Mission As God S Spiral Of Renewal

In this remarkable volume covering diverse subjects, in a span of three decades, Kenneth R. Ross articulates his views on the meaning and practice of Christian mission and challenges the binary view of mission that prevailed before the 1950s. He further reflects on Scotland’s experiences in the world-wide Christian mission and demonstrates the centrality of Africa in any discourse on Christianity. This volume is invaluable in its argument for a rethinking of Christian mission especially in relation to the West, which is now a new frontier for Christian mission. The book will be immensely beneficial to students of missiology and general readers who are interested in the subject of Christian Mission.

In this remarkable volume covering diverse subjects, in a span of three decades, Kenneth R. Ross articulates his views on the meaning and practice of Christian mission and challenges the binary view of mission that prevailed before the 1950s. He further reflects on Scotlands experiences in the world-wide Christian mission and demonstrates the centrality of Africa in any discourse on Christianity. This volume is invaluable in its argument for a rethinking of Christian mission especially in relation to the West, which is now a new frontier for Christian mission. The book will be immensely beneficial to students of missiology and general readers who are interested in the subject of Christian Mission.

This booklet addresses whether it is possible for any kind of re-energizing connection between the collapse of British Christianity in its heartlands and the rapid vigorous growth of faith around the world.

We all know what church is. Likewise we are provided with a supply of set notions for God, Christ and the Bible, which make up the stock-in trade equipment for both 'believer' and 'non-believer.' This study asks fundamental questions about all these from a relational perspective, attempting to illumine the faith quest by way of clues from the common realities of human interaction. In this it is the appropriate provisions of relationships, rather than the assent to doctrines, that forms the spiritual basis of community. Such a theology of relatedness is urgently needed. We must come out of our creedal closets to be part of a new diaspora. This demands a 'secret discipline' of servant relationship at work in that no-man's-land where there is space for all manner of secular saints and doctrinal devils to discover the possibilities of their togetherness - the secret service church, in odd places and often strange company.

This book offers an historical and comparative profile of classical pentecostal movements in Brazil and the United States in view of their migratory beginnings and transnational expansion. Pentecostalism’s inception in the early twentieth century, particularly in its global South permutations, was defined by its grassroots character. In contrast to the top-down, hierarchical structure typical of Western forms of Christianity, the emergence of Latin American Pentecostalism embodied stability from the bottom up—among the common people. While the rise to prominence of the Assemblies of God in Brazil, the Western hemisphere’s largest (non-Catholic) denomination, demanded structure akin to mainline contexts, classical pentecostals such as the Christian Congregation movement cling to their grassroots identity. Comparing the migratory and missional flow of movements with similar European and US roots, this book considers the prospects for classical Brazilian pentecostals with an eye on the problems of church growth and polity, gender, politics, and ethnic identity.

Christianity in the UK today is faced with growing cultural and religious diversity. Christian migrants bring with them new ways of doing theology, new styles of worship, and new expressions of the faith. Increased levels of migration mean that the Church needs to reconsider what a ‘mission-shaped church’ looks like. ‘Multicultural Kingdom’ explores some of the causes and implications of ethnic diversity on the British Christian landscape – and the implications on the landscape of theology itself. Why, it asks, do we prefer to remain segregated in our ecclesiology? Why indeed, do several churches of different ethnic heritage use the same building for services on Sunday but do not get to worship together? Articulating for the first time an extensive ‘multicultural missiology’ for the UK church, the book will offer an essential new perspective for scholars and practitioners alike.

Taking the analysis of worldwide Christianity to a deeper level of detail, this volume focuses on Christianity in East and Southeast Asia, covering every country and offering both reliable demographic information and original interpretative essays by indigenous scholars and practitioners. It maps patterns of growth and decline, assesses major traditions and movements, analyses key themes, and examines current trends. As a comprehensive account of the presence of Christianity in every country in East and Southeast Asia, this volume is set to become a standard work of reference in its field.