Seedbed publishes articles and book reviews that sharpen and enhance our witness and church-planting efforts among the unreached by stimulating fresh insight and constructive conversation among mission practitioners around high-stakes theological, contextual, and spiritual issues in frontier church-planting.
Seedbed articles and reviews are written by and to fellow laborers seeking to make and multiply biblical disciples and churches among the unreached to the glory of God. Many labor specifically among Muslim peoples, some among other unreached groups. Many are active or former “frontline” workers involved directly in evangelism, discipleship, and planting/catalyzing churches, either in closed countries or in the diaspora. Some serve in various roles as part of the larger frontier church-planting effort, such as leadership, media ministry, administration, business as mission, relief and development, training, research, or church partnership. About two-thirds of our audience have a graduate degree. Some are native English speakers, and some are not. Most have worked, or currently work, with a sending organization.
Seedbed is a love gift of Pioneers to the broader worker community laboring to make and multiply biblical disciples and churches among the unreached, and thus it welcomes and serves all organizations to participate in and enrich this conversation. Seedbed is hosted on a secure, password-protected website, whose membership is carefully vetted.
Seedbed is not a scholarly journal seeking to advance academic research aims, nor is it a popular-level magazine seeking to provide blog-sized reflections for “busy” people. Seedbed is a practitioner’s journal that publishes thoughtful, relevant articles by current and former practitioners which dig deep and offer insight into making disciples and multiplying biblical churches in frontier contexts.
Practitioner-Grounded and Relevant. Seedbed encourages conversation and reflection that arises out of and speaks directly to the high-stakes, and sometimes unaddressed, concerns and challenges that workers face in least reached contexts. Write naturally to your colleagues and fellow practitioners.
Depth. Articles should move beyond superficial description towards in-depth engagement with the difficult and challenging issues in frontier discipleship and church-planting. Articles should advance a single main argument, and any claims made in the article should be adequately supported by appropriate argumentation.
Constructive Insight. Articles should promote helpful dialogue and enhanced understanding around high-stakes issues. When positions are critiqued, they should be understood charitably, evaluated fairly, and engaged honestly in an ethos of grace.
Creatively Biblical. We are looking for fresh, innovative perspectives on the immense challenges of engaging in biblically-shaped, theologically-rich discipleship and church planting among the unreached to the glory of God.
Contextual. Articles should not be overgeneralized to fit all contexts, but shaped by and attentive to the distinctive challenges of your particular context, supported by observations, stories, and case studies when relevant. Feel free to make use of the first person when appropriate.
Global Diversity. Articles should contribute to a conversation among diverse practitioners with diverse views on from from various corners of the harvest field—men and women, Global South and North, boomers and millenials, racial and ethnic minorities and majorities—as well as diverse parts of the church within the broad framework of historic, evangelical faith (as defined in the Nicene Creed and the Lausanne Covenant).
The ideal length of an article depends upon the topic addressed and quality of writing. Articles should be as long as needed to address the topic fairly and engagingly, and no longer. While exceptions can be made, articles should generally not exceed 5,000 words.
In order to help Seedbed readers understand the experience and ministry context out of which each person writes, please include a brief (2-3 sentence long) bio. You may use a pseudonym (or initials) if you like, but please indicate if your name is a pseudonym. Feel free to speak generally about your ministry context if needed to protect yourself and those you serve. Here is an example:
Don Little, a Canadian from British Columbia, served for 10 years in North Africa as a TESOL teacher and church planter, along with his wife, Jeanie, and their three children (now adults). He then served in Canada in mission leadership for 8 1⁄2 years. He now serves as a missiologist with Pioneers focused on the Arab world region and as a part-time lecturer at Houghton College. He and Jeanie live in western New York, in the USA.
Any citations and bibliography should be formatted according to Chicago (Turabian) Author-Date Style.
Please submit articles in a single-spaced Microsoft Word document with 12 pt. Calibri font. Email your Word document as an attachment to editor@seedbedjournal.com. The editorial team will be in touch with you about your article.
Seedbed is not a scholarly journal seeking to advance academic research aims, nor is it a popular-level magazine seeking to provide tweet-sized book summaries. Seedbed is a practitioner's journal that publishes thoughtful reviews by current and former practitioners on books that are relevant to practitioners involved in making disciples and multiplying biblical churches in frontier contexts.
The “Practitioner's Angle.” There are many journals that review books. Seedbed reviews book from the perspective of the frontier practitioner, reflecting on the relevance and practical implications to one’s work in making disciples and multiplying churches among the unreached. Seedbed book reviews should include the following:
Publishing Information (in the header). Full author’s name, full book title, year published, publisher, page count.
Introduction of the Book. Describe the theme/purpose of the book, its relevance to practitioners, relevant info on the author, and its target audience.
Summary of Content. Main argument/thesis of the book, how the author communicates/advances his argument in the book, and something about the writing style or “feel” of the book.
Evaluation. Strengths and weaknesses, areas of agreement/disagreement (and reasons), assessment of the writing style (easy/enjoyable/difficult to read)
Comments on Relevance (“Practitioner's Angle”). In what ways should this book impact (or not) the way in which you and your fellow practitioners make disciples and multiply churches among the least reached? Feel free to give specific examples relevant to your context.
A Recommendation. Do you recommend this book, how strongly, and who specifically will be most helped be reading it.
Seedbed book reviews may vary in length depending on the length of the book, the depth of its contents, and its importance to practitioners. Book reviews should not exceed 2,000 words.
In order to help Seedbed readers understand the experience and ministry context out of which each person writes, please include a brief (2-3 sentence long) bio. You may use a pseudonym (or initials) if you like, but please indicate if your name is a pseudonym. Feel free to speak generally about your ministry context if needed to protect yourself and those you serve. Here is an example:
Don Little, a Canadian from British Columbia, served for 10 years in North Africa as a TESOL teacher and church planter, along with his wife, Jeanie, and their three children (now adults). He then served in Canada in mission leadership for 8 1⁄2 years. He now serves as a missiologist with Pioneers focused on the Arab world region and as a part-time lecturer at Houghton College. He and Jeanie live in western New York, in the USA.
Any citations and bibliography for book reviews should be formatted according to Chicago (Turabian) Author-Date Style.
Please submit book reviews in a single-spaced Microsoft Word document with 12 pt. Calibri font. Email your Word document as an attachment to editor@seedbedjournal.com. The editorial team will be in touch with you about your article.
If you have an idea for an article, let us know and we may ask you to write it! You can use the form here to submit your article idea.
For questions related to submitting your written article or book review, please contact the editor. We are grateful for your participating in the conversation to sharpen and enrich your fellow laborers among the unreached.
