Heart To Mission
How Pastors and Their Teams Close the Gap Between Who They Are and What They Do
Clarity for the mission God has already given you.
Your calendar is full. Your team works hard. And you still can't say what it's all building toward. Something underneath isn't moving, and you can feel it long before you can name it.
Heart To Mission is a guide for pastors, ministry leaders, and their teams who are ready to close the gap between who they are and what they do. The Heart Pathway walks you through seven steps: settle your identity, embrace the burden, surface the mission, create the rhythm, build the flows, check the pulse, and paint the future.
Every chapter is built for a table. Work through it together and come away with a burden you can name, a mission your whole team can say from memory, and a clear picture of where you're going.
"And often, the problem wasn't a broken vision. It wasn't a broken strategy. It was a broken identity."
"I have spent much of my life working with pastors. I've watched leaders build growing churches, multiply leaders, and make significant kingdom impact. I've also watched far too many pastors burn out, implode, or walk away."
What's inside
Seven steps of the Heart Pathway, plus a foreword by Mac Lake. The first step is your identity, the heart itself. The other six are what a healthy heart does.
Read it with your team.
Every chapter is built for a table. Work through it together and come away with a burden you can name, a mission your whole team can say from memory, and a clear picture of where you're going.
"Buy one for every staff member you have, and move your team from heart to mission!"
Wayne Bray, Lead Pastor, Upstate Church
What leaders are saying
Heart to Mission gives pastors and their teams a simple, honest framework for closing the gap between calling and daily practice, without losing sight of the Gospel urgency that should drive it all. This is a resource that will help churches move from vision statements that hang on a wall to a mission that will actually reach people who don’t yet know Christ.
Kevin EzellPresident, North American Mission Board, SBC“Heart To Mission” is a rare combination of tender-hearted counsel and clear-eyed advice aimed at church leaders who seek to connect with their communities effectively. It is relentlessly practical but never veers into trite schemes; at every turn, it pulls the reader back into the flow of a biblical understanding of church planting and church life.
Gene C. Fant, Jr.President, North Greenville UniversityThere are countless “how-to” books available to church leaders, but very few endeavor to close the gap between identity and action. In his book, “Heart to Mission,” Josh Bradley provides a tool that will help you lead your team members to accomplish the mission without losing their souls on the journey. Buy one for every staff member you have, and move your team from heart to mission!
Wayne BrayLead Pastor, Upstate ChurchIf you love developing leaders, you’ll want to put Heart to Mission to work. Josh takes his personal journey of discovering who he is at the heart level and turns it into a practical pathway others can follow. This isn’t just a book I recommend—it’s one I’ll be using to equip the leaders I have the privilege of developing.
Charles CampbellDirector of Development Equipping, Send NetworkJosh Bradley has written a timely and deeply practical book for pastors and ministry leaders who want to move beyond simply doing more and discover what God has actually called them to do. Heart to Mission reminds us that healthy ministry flows from a gospel-rooted identity, a God-given burden, and a clear mission carried out together with the people God has entrusted to us. This is not another book about building a bigger church; it is an invitation to become a healthier leader and lead your church toward greater kingdom impact. I believe pastors and their teams will not only be challenged by these pages, but encouraged to rediscover the heartbeat of why they were called in the first place.
Shane PruittNational Next Gen Director, North American Mission Board (NAMB)I wish I had Heart to Mission when I planted a church forty years ago. I’ve had the privilege of watching Josh Bradley’s amazing journey from a place of brokenness to a platform of blessing. What Josh offers churches isn’t theory; it is practical wisdom forged from the bruises and beauty of his personal life and public ministry. This book is the fruit of his journey: straight talk, practical wisdom, hard questions, helpful homework, and a fresh process for helping a church discover its unique identity and mission. In Heart to Mission you’ll discover the tender-hearted compassion of a man who has learned to serve churches well from a posture of humility, suffering, resilience, faith, hope, and love.
Rick DuncanFounding Pastor, Cuyahoga Valley ChurchHeart to Mission is the kind of book every pastor needs—not because it gives you another ministry model to copy, but because it helps you discover the unique mission God has entrusted to you and gives you a practical, deeply biblical pathway to live it out. I’ve known Josh for years, and I’ve watched firsthand his passion for helping pastors discover who God has called them to be and how that calling should shape their churches; this book is a beautiful reflection of that passion, wisdom, and heart.
Will BrowningLead Pastor, Magnolia ChurchA powerful and dynamic must read. Totally applicable to not only pastors and their team but to all leaders of nonprofit mission driven organizations. Know your identity!
John W. BozardPresident, Orlando Health FoundationHonest. Convicting. Practical. Powerful. Timely. Encouraging! These words come to mind in Heart to Mission. Not only is this worth reading, but it is also worth sharing. Josh Bradley’s transparency will resonate with every pastor and church leader who desires to see God do what only HE can do so only HE can get the glory!
Dr. Gary HollingsworthPastor Emeritus, First Baptist Church of Trussville, AlabamaWhat sets Heart to Mission apart is that Josh refuses to separate the identity of a church from the gospel-motivated burden its leaders carry. So many of us entered ministry with a specific call to bring the hope of Jesus to a particular people and place, and woke up years later just running a church. Josh hands pastors and their teams a way back to that call, and a shared language for carrying it together. Read it alone and you’ll remember why you started. Read it with your team, and you’ll build a church that runs on more than momentum.
Shane StaceyCo-Founder and Managing Partner, Clarity HouseGood leaders ask great questions. In “Heart to Mission”, Josh Bradley not only asks great questions, he asks essential ones. By answering these questions together, our Leadership Team was able to clarify the unique design and direction of our church for years to come.
Jeff LethcoPastor - Lead Teaching, North Side Baptist ChurchHeart to Mission is a timely reminder that ministry is not first about building something impressive, but about becoming the kind of leader God can trust with His mission. My friend, Josh Bradley, writes with the heart of a pastor and the clarity of a leader, giving pastors practical encouragement to stay faithful to Jesus, their calling, and the people they’ve been entrusted to lead.
J.R. LeeLead Pastor, Freedom ChurchWhen Josh first shared the vision for “Heart To Mission”, I thought “this is different, he’s really got something.” What began mostly as a favor for a friend, resulted in healing for a broken staff, clarity as to why we do what we do, and conviction to walk in the blessing God has made each of us to be as we engage the mission!
Adam SpurlockPastor, Restoration Community Church
Want a guide at the table?
The book is the Heart Pathway on paper. If you want Josh or Chad to walk your team through it in person, that's what the Heart Pathway experience is for.