Polycentric Missiology

The Edinburgh 1910 World Missionary Conference was the most famous missions conference in modern church history. A century later, five conferences on five continents displayed the landscape of global mission at the dawn of the third millennium: Tokyo 2010, Edinburgh 2010, Cape Town 2010, 2010Boston, and CLADE V (San José, 2012). These five events provide a window into the state of world Christianity and contemporary missiology. Missiologist Allen Yeh, the only person to attend all five conferences, chronicles the recent history of world mission through the lenses of these landmark events. He assesses the legacy of Edinburgh 1910 and the development of world Christianity in the following century. Whereas Edinburgh 1910 symbolized Christendom's mission "from the West to the rest," the conferences of 2010-12 demonstrate the new realities of polycentric and polydirectional mission—from everyone to everywhere. Yeh's accounts of the conferences highlight the crucial missiological issues of our era: evangelism, frontier missions, ecumenism, unengaged and post-Christian populations, reconciliation, postmodernities, contextualization, postcolonialism, migration, and more. What emerges is a portrait of a contemporary global Christian mission that encompasses every continent, embodying good news for all nations.

Allen Yeh traces the history of the five 2010-2012 conferences on five continents celebrating the Edinburgh 1910 World Missionary Conference. Highlighting the crucial missiological issues of our era, he creates a portrait of a contemporary global Christian mission that encompasses every continent, embodying good news ''''from everyone to everywhere.

Advanced Missiology draws the connections between the theory and practice of missions. Using the metaphor of a river, the book shows how theories “upstream” such as theology, education, anthropology, community development, and history have exerted an influence on missiology (and missiology, in turn, has gone back upstream to influence those disciplines). What causes these disciplines to converge in missiology is the goal of making disciples across cultures. Whereas missiologists are not always explicit about how their abstract theories actually relate to the task of making disciples across cultures, each chapter in Advanced Missiology shows how numerous theories, sub-fields, models, and strategies of missiology ultimately facilitate the Great Commission. The book argues that by using interdisciplinarity for this fundamental purpose, missiological studies will be more credible and useful. With contributions from: Rebecca Burnett Leanne Dzubinski Julie Martinez

Themelios is an international, evangelical, peer-reviewed theological journal that expounds and defends the historic Christian faith. Themelios is published three times a year online at The Gospel Coalition (http://thegospelcoalition.org/themelios/) and in print by Wipf and Stock. Its primary audience is theological students and pastors, though scholars read it as well. Themelios began in 1975 and was operated by RTSF/UCCF in the UK, and it became a digital journal operated by The Gospel Coalition in 2008. The editorial team draws participants from across the globe as editors, essayists, and reviewers.

Helping the next generation live for Christ As Christian adolescents develop into adults, they face unique questions and challenges. But this stage of life also provides unique opportunities for all who care about the spiritual flourishing of the next generation. Created in partnership with the Wheaton College Billy Graham Center, Formation for Mission empowers those who interact with teenagers and young adults. Gathering wisdom from a diverse variety of veteran teachers and weaving together research--informed social, theological, and practical insights, each chapter examines essential features in the missional development, formation, and contexts of young people. Questions for reflection and discussion move the conversation forward. Each generation is commissioned to pass the faith on to the next and help them live for Christ, enter congregational life, and engage in Christian mission. With cultural awareness and sensitivity to the challenges of today, Formation for Mission offers hopeful advice to those who are invested in supporting the spiritual thriving of emerging adults.

The evangelical Mongolian church has experienced significant growth since the country opened to the world in 1990. Despite the growth and emergence of the evangelical church in Mongolia, relatively little has been written on the church from the perspective of the leaders themselves. This ethnographic study seeks to express the experience of male, evangelical, Mongolian church leaders in their own words. The book focuses specifically on the leaders’ experiences of conversion, discipleship, navigation of Mongolian culture and traditions, and theological education. Readers will hear from evangelical church leaders why they became Christians and what their experience with discipleship was like for them. The issue of contextualization for evangelical Christians is also a central focus. In particular, the translation of the term for God in Mongolian and the perspective of the church leaders are explored. This book will be of interest to those exploring Christianity in Asia and post-socialist contexts as well as seeking to better understand contemporary Mongolian culture.

Theology to the Ends of the Earth and Back Again As Christianity’s center of gravity has shifted to the Majority World, many younger churches in Africa, Asia, and Latin America are now coming of age. With this maturing comes the ability to theologize for themselves, not simply to mimic what they have been taught from the West. As theology is an attempt to articulate through human language, culture, and contexts the timeless truths of the eternal and transcendent God, Majority World churches have much to offer the West and the world, as they contribute to a greater understanding of God, discipleship, and mission. Within this volume is an eclectic and fascinating sampling of theologizing from around the world, diverse not just in context but in content, dealing with everything from Christian education, to engaging Buddhists with the gospel, to engagement with Santería, to contextualizing native dance. As Christ’s message has gone to “the ends of the earth,” it has been received, but also incorporated, synthesized, and rebirthed in new and exciting ways that will benefit us all, wherever we live and serve.

A deeper understanding of the grand history of mission leads to a faithful expression of God's mission today. From the beginning, God's mission has been carried out by people sent around the world. From Abraham to Jesus, the thread that weaves its way throughout Scripture is a God who sends his people across the world, proclaiming his kingdom. As the world has evolved, Christian mission continues to be a foundational tradition in the church. In this one-volume textbook, Edward Smither weaves together a comprehensive history of Christian mission, from the apostles to the modern church. In each era, he focuses on the people sent by God to the ends of the earth, while also describing the cultural context they encountered. Smither highlights the continuity and development across thousands of years of global mission.