Missiology
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Learning to ask questions of the Status Quo
As I write, the Church of England is engaged in the meeting of its General Synod, deeply immersed in the latest round of conversation and decision-making about its ‘Living in Love and Faith’ process. Understandably, feelings are running high, and the challenge of how the state church can hold together different ways of grappling with theological understanding is inevitably a key strand of these discussions. Estate-based priest and theologian Rev. Al Barrett wrote thoughtfully ahead of this week, ‘It’s important, I think, in these conversations for each of us to try hard to locate ourselves a little – to resist the temptation to speak from an imagined (and illusory) abstract, objective or…
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Compassionate Collaboration, Christian Mission and the Bank of Dave
A glimpse of Jesus’ compassion appears in Matthew 9:35-38. In one of the more well-known images of Christian witness, Jesus responds to crowds “harassed and helpless” with a call for collaborators (“Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest” (38)). The verses in Matthew are one of a cluster of Gospel narratives in which Jesus is described as a shepherd, sent by God to strengthen the weak and heal those damaged by sin, greed and betrayal.[1] A contemporary image of compassion and collaboration appears in a recent movie, Bank of Dave (2023). Movies, along with other forms of popular culture, are not commonly used as…
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Evangelising Africa in the 21st Century: What it Takes to Create Impact and Convert Souls
Missionaries first arrived in Africa employing various strategies to convert native populations, such as providing education, healthcare and other civilizing services, that were often successful at drawing followers to Christianity. Recently, however, many of these duties have fallen to governments instead, leaving a lesser role for churches in these areas. Yet despite this shift in responsibility, churches continue to play an essential role in education and healthcare provision. Due to decreasing church attendance rates in Africa, churches need new methods of evangelism to attract and keep followers. I will share my own experiences on what has proven successful at engaging people and cultivating commitment to church attendance. Church-run institutions across…
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Quid pro quo: The Experiences of a Missionary in Japan
Quid pro quo (“A favor for a favor”) is a phrase that immediately brings to mind one of cinema’s most famous psychopaths, Hannibal Lecter, but for me it’s also a warning to the Christian missionary community. Quid pro quo has been used by missionaries in Japan for a long time, certainly since before I arrived fifteen years ago. We provide a service, usually cheap English lessons, and Japanese people provide an opportunity for us to share our faith with them. Perhaps they even make a verbal declaration for Christianity. They may do so not so much for salvation or due to faith, but to avoid the awkwardness of declining a…
