The Journey Of A Post Modern Missionary

Drawing on his own mission training and experience, John Sivalon believes the gospel can and must be inculturated in any culture, and he believes that postmodernism, rather than rendering Christian mission meaningless, breathes fresh insight, vision, and life into Vatican II's notion that mission is centred in the very heart of God.

The rules have changed. Everything you believe is suspect. The world is up for grabs. Welcome to the emerging postmodern culture. A "free zone" of rapid change that places high value on community, authenticity, and even God--but has little interest in modern, Western-tinged Christianity. Postmodern Youth Ministry addresses these enormous philosophical shifts and shows how they're affecting teenagers.

In Jesuit Postmodern, Francis X. Clooney has gathered nine American Jesuit scholars teaching at universities to reflect on their scholarly work, why they engage in it, and how the work they do coheres with their self-understanding as Jesuits. In accounts that weave together scholarly lives and personal stories, the contributors to this volume explore the irreducible diversity of their experiences and criticize the dominant modern synthesis that shaped Jesuit institutions of higher education from the 1960s to the 1990s. While the contrapuntal display of voices enunciated in this collection will unsettle the conventional and still dominant ways of talking about Jesuits, scholarship, and religious intellectual inquiry, Jesuit Postmodern does not end the conversation, but pushes scholars to talk more critically and imaginatively.

Is post-modern society devoid of sacramentality or a sense of the sacred? This question is central to the challenges posed by revolutionary post-modern sensibilities that tend to render the rites for the celebration of the sacraments obsolete and irrelevant. To address this issue, the author applies the post-modern emphasis on plurality and radical particularity to the communal dimension of traditional societies exemplified in the worldview of the Igbo people of Southeast Nigeria to shed light on the liturgical celebration of reconciliation in the Church today. The contention is that the sacraments are multi-vocal symbols that cannot command the same meaning in different contexts. In this connection, this book provides a clear notion of the theological foundation, principle and framework of the sacrament of reconciliation and offers a practical guide for its authentic liturgical celebration in a plural context. Its argument is that all are being summoned to interpersonal encounter through dialogue, or a relationship founded on mutual recognition and respect for difference. On this basis, the book proposes possible reconciliation rites drawn from the Igbo communal existence that have the capacity to accommodate people with other faith perspectives in a common liturgical celebration of the sacrament of reconciliation.

The seventh installment in the EMS series provides presentations originally given at meetings held in November 1998. Topics include the biblical and missiological foundations for training evangelical pastors and missionaries, contextualization of curriculum, Christian higher education, and case studies in both postmodern settings as well as traditional ones.

There is a “missing link” in most churches today. There is a significant gap between membership and active involvement in ministry. What is missing is what Jesus modeled in His earthly ministry—disciple making. In the absence of this model from Christ, churches struggle to maintain membership and ministry. Underequipped members lack the enthusiasm and insight to truly be a part of active ministry. The reverse is also true—when members are trained as active disciples, the ministry potential of the church can follow that of the early Christian church outlined in the book of Acts. Yes, the model works, as the Holy Spirit works in the transformed lives of today’s disciples as He has throughout the history of the church. This book will give you practical insights for developing a discipleship process in your church.