Conferences and Congregational Mission

This week is a week of conferences. Tomorrow I leave for the M11 conference in Louisville, KY. http://www.ncnnews.org/nphweb/html/ncn/printerFriendly.jsp?id=10009886&sid=10000023 On Wednesday there will be a series of presentations and workshops related to the missional church. Missiologist, Craig VanGelder will be the lead presenter, and I will have one of the presentations after him. My presentation will be about the global changes which are moving us toward a paradigm change in missions which is congregation based more than denominationally based. As a part of this workshop I will present research that I have recently done in the Church of the Nazarene which demonstrates a shift in U.S. congregations which are embracing long term partnerships with congregations in other countries. In many ways this shift presents a need to rethink how we look at missions, but it also presents a sense of renewal for the denomination. If you will be at M11 I would love to have you join the discussion on Wednesday afternoon.

On Saturday, I will be in Chicago at the EMS (Evangelical Mission Society) where I will present a similar paper which deals with the bodies of literature which contribute to understanding congregational mission as a new paradigm in missions.

The Audacious Hope of the Resurrection

February 17, 2011

Tomorrow we will say “goodbye” to my mom. On Valentine’s Day, our family gathered around her bed in the emergency room of Saint Anthony Hospital in Oklahoma City. In the same way that she comforted us when we were little, we kissed her forehead, held her hands, rubbed her feet and sang to her as we said “goodbye”. Something seems wrong about even having the word “good” in Goodbye. I remember when we were missionaries and when we had to say “goodbye” to my mom and dad as we left their house to return to the field. Mamma and Daddy would be standing at their front door, holding one another and crying as we pulled away with grandkids that they would not see for another two years. Now I feel that we are left holding one another crying as mamma pulls away.

It is nearly unbearable to say this “goodbye”. Even at times when I may have thought that no one in the world believed in me or loved me, I always knew that my mom believed in me and loved me, not because of anything I could do or certainly not because I believed or valued the exact things she did, but she just loved me and believed in me.

So, tomorrow we will lay my mom to rest beside my dad at Rest Haven Cemetery with graves facing to the east, awaiting the day of the resurrection when the resurrected Christ for whom they lived and whom they longed to see face to face, will incredibly call them from the grave just as he called Lazarus and just as he will call me as well.

“Thanks be to father of compassion and the God of all comfort who comforts us in all our troubles” – 1 Cor. 1.

Whole Gospel, Whole Church, Whole World

The following clip is a video expression of a paper presented by Christopher Wright related to the 2010 Lausanne Congress:

The Global Conversation - Intro October 2009 from The Global Conversation on Vimeo.

Whole Gospel, Whole Church, Whole World

If you are interested in the full document on Congregational Mission with bibliography, please give me your email and I will send it to you as an attachment.

Congregational Mission In Context (Part 3)

1. EPISTEMELOGICAL SHIFTS

Congregational mission thrives within a changing epistemological framework in how we think of the church and how we think about location. Seminal work which describes this shift in postmodern culture was done by Paul Hiebert (1994, 1999) who described epistemological shifts in terms of bounded and centered sets. Hiebert describes a bounded set, as a grouping with well defined bounds. A centered set groups things on the basis of how they relate to other things. For the sake of this study, a congregation that is defined by location could be defined in terms of a bounded set. Missions defined by structure or agency could also be thought of as a bounded set. A bounded set framework would be a focus on church membership, or affiliation with a mission organization or a denomination which has location and structure. The societal shift, however, that is defined, not according to identity with a singular organization, but rather a common purpose, could be defined in terms of what Hiebert calls a centered set since the church would be defined by its center, the Triune God of Scripture. The trouble with the former, writes Hiebert, is that this may become too exacting and exclusive, while an advantage of the latter is that Jesus Christ becomes the focus of all that the Church is and does.

Although the popularity of congregational mission has come into focus primarily in the past ten years, the social and global shifts which foster an environment conducive to such a pervasive phenomenon have been in formation for much longer. Robert Wuthnow gives a sociological interpretation out of extensive research related to the changing epistemology in his book After Heaven: Spirituality in America since the 1950s. (1998). Wuthnow’s finding is that since the 1950s, Americans have shifted in their expression of spirituality from a focus on dwelling to a focus on seeking. According to Wuthnow, in the past, people primarily identified their faith by membership in a church that had a specific location. Because of social economic shifts, however, this general perception has changed somewhat. An example of this shift is that people produce less durable goods, and to a larger degree they produce a network of communication, or serve as brokers of goods or information. This shift from a focus on dwelling to a focus on seeking or networking is seen in how people perceive institutions. The older pattern, according to Wuthnow (8), was tightly bounded and hierarchical. Institutions were literally the building blocks of society. The newer pattern, however, emphasizes looser connections, diversity, and negotiation; practical activity takes precedence over organizational positions. Sociologist Robert Putnam makes a similar observation in his seminal book Bowling Alone (2000). Putnam describes the social shift in the United States away from membership in social organizations and away from what he describes as physical capital.

There is little doubt that many U.S. churches are making an epistemological shift away from the bounded sets of church as building and structure and toward a centered set which is relational and networking oriented. Although congregational mission is tied to the local church, it is the networking and relational aspects of the church and not the structure or theological identity that motivates them to volunteer and engage in mission. This ecclesiology driven by a desire for a common mission and/or relationship is crucial for understanding why there is such a large scale movement of congregations interested in mission that is relation and network based rather than mission that is top-down organization or structure based. A common thread found in research of the past 2-3 years is the strong emphasis on relationship networking which is a vital aspect of congregational mission as well as short-term mission (Bakker 2010, K.Priest 2009, Mickler 2010, Putnam 2010, Offutt 2009). The research in these studies also demonstrate a relational aspect through their ethnographic methodology.

Stephen W. Offutt’s 2009 PhD Dissertation focuses on El Salvador and South Africa networking. This ethnographic study, similar to C.M.Brown’s earlier dissertation (2007), included interviews of individuals on both sides of partnerships through 119 interviews with national pastors, and which also has a strong emphasis on the changing trends in evangelical congregations which are becoming more engaged in religious networks and what Offutt calls “the practice of moral entrepreneurship”. Offutt’s dissertation, unlike others focused primarily on two non-U.S. locations and explores the central role that symbols and networks have in the expanding and changing nature of “Southern evangelical communities”.

Steve Mickler’s 2010 PhD dissertation is primarily a qualitative ethnographic study of the affects that financial support from a Baptist Congregation in San Angelo, Texas has on three strategic partnerships in South Africa, Mozambique and Guatemala. Mickler conducted ninety-three ethnographic interviews and also includes considerable historical study of the giving trends of the congretation. Mickler’s dissertation maintains an ongoing tension between the assertions of Robertson McQuilken and others who propose that U.S. giving such as that in the congregational systems followed by Mickler will create paternalism and unhealthy dependencies on one side of the tension. On the other side of the tension, is the thesis of Robert Wuthnow, who argues for interdependent and relation based missions in contrast to the arguments of Philip Jenkins and others who propose an independent Christianity. Following both sides of this tension, Mickler points out that there are some very positive aspects of this partnership for both the U.S. congregation as well as the non-U.S. partners. He also points out that there are some signs of dependency and unhealthy relationships. In the balance of all of this, however, Mickler states “it seems clear from this research that the communities being server are indeed being helped far more than they are being hurt” (188) and in quoting Wuthnow (2010: 244), Mickler states that the local church partners also seem to be finding answers to Wuthnow’s question of “how to appropriately structure relationships between parties that differs in resources and power”.

An interesting approach to the question of power ,relationships and networking in short-term mission is the 2009 dissertation of Kersten Bayt Priest which works to “locate gender within STM…(109)” by following the ethnographic methodology described by George Marcus (1995) by first “following the people”, which in this thesis were women who engaged in short-term mission. This is a methodology of “following the people” is a methodology used in all of the ethnographic based dissertations that I encountered (Bakker 2010,Brown 2007, Mickler 2010, Priest 2010). Although Priest’s dissertation didn’t explicitly focus on the issue of congregation to congregation partnerships, her work has a contribution to make to this specific area of study since it is in dialog with much of the same literature of pilgrimage, tourism, short-term mission and congregational which contribute to congregation to congregation partnership studies. A consistent theme which is repeated in the interviews of Priest is that of relationships which are both bonding relationships within the women in the short-term mission groups, relationships with individuals in the location to where they travel, as well as relationships that the women utilize through their brokering for resources. In her analysis of the relationship between sacred pilgrimage and STM travel, Priest makes the interesting observation that unlike sacred pilgrimage, STM’s goal is not the geographical location, or even the journey, but rather the “perception that distant needy people are their destination. And within the span of a short-trip, those needy people are connected with and considered to be ‘family’” (185). This is a crucial component of relationship is included in other studies done on congregation to congregation partnerships (Brown 2007, Mickler 2010, Bakker 2010), and the common factor in these studies is that the desire for an authentic partnership is desired although difficult to achieve due to the complexities of financial and social distances between the congregations or groups. I noted earlier that Steve Mickler states that local church partnerships seem to be finding answers to Wuthnow’s question of “how to appropriately structure relationships between parties that differs in resources and power”. Janel Bakker’s dissertation research (Bakker 2010) is also optimistic that these type of “sister”partnerships break down many of these barriers. Kerten Bayt Priest’s research reflects this breaking down of barriers through women being the protagonists of STM endeavors. Priest describes how women who went on the trips find freedom to assume leadership roles that were not possible in their U.S. congregations. She also describes how this opened doors for women in the locations to where they traveled which would not have been possible with a gender mixed group. This finding is further supported by Robert Wuthnow (2010) who describes his findings that the social networks, such as women’s groups, or other networking formed within a congregation, resulted in greater relational networking through volunteerism beyond the congregation.

A recent dissertation which approaches a unique aspect of partnerships and which also reflects optimistic findings is Janel Kragt Bakker’s 2010 PhD (Bakker 2010) dissertation which is an ethnographic case study of twelve congregations involved in sister church relationships. Bakker focuses her study on the leaders and congregants who represent the North American partners and does not study the “Global Southerners”. The congregations which Bakker studied were chosen to cover a spectrum of theological and polity traditions. The study includes three Roman Catholic, three Presbyterian, three Anglican and three Baptist. Bakker states that “beyond the common quest for kinship with another community of faith in a distant locale, the stories of these twelve churches involved in sister church relationships vary greatly.”(153) Bakker makes the thesis that the current changing global dynamics give way to a changing paradigm in mission that is relationship based more than program based and instead of the northern and southern Christianity becoming more and more separated, she proposes that “companion congregation”, “twinning”, or “sister church” relationships present the potential for blurring the lines between donor and recipient which has often been a stumbling block to mission relationships between Christians from differing socio economic systems. Bakker’s dissertation also gives an extensive historical framework of mission practices and the theological as well as social influences which facilitated various movements including the more recent tensions between what has been referred to as “managerial mission” or the church growth movement, missional church, short-term mission and sister congregations.

Similar to the dissertation of Steve Mickler (Mickler 2010), Janel Kragt Bakker explores the challenges of patronage and exploitation evident in these types of relationships which need to be addressed. Her final analysis, however, is the same as Mickler’s (as well as Priest and Brown) that the potential and positive aspect found in these relationships far outweigh the challenges. Each of these ethnographic studies gives examples of relationships which were mutually beneficial through the partnerships formed. In one example of Bakker from an ethnographic case study of Trinity, an Anglican congregation partnering with Saint James in Haiti: “Respondents from Trinity unanimously argued that Saint James has made the greater contribution to the relationship, even though money flows in the opposite direction. Saint James’ intercessory prayer team—fifty persons strong—has been praying for Trinity daily for the past five years” (131).

Bakker answers some of the same issues raised in the research of Mickler related to possible challenges in partnerships. She makes the point that this new mission paradigm actually presents resolution to many of these challenges which are evident in colonialistic and program driven models instead of relational models.
The twelve ethnographic studies draw from congregational literature, and especially the methodology of Nancy Ammerman which “focuses on the accounts, artifacts, and activities that collectively build the culture of mission in participating congregations and parishes” (Ammerman,1998).

Bakker’s findings are consistent with the centered set theory of Hiebert (1999) as well as the findings of Wuthnow (1998) that congregations, for some time have been moving away from church and mission organizations as a locality (bounded set) and toward church as a common interest in relationship or mission (centered set). Bakker found a common strand in the twelve congregations she researched which circumvent denominational or larger regional bodies in the formation or continuation of their partnership relationships. In its place was the finding that “these partnerships were formed primarily on the basis of grassroots networking rather than denominational oversight. Sister church relationships function bottom up rather than top down through the chain of religious organization.” (156).

Epistemological shifts toward networking and relationship are closely related to social theory literature. Networking between people of a common congregation has been cited as the greatest factor leading to people within a congregation networking with people in other countries, as well as people outside of the congregation to procure support for mission efforts.

Congregational Mission (Part 2)

THE CONTEXT WHICH FOSTERS CONGREGATIONAL MISSION

An examination of the literature surrounding congregational mission indicates that there are several factors which make the current global, ecclesiological and missiological context fertile ground for an emerging expression of mission such as congregational mission. The literature review follows these factors which help to understand the broader context of post modernity, society and the church in sections that I have titled “epistemological shifts”, “Social theory” and “missionary ecclesiology”. Two other factors which help to understanding the plausibility of congregational mission are large phenomenon movements which are related to the first three sections which I have titled “The growth of Christianity in the Global south” and “Short-term mission”. As illustration of these large movements, I will point to the ethnographic studies related to short-term mission and congregational mission. These large scale factors help understand why a phenomenon such as congregational mission crosses the spectrum of theological traditions (Unitarians, Presbyterians, Baptists, Nazarenes, Catholic, etc.) which are experiencing and responding to this movement.

Congregational Mission in Context (Part 1)

By David Wesley

And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. 2 Cor.3:18


INTRODUCTION

In his book, The missional church and denominations (2008), Craig Van Gelder points out that renewal will not come from strategies to help denominations and congregations to be more effective through an emphasis on polity. The key to renewal, according to Van Gelder, however, is a focus on ecclesiology in which the church realizes its true mission identity. The focus of this paper is to explore the elements of our current context which provide an opportunity for the body of Christ to realize her mission identity as she reflects the glory of God.

Christians live in a rapidly changing global context; one marked by globalization, by a burgeoning Christian population in areas previously considered missionary areas, and by postmodern shifts in epistemology. It is not surprising that new expressions of Christian mission are emerging. This paper surveys the contemporary research and supporting literature describing current, global factors that contribute to relationally focused grass root expressions of mission such as congregational mission.The paper also explores why congregational mission provides a plausible expression of mission, one which spans theological traditions, and one that offers a sense of renewal for churches particularly in the U.S. or areas formerly considered to be “Christendom”.

Ted Lewellen’s landmark book, Anthropology of Globalization, begins with the following quotation from Stanley Barrett:

“Human society is in the process of being transformed to a degree possibly not seen since the industrial Revolution. The process can be summed up by the term globalization.” (Barrett, 1999:258)

The quote provides a glimpse into the thesis of Lewellen’s book as well as a widespread sentiment in literature of a variety of genres within the past ten years. Many theorists embrace a prevalent perception that the fluidity and movement of our changing global environment facilitates large scale change in nearly every aspect of our contemporary society. Many such statements can be accounted as hyperbole, assertions spurred on by the turn of the century, or by the trendiness of change itself. One should not be surprised, however, that global changes affect paradigms for mission expansion and development. In view of the epistemological, financial and structural shifts in our society, theorists need to engage in thoughtful research on the implications of globalization and related changes have on Christian mission. However, reversing the approach by beginning with research on the impact that Christian mission has on our changing global society may offer a different, and perhaps better, approach. As observed above, researchers may find difficulty separating false impressions within the complexities of globalization and rely upon those as direction for mission. Particular expressions of Christian mission, such as congregational efforts in mission, on the other hand, may yield stronger insights into examples of how Gods mission is addressing context.

Congregational mission often reflects a desire to attend to the results of societal brokenness such as orphanages, human trafficking relief, and aids relief through specific partnerships between two congregations in different global settings. In his book Most like an Arch, David Keyes gives eight brief case studies of such partnerships. A DMin dissertation, and the basis for a handbook for partnerships within the Unitarian Universalist Church, the text reveals desire for pastors and congregations to be involved in transformative activities that respond to the social effects of globalization. Particularly, Lutheran and Unitarian Universalist partnerships incorporate issues of social justice, human rights and international affairs. Lamin Sanneh states that the current southern movement of Christianity is likened to the magnitude of tidal wave (Sanneh 2003). In a similar expression Keyes states that “the current paradigm shift might make the Reformation look like ripples on a pond by comparison, and that grass roots, congregation to congregation partnerships is an observable part of the flood caused by the tidal wave that is currently breaking” (Keyes, 1999:20).

Proponents of this approach are not surprised that large churches, such as Bethany First Church of the Nazarene in Bethany Oklahoma have begun a 10+ year partnership with churches and medical clinics in Swaziland. This church has not only raised considerable funds and sent numerous short-term mission teams, but members also leverage funds by networking beyond the congregation. Grant writer James Copple, works in a brokering role for the Bethany congregation to secure private and federal funds beyond the local church. He states;

I cannot emphasize enough how important the volunteer efforts of BFC (Bethany First Church) have helped to leverage resources in Swaziland. We have estimated that BFC in time, donated medical equipment (shipped containers) and actual contributions have generated about $5 million in resources. This $5 million has allowed us to access, between Coca-Cola, the CDC and USAID about $6.5 million in actual grants or contracts. Also, we are using our experience with BFC and their ten year commitment to approach the Gates Foundation with the International Center for AIDS Prevention at the Melman School of Public Health at Columbia University to launch a Treatment as Prevention initiative that could eliminate AIDS in Swaziland by the year 2040. Gates is interested. This could be $50 million initiative. The Gates people have seen the commitment of BFC and other volunteer efforts as a testimony of our seriousness to do something tangible.
Converting volunteer time into a dollar figure is always challenging but not impossible. BFC has helped us do that2.

This type of congregational mission is reflective of the large congregations which are not only giving more in mission, but they are leveraging substantial amounts of money through networking beyond the typical mission giving.

Sociologist Robert Wuthnow’s book Boundless Faith (2009) provides interesting case studies of individuals who are bridging between specific needs such as medical care with resources in the U.S. In this sense, the participants are not just participating in a trip to do volunteer work, but rather they are acting as catalysts or links. An example of this are people who are interested in organizations of international social justice that work to assist in the plight of victims of human trafficking by promoting education, fundraising as well as other organizational activities.

Issues surrounding partnerships have been a mainstay of missiological discourse (Bonk, 2010) along with the complexities of a true partnership in the face of economic inequity for many years. The difference in the current context, however, is that partnerships in a networking and “flat” world represent a facet of mission which is distinct from traditional forms of mission.

Networking and relational focused mission is moving missions away from agency or denominational centered mission toward congregationally focused mission. The result is that many mission agencies are reinventing themselves into a supporting role rather than a leading role in their constituent relations. (Bakker, 2010) “Tasks once assigned to remote bureaucracies now become part of parish life, or are located in ad hoc associations of local churches (Keyes, 1999:20)”. Congregational mission is an illustration of this restructuring. “Those intermediaries who remain relevant have shifted their strategy to empowering local congregations and supporting grassroots initiatives” (Bakker:100-101). Robert Priest states that “megachurches and their pastors are forging influential new patterns of North American congregational involvement in global mission. Their influence on mission patterns often surpasses the influence of denominational leaders, mission executives, or leading missiologists” (Priest, Wilson, Johnson, Adelle. 2010:97). This is definitely the case of the congregation in Bethany Oklahoma.

The concept of congregational mission, for the purposes of this paper does not exclude mission agencies or denominations but does take into account their changing role. Congregational mission is a shift from missions being the domain of agencies supported by congregations, and a move toward mission being the domain and focus of congregations that utilize agencies as brokers for the plans and vision of the congregation in mission. In the case of the Bethany congregation, they collaborated with the denominational mission structure in the initial steps of the partnership to establish a healthy connection with the historical and existing mission in Swaziland. As a side note, there is no indication that churches which engage in congregational mission are discontinuing support of long term missionaries. Robert Priest’s research on U.S. megachurches found that 61 percent of the congregations that they researched either agreed or strongly agreed that “Western career missionaries are strategically important at this time and should be generously supported” ( Priest,Wilson,Adelle. 2010). Likewise, the Bethany Church has not decreased their giving to the denominational mission structure, but continues to support the global mission organization. Closely linked to this phenomenon is the inclusion of short-term mission trips which are “increasingly structured in terms of congregation to congregation or sister-church relationships (Brown, 2009:211)”. These relationships are often formed over a period of 10+ years to the location of an ongoing partnership between the congregation and a focused area or sister congregation. The terminology used for congregational mission includes descriptors such as congregation to congregational mission (Brown 2007), sister congregations (Bakker 6 2010), twinning (Hefferan 2007), partnership, or the term “International Inter Congregational Relationships” (IICR) which has been employed by some to apply to all such relationships (Cosgrove, 2008). In short, I am using the term congregational mission to refer to the local congregation as the protagonist of mission through relationship with another congregation. This is also reflective of (although not limited to) those who develop a Trinitarian missionary ecclesiology in which the church itself is identified as both gathered and sent by God instead of primarily “sending” others4 (Newbigin 1995, Goheen 2000, Guder 1998, Robert 2010:10).

International Congregational Partnerships

I have recently began to research the growing phenomenon of congregations who are engaging in long term partnerships with either another congregation or an area outside of the U.S. This aspect of mission is a different way of mission involvement and represents a possible shift in mission participation and mission giving. I am projecting to look at this more closely through a study of 5-8 specific congregations which I will begin researching around July/August, 2011. As an initial step, however, I have a conducted a study within the Church of the Nazarene just to get an idea of the scope of congregational partnerships within a specific denomination. If your congregation is involved in these type of partnerships or if you have input to give me, I welcome your thoughts on this post or emails.

Click on the slide below to see the results of the survey:

Children and God's Mission

The video is called TODAY. Its a creative animation that shows how kids are playing a vital role in God's plan for the world.

A Changing Mission Paradigm

-David Wesley

The challenge for missions is not getting people to “go”. People are willing to go. The challenge in the new era of missions, according to Oscar Muriu is that we have to be willing to die. This is a drastic change from missions as I have often experienced it in Latin America or other parts of the world where we work to keep missionaries away from dangerous situations. I would agree, however, that we are in a changing global dynamic which will continue to change the nature of mission in the years to come. In an incredibly current book which was published nearly 20 years ago, South African Missiologist, David Bosch says:
“The bravest among missionary thinkers have already for some time begun to sense a new paradigm for mission was emerging. More than thirty years ago Hendrik Kraemer (1959) said that we had to recognize a crisis in mission, even an “impasse”. And yet, he said, ‘we do not stand at the end of mission’; rather, ‘we stand at the definite end of a specific period or era of mission, and the clearer we see this and accept this with all our heart, the better’. We are called to a new’pioneer task which will be more demanding and less romantic than the heroic deeds of the past missionary era.’”(Bosch 1991:8).
Bosch and well as Kraemer’s writing of 20 and 50 years ago speak directly into the current global mission environment. Instead of fanfare’s to send off and receive missionaries, instead of comfortable homes, latest gadgets, and other “North Americaness”, we are entering a paradigm in mission which is marked by ‘normal’ people who are Christians and who scatter out to work and live as Christians and who depend on local economies. These are people who live as Christian witness. The reason that they ‘go’ is primarily as a natural expression of who they are, more than a motives of “taking Christ to a dark world”. This new paradigm is marked by sacrifice and marked by authenticity which will attract others by its authenticity instead of by it’s buildings, technology or impressiveness. In many ways this new paradigm looks like the models of scripture more than the models which developed out of colonialist periods.
What I am stating and reflecting from Bosch, is not my own desire for what mission should be, but rather a reflection on what mission is becoming. In many ways, I find the authenticity of this refreshing. On the other side, I honestly find the sacrificial nature of this threatening. But then, this is God’s mission and not ours and he did say that anyone who followed Him would have to “take up His cross”.

Reconciliation

This is a powerful message from Antoine Rotayisire given this week at the Lausanne Conference in Cape Town which calls all of us to BE authentic disciples and to be a part of the formation of authentic disciples.

Global Partnerships

Partnerships are a growing and powerful element in a globalized world in which we can bring our varied resources together toward the common mission that we have in God. The following is a clip from the current Lausanne Conference which emphasizes the need for investment in people who will lead a growing and expanding global church:


Global Partnerships

Samuel Escobar

The following is a clip of Peruvian Missiologist, Samuel Escobar related to Lausanne:

American Grace

The Missio Dei in Africa

This is the fourth and last posting for the Africa paper. Through this paper I have explored the possibilities of thinking missionaly in a global context such as Africa. I am sure that those who know Africa best will give me good feedback as we discuss this on the 8th. The following is the conclusion to this paper. I would love to hear any feedback that you may have.

CONCLUSION

In a globalizing world it is becoming more and more common for any of us to live very near people of other cultures, other religions or other languages who are separated from the Gospel. These neighbors are not separated because there is an ocean between them and people who can share the Gospel. They are separated from the Gospel because of barriers such as culture, religion, language, etc. The mission field in a globalized world is both across the street from where we live and is also across the world. It is the whole church which must find strategies and means to work out our own salvation as we live into God’s mission.
For us to be a missional community we should:
 Affirm that our primary vocation is to be Christian. God is the source of mission and God is the source of our life.
 Be incarnational as we develop means in which the messenger is the message of the Gospel. The means and methods which we employ should be means and methods which are used in incarnational ways.
 Affirm that the whole church is sent to make Christ-like disciples. Instead of missions being an additional program for a few people, we should work toward strategies which move the church to being a sent church which makes Christ-like disciples.
 It means that mission is the nature of the church wherever it may exist. As soon as new churches are formed, and people come into the fellowship of the church, they share the DNA of a sent people. Strategies must include ways to mentor new believers in this vein.
 Be interdependent with other Christians as we devise strategies and plans which build the Kingdom of God through collaboration.
Missiologist Andrew Kirk said it well: “The Church is by nature missionary to the extent that, if it ceases to be missionary, it has not just failed in one of its tasks, it has ceased being Church” (30). We live in a time of incredible opportunity in which the triune God calls the whole Church to be the missionary in the whole earth and to join in His mission of seeking and saving that which is lost. The Church of the Nazarene has a great history of missions. Today, however, is our day. Today, God has given you and me life and He has told us, “as the Father sent me, so send I you.” As we work toward strategies for the missionary church, we must focus with intensity on God’s mission to incarnate his message in the sent church until that day that we gather around the Lamb of God as a community which comes from every nation, language and people and proclaim:

"Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!"

Part 3: A Missional African Church

THE CHURCH AS MISSIONARY

Today as we think about a strategy for Africa’s mission future in the Church of the Nazarene, it is an interesting proposal to think about the mission of God in such a complex continent as Africa. As I speak with people like you who know the complexities of Africa and know the stories of Africa, it is evident that what I am proposing is not completely new to those who call themselves Nazarene in Africa. I would, however, like to discuss how the concept of the church being a sent church would apply to any global context and give us a framework for the work we will be doing later today.

1. The first aspect of the missional church is that first and foremost, we are called to be Christian.
Before any emphasis on goals, programs and activities, we are called to draw into God’s Holy presence. If God’s nature is mission, then those of us who partake in His nature will share that same nature of mission. In this sense, therefore, mission is not a program, but rather the very essence of being Christian.
The global Church of the Nazarene engaged in missions in the 21st century must begin with the reality that mission is God’s nature and God’s activity (missio Dei), and that the church is the missionary that is sent. The ‘business’ of the church then, is to live in the balance between drawing near to God within a worshiping community which leans into God’s holiness in such a way that the church shares relationship with the triune God and with one another. As this happens, it is natural that a worshipping community also shares God’s passion to restore relationship with those outside of the worshipping community in “Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth.
Missionary Lesslie Newbigin provides a great example of this type of a sent Church. Newbigin served as a missionary in India and developed a plan for building the Church, educating leaders, and developing churches as sent communities. When Newbigin would confirm and receive people into full communion with the Church, he would announce: “Now you are the Body of Christ in this village. You are God’s apostles here. Through you they are to be saved. I will be in touch with you. I will pray for you. I will visit you. If you want my help I will try to help you. But you are now the mission”(Goheen, 36). Newbigin commented that if this statement was made from the first day onward – that being a Christian community is about living as a sent community – then the Gospel would spread. If one denies this responsibility to the young church, then it does the church irreparable harm. In this sense, therefore, it is natural that as God breathes the church toward himself in worship He immediately breathes the church outward to His mission, and returns with others in worship in such a way that the very life of the church depends upon these two aspects of being a transformed people who are God’s ambassadors.
All of this implies that mission is the life of the church which is not done just by churches from one part of the globe, or when a church is large enough, wealthy enough, or even after a church has built their own building. Mission emerges as a part of the life of the church from the very beginning. A part of our DNA is that as people who are called unto Holiness, God breathes us into his Holy nature and breathes us out into His mission.
There is a great quote by Mother Teresa who said:“Many people mistake our work for our vocation. Our vocation is the love of Jesus.” That perception of calling, or vocation, proves crucial for us. Missionaries are not missionaries because they have a salary or a contract any more than a church is a missionary church just because it has a missions program. We all are mission as we embrace our true vocation to be Christian, or in the words of earlier Nazarenes, as we realize that we are “called unto holiness,” and there is no holiness outside of relationship with God and relationship with others.

2. The second characteristic of the missional church is that it is incarnational.
It is difficult to imagine God’s strategy of incarnational mission in the current environment of missions. If we were God, we would not have sent Jesus as a baby. If we were God, we would have been in a hurry to save humanity. Within three years, we would have devised a plan to save humanity. If we were God, we would have had Jesus dazzling crowds of thousands at a very early age and we would have saved humanity in just a few years. In our way of looking at missions and church growth, the way God did it was too slow, too low tech, too dangerous, and too wasteful of time. Having Jesus come as a baby, spending three years as an infant, spending years as a child and years as an adolescent as well as a young adult while the world was waiting to be saved, is in our perspective, a sign of a lack of visional clarity. The fact that Jesus lived as a young adult in his twenties and said nothing about his mission would be in our thinking a sign of poor product placement. It just does not seem right for us that God would send Jesus to the world in poverty and born to a peasant family when God owns the cattle on a thousand hills. In the logic of our world, the answer to reaching the world is more money, and more power. In our minds, it just seems that God did not understand marketing and use of branding. We would have sent the Messiah as a King, rich and powerful. We would have announced his arrival by demonstrating it on the billboards, at His entry the major news stations would have covered it live. It would have been digitally synchronized by satellites around the world. We would have reached the world at once. And if the news media was not available, at least we would have demonstrated an awe inspiring show in the sky that would make the whole world stop and look up into the sky. If we were God, salvation would have come in a mere few weeks and we may have even done it without a cross.
But I am not God and neither are you. God’s way, God’s strategy was (and is) the way of incarnation. In light of God’s mission and in light of our Wesleyan heritage, we must examine how we are doing missions today and how we have done it over the last 100 years. In a mission conference in Iguazu, Brazil, Peruvian missiologist Samuel Escobar made the bold statement that missions from the United States has become so managerial and mechanical in nature that it relies on technology and strategy more than it relies on the Holy Spirit. We must examine our desire for fast solutions and our belief that more money or power is the answer. We must examine the idea that if we only had more money, technology and power we could get the job done. At this crucial time in history we must come to the realization that mission is God’s and that any strategy which is more dependent on money than God is simply our limited strategy. Too often we have been in a hurry and we believe that creating more development and more institutions is the answer to missions. Too often power that is expressed in control of the mission or colonialist notions of forming others into our image instead of God’s image have accompanied the good news of the Gospel. And too often our idea of missions is simply a matter of building a business instead of working out our own salvation through building a Christian community. The methods which are contrary to incarnational mission are methods which are quick, clinical and easy. This is what some have called “helicopter missions” which is more focused on the task than the person who was created in the image of God. A great danger we face is the tendency to think that the organization is eternal and that people are expendable and temporary instead of realizing that it is people and relationships that are eternal and the organization is just a temporary tool. At the heart of incarnational mission is the notion that any method or strategy we use should lead us into relationship with people and should lead us into making disciples instead of religious business clients. Should we use technology, money and evangelistic tools? Yes, of course, but the greatest tool that we have is the messenger who embodies the message. Our challenge is to find creative ways in which technology, money and tools can be used in incarnational ways that lead us into community and relationships which will make disciples.
This is not our mission and God did not choose to just get the job done. God chose to put on humanity and he chose to be a pilgrim with us. In the words of John 1: 14, “The Word became flesh and dwelt amongst us.” God did not choose to just send a message; he chose to make the messenger the message in Jesus Christ. Theologians have a word for this. It is incarnation. The Gospel is not a mission strategy or a mission tool, the Gospel is Jesus Christ. God did not have a mission program to be supported, God Himself is the message – He is the mission.
Today as we look toward a strategy for the future, our path must be that of following the mission of God into incarnational mission which can often be a slow, difficult and dangerous path.
Listen to the following words:

1If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
5Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6Who, being in very nature[a] God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature[b] of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
9Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

This has enormous implications for any of us who call ourselves Christian. I have often wondered if sending missionaries was the most effective way for missions. If you read through the history of missions in the Church of the Nazarene, you will find a partial story which is primarily told of the European or North American man who carried out the mission of the church. Stories are told of the Schmelzenbachs in Swaziland, the Kiehns in China, the Tracys in India, John Diaz in Cape Verde Islands, and the Winans in Peru. These stories are stories of hardship and determination. In nearly all of the early missionary stories, it took years to learn language. Much of their time was spent in adaptation to a drastically different context, and in most cases these early missionaries saw very few people come to Christ.

As we think about the next steps for missions in Africa, we don’t look back on the past and say, “they had amazing strategies” or “they had amazing evangelistic tools that they brought from other places.” As we look on the past, however, we must acknowledge God’s strategy which was the same as when he sent his Son. It is the same strategy God has used throughout the history of the Christian church to incarnate His message in the messengers of his sent church which included people like these early missionaries, and people whose names we may never know, but representatives of the sent church who are willing to decrease so that Christ may increase. These are people in the spirit of John the Baptist whose life did not draw people to himself, but whose life pointed to Christ. The calling that the sent church has today is a calling unto holiness first and foremost.

There are many lessons that we can learn from past generations of missionaries, and the stories that we tell and retell of God’s grace which went ahead of missionaries who came from other continents to Africa as well as those from within Africa who followed God’s calling are stories that we should tell to our children and our grandchildren. These are our heroes in the faith, and as we tell these stories we must remember that the story isn’t just about individual missionaries, but it is a story of a church, a denomination which was a sent church.

At this point, let me just say that as we think of strategy that some of the things that we learn from the past are also things that we will not want to repeat as we move forward. The tendency in many areas is for people to repeat strategies, even if they don’t agree with them. Many times in the past, the church did not have the best strategies. The colonialist approach to missions, paternalistic patterns, dependence on money, pride, power, and many other approaches are all approaches that we must not repeat. As you develop African mission strategies, however, it is quintessential that incarnational mission which develops the church to be messengers who do not consider their own comfort and rights something to be grasped or held onto but instead takes the role of a learner who enters into relationship with others.

3. To be a missional church means that the whole church is sent to make Christ-like disciples.
Mission history books normally focus on the individual or couple who left their home country and went to a new area to establish the church. It would be very difficult or impossible to tell the whole story of missions, but when pioneer missionaries were sent, they did not go alone. They came from congregations with a passion for God’s mission who supported and prayed them. In history texts about the early missionaries to Africa, it is told how the first churches supported them with food and taught them the culture and language (see Parker). In this sense, it was the community of Christ from two continents, working together toward one mission as it supported those who were representatives of one church in two continents. It is with this understanding that we can rightly say that we are a sent church as we prepare, send and collaborate with those who give their lives to go to the cultures and people who are very different than themselves. With this understanding, however, it remains that it is the church that is the missionary as it is sent. Mission is not an individualist activity, mission is the whole community working together toward God’s mission. As we think today about how the Church of the Nazarene in Africa is a sent church, we must think about ways that each congregation will work together to be sent through individuals and couples who go as part of the missionary church to cultures and contexts to which God is leading us. There are many things that can be included in equipping people for this task, but the primary objective of the sent church is to make Christ-like disciples as we go.
To make Christ-like disciples is different from making religious customers of our particular organization we call the Church of the Nazarene. Large numbers of people coming to know Christ is a great thing, and we are to be about God’s task of redemption. We must, however, remember that the goal is not simply more people for a larger organization. The primary goal is always about making Christ like disciples.

In the past, there were times in which many Christian groups formed strategies in order to grow faster which focused on principles of church growth such as the homogeneous unit principle which built on the fact that a church will grow faster if the people in the congregation are similar in ethnicity or other aspects. The balance in which we work is that our primary identity as Christians is not ethnicity, skin color or political affiliation. Ethnicity as a social construct, on the other hand should not be ignored and we need to celebrate the unique aspects which we have as individuals as well as social groups, but only as they are subservient to the values of the Kingdom of God which we inherit as a new ethnic identity. “The issue is not how to make the world safe for cultural homogeneity. It is how to balance or rightly order two different identities –our social identity created by our culture, history, and social location and our spiritual identity informed by values of the Kingdom of God.”(Whiteman 2006:60) Too often we are more American, Korean, Kikuyu or Telugu than we are Christian.

In recent history we have seen what happens when ethnic specific religion degenerates into tribalism and racism as we have seen in the deaths of hundreds of thousands in many places around the globe.

If anything these examples from recent history reminds us that that the great commission is to make disciples, not just converts, and that these disciples must grow deep in understanding Jesus’ mandate to love and forgive our enemies. The disciple in a territorialized world must not only be taught to look upward to Jesus but also outward in love to those around them whom Jesus loves. If any group has a response to the terrorized and war torn sections of our globe, it is the Church of the Nazarene as it proclaims the optimistic and radical Gospel of reconciliation and relationship with God and with “others”.

Tribalism challenges us to build up holy disciples who know how to break down the barriers, the “dividing walls of hostility” through Christ.
The sent church must be first and foremost engaged in making Christ-like disciples who gather around Christ and not around marketing strategies or ethnicity.

4. It means that mission is the nature of the church wherever it may exist.
Communities of believers in any part of the globe who are transformed by the Gospel will naturally engage in God’s mission.
For individuals within the church in Africa to think of being sent to “others” is not a new concept for Africa. In a recent conversation with Dr. Charles Gailey, former missionary to Swaziland and missiologist, I discovered that there has been a long history of the church responding to God’s mission which occurred spontaneously as a result of a strong sense of Christians living into the missio Dei and evangelizing to the lost.

One example which Dr. Gailey told me is Alice Khumalo of Swaziland. In the 1940's she obeyed God's call to go with American missionaries George and Jeanette Hayse to the Pedi people group in South Africa. In an interview at her home near the end of her life, she shared with Gailey with great gusto how she had learned the different customs and language of the Pedi people. Suddenly she bolted to her bedroom. She came back holding a well-worn Bible written in the Pedi language. She then recounted wonderful victories as the Pedi people had responded to her preaching from that very Bible. Her fluency in the language was evident. In fact, Gailey comments, “I suspect that her use of the language far exceeded the expertise of the contracted missionaries that she worked with.” In the traditional understanding of the term missionary, Alice Khumalo was a missionary.
Another example is Juliet Ndzimandze who was born in a little mountain hamlet in Swaziland. Although not a missionary with a contract, she certainly ministered as a cross cultural witness in many areas of the world. In 1963-64 she taught and preached in Malawi. Later she evangelized throughout Africa, the British Isles, the Netherlands, Germany, and America. She was a blessing cross-culturally to many throughout the world.

If we had all week to sit and tell stories, I am sure that we would hear many similar stories throughout Africa of people like Alice Khumalo or Juliet Ndzimandze who do not appear in the mission history textbooks or who are not under contract with Global Mission, but people who are in a traditional sense of the word “missionary.” Today, we should celebrate these people and we should also tell their stories to our children and grandchildren as our heroes in mission.

Even as we celebrate these people, however, we must think of missionary terms of a sent church and think beyond the framework of missionaries being people working alone or strictly people who go to a far away culture. As a church, we must think of new strategies which embrace ways that the whole church in any place that they may be located embraces the whole mission of God.

The challenge for us today is to think about the mission of God in terms other than geographic terms. Where you live has absolutely no bearing on participating in God’s mission. If God has transformed your life and you are a part of body of Christ, then you are mission people.

This way of thinking about mission implies models of interdependence where we see the whole Church involved in the whole mission to the whole world. The Kingdom of God is not divided by political or ethnic boundaries. There is not an African mission; a European mission or a North American mission, there is only God’s mission that we all participate in. I challenge you today to think in creative ways of forming a model for missions that will be a model for the whole church in which you build on the incredible mission force of people throughout Africa, but also join with Nazarenes throughout the world. I challenge you to think of the church as missionary – a church that is sent to nearby communities as well as faraway lands.

5. A missional church is interdependent with other Christians.
We have often separated ourselves from other Christian groups with the objective to “keep the faith” by defending our specific emphasis of holiness. Our calling, however, is not to defend holiness, or to battle other Christians, but to be holy people who are being transformed daily and who desire nothing more than to reflect the nature of God. With a perspective that the mission is God’s mission and not ours, the greatest enemy that we face is not other Christians. Our greatest enemy is that we draw into ourselves and become a sectarian group with an inward focus on ourselves instead of outward to God and His mission. Developing collaborative initiatives in which we can work together with others who have a similar passion for the mission of God demonstrates that the mission belongs to God.

The Church of the Nazarene has a specific reason to exist. The various groups which have formed the Church of the Nazarene believed that God had called us to be a people who live and proclaim holiness. If we do not live and proclaim holiness, the Church of the Nazarene as a denomination, has no reason to exist. I would go further to say that our Wesleyan understanding of scripture and theology also lead us to a specific way that we approach mission. For us to live and proclaim holiness, however, does not mean that we are a sect which is isolated from other Christians. We are a part of the larger body of Christ. If anything, holiness should lead us to find ways to be a sent church within the larger body of Christ in such a way that we maintain our reason to exist and also find ways to work together with brothers and sisters of other denominations.

Part 2 - Africa Conference

A CHANGING WORLD
MISSION, MISSIONS, MISSIONARIES AND THE CHURCH


--David Wesley

Where is the mission field? As a boy growing up in the Church of the Nazarene in the United States, it never seemed like a difficult question. It was "over there," meaning anywhere outside my country. These were places captured in the slides of returning missionaries, locations like Papua New Guinea or Swaziland. We prayed that people would find Christ, we made pledges to give to the mission field, we took up offerings for the individual missionaries, and some of the older ladies in the church wrapped bandages for the mission hospitals, or collected clothing. Whatever form it took, one thing was absolutely clear: We are the ones who send, and they are the ones who receive.

Words often change and adapt as they need greater clarification. Few words have changed more in recent history than terms related to missions such as “missionary,” “mission,” “mission field,” and “missional.” Currently, the words “mission field” and “missionary” are open to a wide range of interpretation. Some media coverage and popular novels portray missionaries as colonialist destroyers of local culture . In some places a missionary is simply a foreigner who has access to money. As a result, the word “missionary” is not a positive term or is not meant for anyone other than North Americans or Europeans in many parts of the world. In other places, the term “missionary” defines any Christian who does anything in any part of the world for any reason, and the mission field is the place where this happens. A third perspective defines a missionary in professional terms. The Manual of the Church of the Nazarene defines a missionary merely as “a member of the clergy or a layperson who has been appointed by the General Board to minister for the church.” A fourth definition of missionary is primarily based on geography and culture and defines missionary as anyone who is doing something with a humanitarian or Christian emphasis in a different country or culture than their own. In this case, the mission field is usually defined as crossing salt water. These competing definitions show how mission-related terms continue to change. The variety of terms also emphasize that we need a clear understanding of mission as God’s mission for the whole church if we are to find a way forward.

Mission is the most identifiable aspect of the body of Christ. Mission is not a program or plan of the Church, it is not a slogan or mission statement which gives administrative direction, neither is it simply the ministry of an individual. Mission is the very nature of the Church which is seeking first God and His kingdom. Mission flows directly from God. A living relationship with the God of mission distinguishes the Church as a living organism as opposed to a mechanistic (and secular) organization. Because of this relationship it can be said that the Church does not simply support or receive a program of missions, but that the Church is the missionary.

Within the Church of the Nazarene there is a great need to clarify our understanding of the missional or missionary church and mission theology that remains true to Scripture as well as to our theological identity within the larger Christian body. In 1984, Nazarene missiologist Paul Orjala wrote a missionary book titled God’s Mission is my Mission . In the book, Dr. Orjala addressed themes that had surfaced in several mission conferences sponsored by the World Council of Churches since 1952 and drew from the writing of Karl Barth. Academic scholars and writers such as David Bosch and Lesslie Newbigin discussed these themes and challenged the way in which the West had traditionally framed the mission field as “over there.” For the most part, however, these topics remained an academic discussion, and had not yet been popularized to the larger Christian church. Neither did these themes at that time touch the Church of the Nazarene at large. While Orjala did not develop a mission theology in this missionary reading book, he did establish a basis for understanding mission as God’s mission first and foremost. The term he and others used for this understanding was missio Dei, a Latin term meaning “God’s mission.”
The groundbreaking idea behind missio Dei is that mission always has its source in God and not in the individual or an organization. South Africa Missiologist David Bosch asserted that “mission” defines God’s nature. Mission is not a program of the Church of the Nazarene that is carried out by those who have money or by those who happen to be born in a nation with money. And although we have great missionaries from many different nations who represent the sent church throughout the world, contrary to the manual, a missionary is not defined as simply an individual who has a salary and a contract with the Church of the Nazarene. In every part of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, Scripture makes it clear that God is a missionary God. God’s love for “the nations,” and God’s desire for His people to share in His passion, is never a secondary issue in Scripture that is limited to just a select few with a contract and a salary. This nature of love stands at the very center of who God is and who God expects the Church to be. In the New Testament, the Church is sent through those called apostle. The Church, however, did not limit mission to a denominational program of sending missionaries to “the ends of the earth.” The Church didn’t just have missionaries (or apostles); the Church itself was the missionary in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria as well as to the ends of the earth. Another way to state this perspective is to say that before the Church is a sending church, it is first a “sent” church. This statement has enormous implications for every group of believers in any part of the globe.

I would like to take the remainder of this paper to work toward an understanding of what a sent, missionary church might look like in 21st century Africa for those who are of the Wesleyan tradition. My intention is not to extract specific mission strategies for Africa. My experience and understanding is that successful strategies are those which are developed and implemented by those who are actively involved in a specific ministry location. My hope, however, is that those who know their context best will work from these foundational understandings to develop creative and sustainable strategies which are created by Africans for the African context.

Is Missional a North American Fad?

Is missional theology a U.S. phenomenon or is it applicable to other global contexts as well? I have often argued that if the issues of the emergent church or missional theology were only U.S. issues, then it is nothing more than a faddish phenomenon. For the past couple of years I have been thinking through the implications of missional theology to global contexts and on September 8th I will have the opportunity to explore implications of missional thought in Africa.

In a few days I will be participating in a mission conference in Johannesburg, South Africa. The unique aspect of this conference is that the objective of the conference is for the participating churches of the nations of Africa to think about a new paradigm of mission in which they can mobilize Christians in Africa toward the many contexts of Africa. I will post the paper which I have written for this conference which will become the basis for my presentation. A section of the paper will be presented each day for the next 3-4 days. One of my goals in writing this paper was to work through missional thought in a global context. If possible, I will port the response paper to this which will be presented by Dr. Chambo.

The Emerging Missionary Paradigm in Africa: A Missional Vision for the Church of the Nazarene in Africa

by David Wesley

A paper presented at the Africa Region Conference in Johannesburg, South Africa
September 8, 2010

INTRODUCTION

It is a great honor and privilege for me to join with African voices in this momentous conference. I call this conference momentous because this is a pivotal time within context of global history and it is a momentous time for those of us who call ourselves Christian and Nazarene. I say that this is an honor and privilege, not out of false humility or nicety, but in the realization that my voice is that of an outsider to the Africa context to which most of you are deeply engaged and have years if not a lifetime of firsthand knowledge. The mission of God, to which we have been called, however, is one that continuously pushes us beyond our borders. It is also a mission that we have together as brothers and sisters in Christ. For this reason, I address you as colleagues in a common mission of God that is not defined by temporary boundaries of political nature, skin color, language, or culture but which is defined by the fact that we share a common mission as those created in the imago Dei.

South African Missiologist David Bosch states, "Christianity has never been more itself, more consistent with Jesus and more evidently en route to its own future, than in the launching of world mission"(Bosch 16). As we meet today as leaders of the Church of the Nazarene in Africa, we acknowledge that mission is not a program of the church which originates in one part of the world and is sent to another, neither is mission an option for the church of Africa or anywhere else. One of the greatest misunderstandings of mission history is the idea that missions is owned by Europe and North America. As a result of mistaken notions such as this, many Christians in places such as South America, Africa and Asia have thought that they can only receive the benefits of missions. Mission, however, is the very essence of what it means to be followers of Christ. As a Christian church, we are identified by mission. Without mission the church is not the church. In the words of missiologist Andrew Kirk, “The Church is by nature missionary to the extent that, if it ceases to be missionary, it has not just failed in one of its tasks, it has ceased being Church” (Kirk). When I use the word “church” in this paper, I am referring to more than just a local congregation, but it is the body of Christ which is not defined by a building, or country. In this sense therefore, it is the whole church that must be about the whole mission of God.

A QUESTION OF LOCATION

David Wesley

Forty years ago, America was gripped by "Future Shock." The book by Alvin Toffler which was originally published in 1970 became a bestseller (Toffler 1984). In a movie adaptation of the book, Orson Wells describes future shock as a sickness which comes from too much change in too short a time. It's the feeling that nothing is permanent anymore. It's the premature arrival of the future . The premise of Toffler’s book was that the element of change would continue to increase in society to such a rate that it was overwhelming. In an afterword commentary for Educause, Andy Cooley, Senior Vice President, Marketing for SunGard Higher Education states:

Charles Darwin observed that it’s not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but those most adaptive to change. For humankind, the pace of change has been accelerating, and never as rapidly as in the past century. One hundred years ago, our body of knowledge doubled only once every century. Today, our body of knowledge doubles every few years. In our digitized, microchipped world there is virtually no subject that cannot be Googled, downloaded, and consumed. In higher education the challenge is clear. How can we analyze and apply that information in ways that will help our learning institutions thrive? How do we turn that ubiquitous cloud of information into real knowledge?

The ability to learn how to learn and how to learn how to filter knowledge and information in this environment is essential. It is not particularly new news or an extreme statement that nearly every aspect of contemporary society is going through continuous transition and change. What may be more difficult for many people to understand is that these changes are more than more information, simple changes of finding better ways to do business, education or administration; the changes are real paradigm changes which flow from a larger epistemological shift in society. These shifts which flow from the way people see the world and think, are something which impacts every part of society. Over the next new posts, I would like to explore the common thread of the epistemological shift related to location and look at how this shift affects intercultural education by exploring how societal and technological factors contribute to educational models of learning which are centered on learning communities of pilgrimage rather than centered on traditional physicality. I am intentionally connecting dots between the literature related to the phenomenon of short-term missions, pilgrimage, sociology, theology, hermeneutics and education as a prism to understand the current shift and also as a paradigm for a way forward in graduate level intercultural studies in the U.S. as well as in educational systems outside the U.S. The final section will hypothesize how these aspects could provide opportunity for stronger learning models for intercultural studies in context .

The Mobile Ivory Tower

Who would have ever thought that the ivory tower was mobile? In just a couple of days a cohort group of NTS students will be boarding a plane for Sao Paulo Brazil, a few days later, another group of students will board a plane for Ireland, and then a few days later a third group will board a plane for Croatia. These students are leaving the U.S. for their first year of graduate work at NTS.

What the students will be studying and learning during this year is not much different than the academic program of the previous year, or the missiological program of other reputable graduate level seminaries. What is innovative and different this year, however, is how students will be learning. Last year (and for many previous years), students would come to the campus of NTS where they would read the underlying theories and aspects of anthropology, contextualization, current issues in missiology, etc. In this same class room setting professors like me would work with students to integrate this learning in such a way that students could interact with the best of missiological books, journals, and other published sources through class projects, lectures and dialog. This year, in the program we call 365m(365 days in mission), students will interact with the same academic, missiological sources, but they will also be learning how to learn to understand the significance and application of these sources from people in Brazil, Ireland and Croatia. Professors on the campus at NTS will continue to work with the students through the design of courses and through on-line courses, but the students will also be able to interact with academic mentors, ministry mentors and culture mentors. The applied learning will include language learning, participation in indigenous church planting, shadowing local leaders, collaborative teaching, and various ways to learn how people in a context view their own culture and how their faith is expressed in that culture. Beyond the learning potential in this environment, there are significant implications of this type of program.

Short-term mission is a phenomenon in which more than 2 million people will participate each year as they go with youth groups, work and witness teams, college groups, compassionate ministry groups, medical missions groups, sports ministry groups, etc. Short-term missions is such a part of the Church of the Nazarene (as well as most denominations) that if you look at the giving reports of the General church, one of the only categories which has shown an increased amount of giving over last year instead of a decrease is the column labeled “work and witness”. This is a major shift for the church which has a variety of implications. The first is that nearly any person who is sent out as a full time, long term missionary with a contract with Global Mission will have had experience in a short-term mission experience. This is very true of the students who are leaving from NTS in the next few days, they have been to more than 38 countries through short-term missions. This means that all of them have had exposure to culture in the past through short-term mission, but for the most part, people on short-term missions do not have time to learn culture from the inside and their experience is doing ministry with culture as a backdrop. Within the framework of 1-2 weeks, it is difficult to do much more than this. These short-term experiences are often life changing for those who participate and have a positive impact on the church. The challenge, however, is that people who move into long term cross cultural missions who see culture as a backdrop to their ministry will either return to their home country prematurely, or the effectiveness of their ministry will be deformed. One of the objectives that we have in 365m is to build a bridge between healthy short-term mission experiences and learning how to learn culture and people as the basis for engaging in strategy and ministry.

Another implication of 365m to the current mission environment is that there is an increasing move toward people who have undergraduate degrees in areas such as business or other skills which are globally marketable. Within a missional understanding of the church, it is the whole church which is sent to make disciples. It is our hope that students who have undergraduate degrees in these type of areas will be able to gain a foundation for understanding Christian mission within context and will be able to be a Christian witness as they move to global contexts as professionals in areas outside of the traditional missionary enterprise.

As the mobile ivory tower moves out, I encourage you to pray for the students who are living into the missio Dei in Brazil, Ireland and Croatia.