Why did you write this book?
We wrote The Tangible Kingdom primarily because we found that our story seemed to be helpful to leaders who were struggling to create a “missional church.” There had been a lot of authors philosophizing or theorizing about missional church, while others had been content to deconstruct past forms of church without creating an alternative way forward. We wanted to bridge the gap between the two by focusing on the ancient examples of incarnational community.

What has your focus on incarnational community taught you?
I'd actually say there's one main lesson with three overarching threads. The lesson is the power of incarnational community in conversion, in spiritual formation, and as the basic structure of any church.

In conversion, we come from the perspective that the power and witness of the early faith communities were not just in their doctrine, but also in their collective lives together. Others were intrigued, intimidated, and compelled not so much by words of doctrine as they were by how “they” lived life together, sacrificed together, suffered together, died together, and loved together.

In a culture that has already heard and seen what they think our religion is all about, they need to see a growing wave of people who live a different story that they can relate to. When “our” story is finally overwhelming and undeniable, they will join in our journey.

In spiritual formation, the incarnational community forces discipleship beyond Bible knowledge and sin avoidance. By asking all our people to integrate inclusive community, communion with God and mission, we can help people develop missional muscles they've never used before. Incarnational community makes people act like Jesus, be where Jesus would have been, and posture themselves in the world like He did. The discipleship process must include the practical application of mission and community.

As a basic structure of church, we have found that incarnational community can be created in any form of church. What pastor wouldn't want to see all their small groups become missional outposts? What pastor wouldn't want people to learn to feed themselves and care for one another? Incarnational communities can become the basic reproducible structure within any church; be it house church, mega-church, or traditional church. Thus, it becomes the bridge between emerging and existing forms of church. We can all play together!

So what was the genesis of the ideas?
To be honest the ideas were born of trial and error and the real life conspiracy of God. I wish we could claim that we preplanned all this and knew exactly what we were doing. The fact of the matter was that we didn't want to pastor or plant another church, but God knew best and continually led us to people that captured our hearts and pulled us into His story. I remember times when Matt and I prayed for God to send us a church planter we could simply ‘help' start a church for the people we were connecting with in Denver. That leader never came, and thus, we were compelled by the clear leading of relationships to keep moving forward.

Hugh's personal blog is called “wet mud” for this reason. Our story really is our story, and we've now come to realize that the best way to influence leaders towards fresh expressions of church is to make sure the mud of real life never crusts over. We always want to speak with wet mud on our boots.

Who is the book for and why should they read it?
First, it's for the leaders of God's existing and emerging church. Movement always happens at the grass roots level, but systemic change doesn't happen until church leaders give permission for new practices. That said, this book can be understood by anyone, and our hope is that it will quickly filter from the pastor's study down to every lay leader, small group leader, or concerned Christian.


What will readers find when they open the book?
They will be met with a story to examine, one that people can generally imagine themselves participating in. A story that is honest, a story that doesn't belittle others with a different story, and a story that is still unfolding.

What do you hope the reader takes away from the book?
Our biggest hope is that people that read the book would immediately be moved to action. That they would put the book down and go set up a time to have a glass of wine or a cup of coffee with a friend. We want to melt away the jaded views of those who have given up on the idea of church. We want it to cause people to cry over humanity again, especially their friends and neighbors; their “Fiona” (a story you'll find in Chapter 1). We want people to be inspired, find a renewed sense of courage, and move into the world together . . . as a community. We want you to realize that unless you integrate community, communion, and mission, you're not going to experience The Tangible Kingdom.


Hugh Halter and Matt Smay direct Missio, which facilitates the MCAP (missional church apprenticeship practicum), an online collaborative training environment for incarnational leaders, pastors and church planters. They also lead Adullam, a congregational network of incarnational communities in Denver, CO. As co-authors of The Tangible Kingdom, they advocate for disoriented God seekers and love to help the existing church re-orient around the mission of God.