Mapping Church Missions

The terrain of church missions is often bewildering. Should we prioritize evangelism or works of service? Local ministries or overseas missions? What's more important: giving our money or giving our time? Crisis relief or building sustainable, long-term ministries? And what about the often debated pros and cons of short-term missions trips? In Mapping Church Missions, Sharon Hoover brings her years of experience in local church missions to bear on these and other thorny questions. Instead of taking a hardline stance on one end of the spectrum or the other, she approaches each question with nuance, adding helpful data, presenting new perspectives, and always pressing gently past surface questions to the heart of the matter. Whether we're fully aware of it or not, our churches come up against these questions whenever we consider how best to use our resources for the mission of God. Written by an experienced guide, this book maps the terrain of church missions in careful detail, helping us plot our church's unique course as we seek to serve Christ's kingdom.

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This book is the first critical biography of William Taylor, a nineteenth-century American missionary who worked on six continents. Following Taylor’s global odyssey, the volume maps the contours of the Methodist missionary tradition and illumines key historical foundations of contemporary world Christianity. A work of social history that places a leading Methodist missionary in the foreground, this narrative illustrates distinctive aspects and tensions within Methodist missions such as the importance of doctrines like universal atonement and entire sanctification, a deeply pragmatic orientation rooted in God’s providence, an embrace of both entrepreneurial initiatives and networked connection, and the use of revivalism for missionary outreach and leadership development. A Virginia native, Taylor became a Methodist preacher and missionary in California. This volume provides an important narrative account of Taylor’s career as an itinerant revivalist and popular author, in which he toured the eastern United States, the British Isles, and Australasia. Taylor’s participation in the South African revival made him an evangelical celebrity. The author also follows Taylor’s important visits to India and South America, where he initiated new Methodist missions in those contexts and pioneered the concept of “tentmaking” missions. In 1884, Taylor was elected missionary bishop of Africa by his church. By the end of his life, Taylor had recruited or inspired hundreds of Methodists to become foreign missionaries.

Contextualization is the art of translating ideas into a particular situation, place or culture. It is fundamental to communication, which makes contextualization essential in missions. This textbook pulls together and maps the variety of evangelical approaches to contextualization. Introductory classes on contextualization and missionary preparation institutes will appreciate this valuable textbook. Contextualization in Missions will guide mission-minded Christians to an informed plan for spreading the gospel effectively. While written with a theoretical perspective, Contextualization in Missions also provides real-world examples to provoke both thought and action.