Michael Frost (minister)
{{short description|Australian missiologist and theologian (born 1961)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2016}}
{{Use Australian English|date=January 2012}}
Michael Frost (born 1961) is an Australian Baptist minister, missiologist{{cite web|url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2006/november/33.66.html?start=2 |title=Stopping Cultural Drift|first=Mark|last=Galli|authorlink=Mark Galli|work=Christianity Today|date=16 November 2006|page=2|accessdate=22 December 2010}} and theologian{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/06/15/sessions-says-the-bible-justifies-separating-immigrant-families-the-verses-he-cited-are-infamous/?noredirect=on|title=Sessions says the Bible justifies separating immigrant families. The verses he cited are infamous.|first=Kyle|last=Swenson|date=15 June 2018|accessdate=7 January 2018|newspaper=The Washington Post}} who is one of the leading voices in the missional church movement.{{cite journal|title=Emerging Missional Movements: An Overview and Assessment of Some Implications for Mission(s)|first=Rick|last=Richardson|journal=International Bulletin of Missionary Research|pages=131–136|volume=36|number=3|date=July 2013|doi=10.1177/239693931303700302|s2cid=149369336|url=http://www.internationalbulletin.org/issues/2013-03/2013-03-131-richardson.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150930214209/http://www.internationalbulletin.org/issues/2013-03/2013-03-131-richardson.html|url-status=usurped|archive-date=30 September 2015}} Frost is the founding Director of the Tinsley Institute, a mission study centre located at Morling College in Sydney, Australia.{{cite web|url=http://www.morlingcollege.com/faculty/rev-dr-michael-frost/|title=Rev. Dr Michael Frost|work=Morling College|accessdate=24 March 2016}}
Career
Frost is the author or editor of 20 theological books, including The Shaping of Things to Come (2003), Exiles (2006), The Road to Missional (2011) and Surprise the World (2016). These books explore a missional framework for the church in a post-Christendom era. Frost's work has been translated into German, Korean, Chinese, and Spanish. Frost is a popular inspirational speaker at Christian conferences{{cite news |last1=Ellsworth |first1=Barry |title=What do you do when God's not on the menu? |publisher=Belleville Intelligencer |date=10 November 2015|id={{ProQuest|378741945}} }}{{cite news |last1=Dillon |first1=Pamela |title=Talking relevance of church today |publisher=Dayton Daily News |date=13 October 2012|id={{ProQuest|1111644666}} }} and has spoken at conferences in the United States, the United Kingdom and across Europe.
In 1999, Frost and Alan Hirsch founded the Forge Mission Training Network, a program for training missional leaders.{{cite book|title=Sentness: Six Postures of Missional Christians|first1=Kim|last1=Hammond|first2=Darren|last2=Cronshaw|page=189|publisher=InterVarsity Press|year=2014|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wt7fAgAAQBAJ|isbn=9780830884063}} He remains an international director of that movement which is now based in the United States.{{cite web|url=http://www.forgeinternational.com/about/#our-story|publisher=Forge International|title=Our Story}} In 2002, he founded the missional Christian community, smallboatbigsea, based in Manly in Sydney's north.{{cite book|first=Michael|last=Frost|title=Exiles: Living Missionally in a Post-Christian Culture|publisher=Baker Books|year=2006|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vr5XIAOzqsoC|isbn=9781441232793}} He wrote a weekly religion column for the Manly Daily from 2002 until it was axed in 2014,{{cite web|url=https://www.covenant.nsw.edu.au/christian-school/faith-matters-column-axed-by-manly-daily|title=Faith Matters column axed by Manly Daily|date=18 July 2014|accessdate=7 January 2019|publisher=Covenant Christian School}} and helped establish Action Against Poverty, a localised micro-financing agency, linking the cities of Manly and Manado in Indonesia.{{cite book|page=291|title=The Shaping of Things to Come: Innovation and Mission for the 21st-Century Church|first1=Michael|last1=Frost|first2=Alan|last2=Hirsch|publisher=Baker Books|year=2013|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xtbgcobpe3cC|isbn=9781441241092}}
In August 2016, Frost was arrested{{cite web | url=https://mikefrost.net/i-got-arrested-recently/ | title=I got arrested recently » Mike Frost | date=9 September 2016 }} while praying in the Sydney offices of the then-Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, as part of an action organized by the group Love Makes a Way.{{cite web | url=https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/love-makes-a-way-what-drives-these-christians-to-risk-arrest/id83py4uz | title=Love Makes a Way: What drives these Christians to risk arrest? }} Then in November 2017, Frost was arrested again alongside other Australian Christian leaders after chaining themselves to the gates of the Prime Minister's Sydney residence in protest of Australia's treatment of refugees and asylum seekers on Manus Island.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/nov/27/manus-protest-christian-leaders-chain-themselves-to-kirribilli-house-gate|work=The Guardian|title=Manus protest: Christian leaders chain themselves to Kirribilli House gate|first=Ben|last=Doherty|date=27 November 2017|accessdate=7 January 2019}}{{cite web|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2017/11/27/christians-chain-themselves-to-kirribilli-house-to-protest-manus_a_23288811/|work=Huffington Post|title=Christian Leaders Arrested For Kirribilli House Protest Over Manus|first1=Luke|last1=Cooper|first2=Alana|last2=Calvert|date=27 November 2017|accessdate=7 January 2019}}{{cite web|url=https://hope1032.com.au/stories/life/news/2016/nauru-files-couldnt-stay-silent-rev-michael-frost/|title=After Nauru Files, I Couldn't Stay Silent: Rev Michael Frost|first=Clare|last=Bruce|date=31 August 2016|accessdate=7 January 2019|publisher=Hope 103.2}}
A 2017 Washington Post essay by Frost about Tim Tebow, Colin Kaepernick, and Christianity was widely reprinted. Tebow had drawn public attention for kneeling in prayer before football games, Kaepernick, for kneeling in protest. In the essay, Frost described Tebow and Kaepernick as representing two different versions of Christianity. Tebow's version is a Christianity of "personal piety, gentleness, respect for cultural mores and an emphasis on moral issues like abortion, homosexuality," while Kaepernick version "values social justice, community development, racial reconciliation and political activism." In Frost's view, this "bifurcation of contemporary Christianity into two distinct branches" with each side unable to value the moral lessons the other side offers, explains why "Christianity remains on its knees in the West."{{cite news |last1=Stauffer |first1=Clay |title=Two versions of Christianity keep us divided |publisher=The Tennessean |date=30 September 2017|id={{ProQuest|1963042175}} }}{{cite news |last1=Frost |first1=Michael |title=Colin Kaepernick vs. Tim Tebow: A tale of two Christians on their knees |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2017/09/24/colin-kaepernick-vs-tim-tebow-a-tale-of-two-christianities-on-its-knees/ |accessdate=7 January 2019 |newspaper=Washington Post |date=24 September 2017}}{{cite news |last1=Mattingly |first1=Terry |title=Tebow versus Kaepernick? Really? |url=https://www.heraldcourier.com/community/tebow-versus-kaepernick-really/article_a9c82822-a8f1-5fa6-a19c-5a62836d6c08.html |accessdate=7 January 2019 |publisher=Bristol Herald Courier |date=30 September 2017}}{{cite news |last1=Libby |first1=Anne |title=Progressive Piety and Conservative Politics: On Kaepernick, Tebow, and American Christianity |url=https://www.patheos.com/blogs/lovejoyfeminism/2017/09/progressives-piety-and-conservatives-politics-on-kaepernick-and-tebow-and-american-christianity.html |accessdate=7 January 2019 |publisher=Patheos |date=26 September 2017}}
In his 2018 book, Keep Christianity Weird, Frost calls on pastors to use eccentric and unconventional approaches in their ministry to produce "greater creativity and innovation."{{cite news |first1=Michael |last1=Grysboski |title=Missions Expert: Churches Must 'Keep Christianity Weird,' Embrace Eccentricity |url=https://www.christianpost.com/news/missions-expert-churches-must-keep-christianity-weird-embrace-eccentricity.html |accessdate=6 January 2019 |publisher=Christian Post |date=3 September 2018}}{{cite web|url=https://churchleaders.com/podcast/333228-michael-frost-the-church-needs-to-get-back-to-being-weird.html|first=Jason|last=Daye|title=Michael Frost: The Church Needs to Get Back to Being Weird|date=11 September 2018|accessdate=7 January 2019|publisher=Church Leaders}}
Books
- Jesus the Fool (1994; 2007; 2010)
- Longing for Love (1996)
- Seeing God in the Ordinary (1998; 2000)
- Lessons from Reel Life (2001) co-authored with Robert Banks
- Freedom to Explore (2001)
- The Shaping of Things to Come (2003, 2013) co-authored with Alan Hirsch
- Speaking of Mission (2006) - editor
- Exiles (2006)
- ReJesus (2008, 2021) co-authored with Alan Hirsch
- The Faith of Leap (2011) co-authored with Alan Hirsch
- The Road to Missional (2011)
- The Big Ideas (2011)
- Speaking of Mission Vol.2 (2013) - editor
- Incarnate (2014) InterVarsity Press (2014)
- Surprise the World! (2016)
- To Alter Your World (2017) co-authored with Christiana Rice
- Keep Christianity Weird (2018)
- Not in Kansas Anymore (2020) co-edited with Darrell Jackson and David Starling
- Hide This in Your Heart (2020) co-authored with Graham Joseph Hill
- Mission is the Shape of Water (2023)
Notes
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{official website|http://www.mikefrost.net}}
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Category:20th-century Australian Baptist ministers
Category:21st-century Australian Baptist ministers
Category:Australian Baptist theologians
Category:Emerging church movement