The Two Structures of God’s Redemptive Mission

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The Two Structures of God’s Redemptive Mission

A Scholarly Approach to the Future of Christian Mission

Robert A. Blincoe

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Publication Date: January 12, 2027

An Ancient Pattern for Missions Today

In the New Testament and throughout history, God’s mission has advanced through two complementary structures: Churches and mission societies. Yet today, many Christians assume that the local church alone is the biblical model for mission. In The Two Structures of God’s Redemptive Mission, Bob Blincoe and other notable missiologists present and expand upon Ralph D. Winter’s influential two-structure paradigm.

The contributors show how throughout the history of Christian missions, churches and missionary societies have repeatedly worked together to spark gospel breakthroughs among unreached peoples. They address common criticisms of the two-structure model and explore its implications for global mission. This volume calls both churches and mission agencies to recover a biblical partnership that has shaped the church’s greatest missionary advances and is essential to fulfilling the Great Commission today.

Endorsements

For the effective advancement of Christ’s mission, Ralph D. Winter’s two-structure model must be reintroduced and adapted for a new generation. Bob Blincoe has done just that. In addition to his own work, Blincoe has brought together articles by leading scholars and practitioners of Christian mission. The reader will gain a deeper appreciation for the two-structure model and learn how to employ it in advancing Christ’s mission today.

Bill BjorakerMissionary to Jewish people, Assemblies of God
At last, we have in hand Blincoe’s book on Ralph D. Winter’s two-structure model. Among this book’s remarkable features is the deep respect Blincoe expresses for the contribution made by Catholic missionary orders to world evangelization in the centuries prior to 1792, the year William Carey’s Enquiry into the Use of Means launched in the Protestant mission era. I believe Dr. Blincoe’s book will help many Protestant church leaders and mission agency executives enjoy the privilege of partnering together to complete the Great Commission.

Robert L. BrennemanMissionary and Professor of Global Studies, North Central University
This masterpiece paints a compelling panorama of the historicity and global impact of sodalities and modalities. My own spiritual journey has been profoundly shaped by sodalities. I came to Christ through Young Life, was discipled by the Navigators, served with Frontiers for twenty-two years in Asia Minor and am now working with Operation Mobilization (OM) in Europe. Even within my own mission societies our church-planting conversations are exclusively about planting modalities. Where are the conversations about planting new sodalities? I hope this collection of essays will help spark such discussions in seminaries, churches, and mission organizations.

Scott BreslinNordic Regional Leader, Operation Mobilization
These essays by Ralph D. Winter and other scholars provide valuable perspectives on our Lord’s Great Commission. They enable the reader to appreciate the relationship between churches and mission agencies, for the sake of completing the missionary task. I say Amen to Blincoe’s achievement in bringing together in one volume these twenty essays on “The Two Structures of God’s Redemptive Mission.” 

Leonard J. Cerny Co-Founder, Missionary Care International
Bob Blincoe has written the definitive case for Ralph Winter’s two-structure model, that the churches and the mission agencies have always been God’s complementary instruments. Calling on a strong suite of contributors, this book reads like a who’s who of missiologists across the last half-century. Blincoe traces the idea to the Jewish hevrah of first-century Israel and then forward through church history, culminating with the fifty extraordinary years in which there have been major gains in planting Christian communities among unreached peoples. The text handles objections and addresses some of the critics of the two-structure model. The closing assessment is practical, urging the planting of younger missions, suggests we choose the “Jonathan Edwards” way, and entreats believers to start small to win great victories wherever God has placed them. If you care about why the church is what it is, why mission keeps reinventing itself, and what to do next, this book will unlock insights and provide you with inspiration to go forth on mission.

Ted EslerPresident, Missio Nexus
This book offers hope for churches seeking to participate more effectively in God’s global mission. Partnering with mission organizations—often called “parachurches”—enables churches to advance the gospel among diverse peoples, in varied settings, while meeting a wide range of needs.

Steve HawthorneLead editor, Perspectives on the World Christian Movement
As one who has been active in the local church and in parachurches for almost fifty years, I have found the concept of the two structures of mission to be liberating and instructive. Yet the debate surrounding this concept goes on. The articles Dr. Blincoe has gathered here will help the reader understand and validate the two-structure concept, a matter of considerable importance if we are to be faithful and effective in mission. 

Ajith FernandoYouth for Christ, Sri Lanka
William Carey’s key insight—Protestants needed “means” to reach across continents and cultures—finally opened the mission floodgates. Bob Blincoe has brought together the most insightful writings of the last fifty years to demonstrate that God has always used two structures to advance his kingdom on earth. Today, the strength of the global south mission effort will depend on new sending structures to enable Christians in Asia to reach least-reached Frontier People Groups, where the gospel has yet to take hold.

R. W. LewisCEO Telos Fellowship