I grew up in the evangelical church of N America, in Canada, Northeast United States, and the Midwest. Seen all its strengths, weathered all its problems. Left it all in disgust for a good while. But came back to my roots to work for renewal, reinvigoration and transformation for the days that lie ahead.

Over the past seventeen years, I have come to terms with my heritage – evangelicalism, the current evangelical malaise, mission, and being the Body of Christ in the new N. American cultural context. Through a many-faceted journey, God has blessed me with new conviction, an excitement for the future and a willingness to participate in whatever way He sees fit. I am encouraged especially by the missional/emerging churches springing up and the leadership that is taking place among the “younger evangelicals.”

This journey (I referred to above) included a.) doing a Ph.D at Northwestern University, b.) teaching in a large city church, c.) leading a small intentional community in the city of Chicago, and planting a missional church, Life on the Vine Christian Community in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. Several years ago now, I helped start Up\Rooted, a collaborative gathering for Chicago area church leadership engaging the post-modern context. More recently I’ve been involved in organizing the Missional Learning Commons in the Midwest. We gather once a year to encourage each other, hear stories, and share how to do church as “everyday life.” Over the past ten years I have been a part time professor in various capacities. Currently, I now serve as one of three pastors at Life on the Vine and teach as the B.R. Lindner Chair of Evangelical Theology at Northern Seminary, Lombard, IL. I head up the M.A. in Missional Church Ministry at Northern.

I am the author of articles on church , culture and theological ethics in journals as diverse as the Journal of the Academy for Evangelism in Theological Education, Discernment, Pastoral Psychology and the Journal of Christian Education. Most recently I published The Great Giveaway: Reclaiming the Mission of the Church from American Business, Para-Church Organizations, Psychotherapy, Consumer Capitalism and Other Modern Maladies (Baker Books, 2005). I have been writing 2 new books for three years now. The first one The End of Evangelicalism? Discerning a New Faithfulness for Mission (Eugene OR: Cascade Books) will be coming out in Cascade’s Theolopolitical Vision Series in 2010. It’s subtitle is “Towards a Missional Evangelical Political Theology.”

I occasionally serve the furthering of Christ’s Kingdom by speaking/presenting on the challenges of being Christ’s Body in the new contexts of post Christendom, postmodernity and North American consumerist culture. I seek to encourage the church to faithfulness,

encourage pastors to more faithfulness, develop and encourage missional church planters, and help denominations/churches navigate the new terrains of N. American post-Christendom culture(s). From time to time, I spend weekends with churches exploring how to be God’s Mission in their locales, leading churches, pastors, and church boards through the process of understanding context and Mission.

If you’re interested, you can e-mail me (fitchest [at] gmail [dot] com). Blessings all. Thanks for reading,

David Fitch

These pictures can be used as promo photos. Scarry huh?