Called To Unity For The Sake Of Mission

Engaging together in new configurations, believers of many backgrounds are exploring common ground and identifying paths to consider as we continue proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ. Contributors to this volume provide insights from a diversity of experience, from perspectives orthodox and catholic, evangelical and charismatic, mainstream and pioneering.-Olav Fykse Tveit, General Secretary of the World Council of Churches The disunity of God's Church must grieve him beyond all telling. How much we have to repent of. These essays take us on an honest and sobering journey through the causes and scandal of our separateness - beyond simple diversity - and help us understand the barriers from the perspectives of many streams of the world church.

“I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.”Too often, these words of Jesus from John 17:20-21 seem like an unreachable ideal. But in Your Church Is Too Small, John Armstrong shows that Jesus’ vision of Christian unity is for all God’s people across social, cultural, racial, and denominational lines.“With attention to his own pilgrimage and growth in ecclesial awareness, John Armstrong explores here the evangelical heart and ecumenical breadth of churchly Christianity. I am encouraged by his explorations and commend this study to all believers who pray and labor for the unity for which our Savior prayed.” – Timothy George, senior editor, Christianity Today.“Dr. Armstrong’s irenic approach should make it easy for Christians—whether Catholic, Orthodox, or Protestant—to engage the challenging thesis of the book, while recognizing that there remain points of doctrine between them which will require further clarification. Anyone concerned about either evangelism or Christian unity should read this book, and take seriously its call for both mission and ecumenism.” – Fr. Thomas A. Baima, Provost, University of Saint Mary of the LakeJohn Armstrong is one of those Evangelical theologians—may their tribe increase and the valley abound with their tents—who know that full obedience to Christ embraces the historical transmission through which we know him. This book refuses to scale down the bearer of that tradition—the historical church, that is—or reduce the authority of its voice. – Fr. Patrick Henry Reardon, senior editor, Touchstone “It's a must for anyone who has grown weary with Christian divisiveness and schism and longs to discover ways of strengthening the bonds that unite us in the Spirit of Christ.”– Chuck Colson

Churches vary a great deal - but can we see past all their differences to what underlies them? 'Generous orthodoxy' is a phrase that describes a Christianity both broad and deep, rooted in the historic creeds and embracing different expressions of Christian faith. The Bond of Peace is a ground-breaking, creative and practical exploration of what generous orthodoxy really means, and how expressing it might bring about a sense of unity in the church that is badly needed in our fractured and polarised world. Drawing together leading theologians from the UK and the USA - including David Ford, Katherine Sonderegger, Willie Jennings, Tom Greggs, JKA Smith and Jane Williams - The Bond of Peace offers reflections on how generous orthodoxy can be expressed through everything from worship and preaching to biblical theology, the arts and more. Based around a series of lectures held at St Mellitus College, and sponsored by the McDonald Agape Foundation, this timely book is essential reading for anyone interested in how the Christian Church can bridge the gap between denominations to negotiate the challenges of our 21st century world in a united manner. It will leave you, not only with a deeper understanding of generous orthodoxy, but the practical confidence to celebrate and embrace the differences in Christian denominations so we can all live together more joyfully - through the transforming and renewing work of the Holy Spirit.

In this book you will learn of the unheralded CMS missionary Benjamin Bailey. You willl hear the story through unpublished archive material combined with rare accounts from an Indian perspective. You will see how church reformation in India was aided by Western involvement but retained independence from it. You will learn how the story of colonial politics and church reform are intertwined but never straightforward. For practitioners today there is much food for thought in this account.

This Companion brings together new contributions from internationally renowned scholars in order to examine the past, present and future of Protestantism. Co-edited by leading Protestant theologians Alister E. McGrath and Darren C. Marks, with contributions from internationally renowned scholars. Opens with an investigation into the formation of Protestant identity across Europe, North America, Asia, Australasia and Africa. Includes coverage of leading Protestant thinkers, such as Luther, Calvin, Schleiermacher and Barth. Considers the interaction of Protestantism with different areas of modern life, including the arts, politics, the law and science. Debates the future of Protestantism in both Western and non-Western settings.

- For all interested in the future of mission in the Anglican Communion - Authors and perspectives encompass the breadth of the world-wide Anglican Church In an era where partnership and communion seem to be under threat, this book re-imagines mis-sion partnership in a diverse and pluralist world. The theme of the Lambeth Conference 2020 is "God's Church for God's World," and this vol-ume serves as a theological resource for the conference and for those interested in the future of the Anglican Communion. Building on the work of the Center for Anglican Communion Studies (VTS) and the Mission Department of the Anglican Communion Office, the book identifies and addresses key theological, cultural, and practical issues that need to be addressed for mission partnerships to thrive. Key among these issues is listening: listening to one another is a profound challenge given socio-economic differences, power differentials, and linguistic divides. Drawing from mission experience, the authors offer best practices for discipleship as listening. Written across cultural differences, the authors hail from Zambia, the United Kingdom, Haiti, India, Latin America, Native American, South Africa, Turkey, the United States, and Lebanon. Each chapter invites readers to explore issues in their context through hearing scripture, hearing each other, and hearing the Spirit.

The purpose of this volume on mission and unity is to bring to public attention a broad overview of the history, development, and perspectives of the role of mission in the pursuit of unity and the central biblical focus on unity as a prerequisite for an authentic witness in mission. The volume raises concrete questions: If the churches can agree on unity for mission, then does this visible unity go any further than the mutuality, partnership, collaboration, and networking of the Edinburgh 2010 Common Call? Does the call to unity or communion imply common touchstones, structures, or ministries to serve the communion of churches in mission?

Although Christians minister in various ways, the authors of Unity in Mission contend that Christians may be-come more unified as they focus together on the mission of the church because their ministries provide rewarding opportunities to cooperate with one another for the sake of God and the gospel.