Mission In Marginal Places The Praxis

The second book in the series focuses on participation and practice, and discusses a range of ways in which Kingdom-centred mission can be embedded in the actually existing realms of activity and need in marginal places. The book explores five different realms of practice, each presenting opportunities for innovative expressions of incarnational attentiveness to marginalized communities and people. It seeks to inspire prayerful and discerning activity that tunes into what Jesus is doing in local places, rather than providing any kind of "off-the-shelf" checklist of prefigured mission tactics. It challenges readers to take their faith-praxis beyond orthodox congregational settings and out into the everyday realms of life in marginal places.

This first book in the series presents a thought-provoking foundation for contemporary mission. Drawing on key theological, missiological and social scientific ideas it discusses the fundamentals that provide a basis for place dependent, reflective praxis amongst people occupying social margins. This fascinating work re-energises debate around questions of why and how mission in marginal places should be planned and implemented.

The third book in The Mission and Marginal Series looks at the lessons we can learn from the testimonies of people living and working on the margins of society. If you look hard enough you will find groups of Christians deeply embedded in the life of every city - serving faithfully, innovating in extraordinarily creative ways and living sacrificially. This book is the third in a six-volume series specifically exploring the theologies and practices that are arising as groups seek to follow Jesus in these challenging situations. At the heart of the series are the core convictions that such involvement must prioritise the marginalised and socially excluded; that theology must be liveable and practical; and that mission studies benefit from engagement with insights from contemporary social science.

Faith Seeking Conviviality traces the journey of a U.S. missionary into Brazil (and beyond), seeking to be faithfully present while also questioning the default settings of "good intentions." Taking Ivan Illich as the primary theological guide on that journey, Faith Seeking Conviviality narrates the discovery of a renewed imagination for Christian mission that arises as a response to two persistent questions. First, given the colonial history of Christian missionary expansion, on what basis do we go on fulfilling the "Great Commission" (Matt 28:16-20) as Christ's disciples? A second question, intimately related to the first, is: What makes it possible to embody a distinctively Christian presence that is missionary without being manipulative? In doing theology with and after Ivan Illich, Faith Seeking Conviviality does not offer a pull-off-the-shelf model for mission, but rather a framework for embodying the incarnational logic of mission that entails a "convivial turn"--delinking missionary discipleship from the lure of techniques and institutional dependence in order to receive and to share the peace of Christ relationally.

The surge of theological education in the rapidly growing church of the Majority World has highlighted the inadequacy of traditional Western methods of thinking and learning to fully accomplish the task at hand. The limitations of current theological education are embodied in the formation and assessment of the master’s or doctoral dissertation; processes that follow a linear-empiricist tradition developed in the West and exported to the Majority World. Challenging Tradition: Innovation in Advanced Theological Studies highlights the need for these traditions to be reconsidered in every context throughout the world. Drs Shaw and Dharamraj, with their team of contributors, present innovations in research and documentation that demonstrate how we may better prepare theological leadership through means that are contextually relevant and locally meaningful.

Within a changing social and political context, the role of the church in public life and the response of Christians to social issues has taken on renewed energy. Churches have entered enthusiastically into community engagement projects such as foodbanks and night shelters, with a broad understanding of this as mission. Missional Pastoral Care offers much needed reflection about the nature of mission and about expectations for missional outcomes. Using the stories of team members within the Eden Network (which emphasises an ‘incarnational’ approach to urban mission) the book demonstrates that at its best mission happens in a shared life rather than being about ‘us’ telling the listening world. A timely and provocative call to churches, missional groups and those training for ministry to reflect more deeply on their practice and theology, the book insists that mission is about difference, love, locality and long-term consistency and, at its best, is slow, complicated and messy.