast to the meaningless western attempts to see truth as entirely individual and self-constructed. In spite of the book’s range and the depth of its argument, it is written winsomely, cleverly, and very accessibly. It is a book that many well-educated Christians could read and profit from.”
Recommended by Dr. Garth Rosell
“My former students might be interested in my most recent publication: Reformed & Evangelical Across Four Centuries: The Presbyterian Story in America, co-authored with three other Presbyterian historians.”
Recommended by Dr. Aída Besançon Spencer
“Jeanne is a Gordon-Conwell alumna who had been active in the Jesus Movement in California. The book is full of quotations and pictures from the Christian leaders of the CWLF. My husband, Bill, has an enormous amount of data he has saved through the years and writes about the Jesus Movement in the Northeast.”
Recommended by Dr. Eun Ah Cho
“In today’s interconnected world, the importance of thriving in cross cultural environments cannot be overstated. Even those with extensive global experiences must persistently enhance their cultural repertoire. This book proves to be an invaluable resource for educators, providing guidance to sustain humility and foster an appreciation for learners from diverse cultures. Dr. Ott weaves together his real-life experiences with profound insights firmly rooted in biblical values.”
Recommended by Dr. Garth Rosell
“Published by one of our own alumni in the prestigious “Theology and Mission in World Christianity” series, Daewon Moon’s (MDiv ’11) study of the remarkable East African Revival will inform your mind and stir your heart.”
Recommended by Prof. Dean Borgman
“Sweet, spiritual, practical, and mostly unknown insights from the likes of Augustine, Kierkegaard, Luther, Nouwen, Tozer, Mother Teresa, Bonhoeffer, Therese Of Liseux, Brother Lawrence, and more.”
Recommended by Dr. Gina Zurlo, Adjunct Faculty of World Christianity & Mission:
“Women in the Mission of the Church highlights the important roles women have had in church history – and that are often forgotten. Dzubinski’s expertise in intercultural studies and mission combines with Stasson’s historical prowess to provide a well-researched and highly accessible book that centers the experiences, stories, and lives of Christian women in the past for the benefit of all Christians today.”
“This work recounts women and their participation in the center of Reformation history not on the sidelines. It refreshes the soul to hear of female monarchs, mothers, migrants, martyrs, mystics, and missionaries who mattered!”
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