Mission Of Church Research Articles

Responsible Public Theology on Climate Change Devastations: Disastrous flooding in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Climate change is devastating human communities, but it is more devastating to the poor and powerless, especially in the absence of accountable political leadership. This was evident in the recent climate disaster that struck South Africa in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), where the deadliest storm in April 2022 killed about 489 people and devastated many more. This paints a frightening picture of the impending climate apocalypse not only in South Africa but in the global world. In the face of mounting evidence that the threat of climate change is indeed existential, this paper represents a tacit theological obligation to warn nations or sensitize governments to the impending climate catastrophe. Responsible public theology as per this paper’s version calls for pragmatic government policies and a renewed church mission for human security in the face of the looming climate crisis. Although unrelated to the phenomenon of climate change, the Genesis flood narrative is used by analogy to describe the church's mission in the face of the climate crisis encompassing floods. A particular focus is the impact of the environmental and climate change crisis on the impoverished masses living in low-lying risk areas, as was the case with KZN. Given that there seems to be little theological reflection or intensity on this question, this paper represents a potential area for further research that will foster theologically informed dialogue on impacts of climate change.

Toronto Outreach & The Dehumanization of Black People: Exploring Barth-Cone Theologies in a Canadian Urban Context

ABSTRACT The pastor of a church hosting a food bank, reflects on how context affects the similarities and dissimilarities of Karl Barth's and James H. Cone's theologies. This is done in order to gain a theological understanding of the propensity of dehumanization in Toronto, Canada. Both Barth and Cone expected theology to be the work of the Church; although in divergent ways, they both considered God's self-revelation in Christ to be the sign of God claiming humans as beloved. This comparative analysis requires theological and critical thinking on racism. While juxtaposing the Barth-Cone contexts and resulting theologies with the challenges of Black Canadians, one can appoint theological understanding to any church's mission and outreach that serves the marginalized.

Small Missional Church as an alternative in the period of Church Decline in Korea

This article examines the causes and circumstances of the decline of Korean churches since the 2000s. After briefly sketching the history and critical events of the growth of the Korean church, it pays attention to one of the leading reasons people leave thechurch and a reason that the Korean church has lost its reliability in the view of much of Korean society. After that, the author introduces two phenomena in the process of the slow growth and decline of the Korean church: the phenomenon of “believing without belonging” and the increase in numbers of bi-vocational ministers. This is a time when the missional church has begun to emerge as a new type of church, different from the traditional church, and at the same time non-institutional churches have emerged as a missional approach to believing without belonging. Furthermore, the author argues that the small missional church is a helpful alternative and required paradigm in the context of the decline of the Korean church by using several case studies, including shared worship space, bi-vocational ministry, and local missional church.

How to make the best Ganjang Gejang: The Missional Church Movement in Korea

In Korean Christianity, interest in missional church has almost exploded in the past 15 years, with two main streams of ideas. One emphasizes that a local church should reflect the missionary nature of the Triune God in a series of activities such as worship, preaching, praise and Bible study. The other insists that since the God of scripture always calls and sends people, church members should also go to their local community. This paper reviews the current discussion on missio Dei in Korea and the creation theology of Jürgen Moltmann. Moltmann states that God’s creation continues until the end and God’s ultimate purpose is to fellowship with all creation. Kong3al Community and Ilbeot Church, located in Gang-hwa Island, South Korea, practise such fellowship between human and human, human and nature, and creation and God. For the missional church movement to proceed fully in Korea, both streams should engage each other through the osmosis of the economy of salvation and the work of creation.

Mongolian Migrants in a Korean Missional Church:

Ever since Lesslie Newbigin’s missional ecclesiology was introduced to South Korean churches in 2000, Korean scholars and pastors have been reaching beyond church growth theory to explore alternative and practical models. Missional ecclesiology led them to refine their ecclesiology and to restore the essence of the Korean church. This paper examines Nasom Community for Mongolian Migrants as a model of missional church in Korea. This study first describes the situation of Mongolian migrants in Korea. Secondly, the missionary vision and missionary strategies of Nasom Community, and how they are implemented in practice, are explored. Finally, the mission of Nasom Community is reviewed. This case shows the missionary potential of the Korean church for Asian mission.

Balancing visible and invisible belonging for Korean Migrant Missional Churches in Aotearoa New Zealand

This paper explores how Korean migrant churches in Aotearoa New Zealand can find a balance between missions (understood as extending the Church) and Mission (construed as participation in the missio Dei), in relation to their sense of belonging. For this purpose, the research uses a qualitative methodology interview method guided by interpretivism. The paper begins by identifying key contextual factors related to Koreans in New Zealand as migrants, Christians and missional beings. The responses of 31 research participants regarding what constitutes a “sense of belonging” are analysed in terms of visible and invisible belonging. Visible belonging is associated with churches that have strong boundaries, and invisible belonging is found in one’s relationship with God; the two can be correlated with missions and Mission, respectively. The analysis suggests that a missional understanding can be a trigger for enabling interaction between visible belonging as missions and invisible belonging as Mission, through three missional concepts: purpose, progress and experience. Finally, the paper suggests practical ways that Korean churches in New Zealand can balance missions and Mission by following three missional guidelines.

Healing as God’s Intention for Ministers of Reconciliation

There is something missing in our view of the intentions of God and the purposes of the church in global mission. Tracing the historical precedent for the church as a healing agent in the world, and challenging narrow views of what healing means, a biblical healing metanarrative emerges as the primary telos of God, and reconciliation as an essential part of healing. By reconciling salvation and healing, spirit and matter, as well as healing and suffering, the ongoing work of the reconciling Healer is highlighted along with the implication that healing is an indispensable part of collective global mission.

Book Review: God at Work in the World: Theology and Mission in the Global Church

Book Review: God at Work in the World: Theology and Mission in the Global Church

A Christian Expression of African Spirituality: The Case Study of Three African Initiated Churches in Ghana

There is a view that African Instituted Churches (AICs) are Christian churches with a spirituality which is similar to traditional spirituality. Scholars have claimed that AICs came up as a response to the spirituality of the churches started by missionaries from the West. The latter churches seemed to ignore the spiritual world, the activities of the Spirit and also the fact that physical occurrences have spiritual causes. As such, the spiritual needs of African converts were not being met. In research to ascertain the validity of this assertion, this researcher looks into the circumstances surrounding the founding of AICs in Ghana, paying particular attention to the Church of the Twelve Apostles, the OSSAH-Madih Church, and the Musama Disco Christo Church. The research was done through participant observations in the AICs mentioned. Secondary data was gathered from articles, books and other research materials written by members of AICs. The research concluded that while some AICs may have started as a reaction to the operation of the mission churches, the spirituality expressed is not a “copying” of African spirituality, but one that comes about with the awareness of the existence of the spiritual realm. Keywords: Spirituality, African Instituted Churches (AICs), Zionist, Aladura, World View, African Traditional Religion (ATR)

Reksa Pastoral Care Elaborasi Pendekatan Holistik bagi Pendampingan Lanjut Usia

One of the church's attention and concern in pastoral work is pastoral care. Pastoral care becomes an integral part of the church's mission in proclaiming God's work of salvation. Pastoral care within the framework of caring for the souls of the faithful is carried out in different contexts based on the age, situation, and needs of the people. One of the works that the church has been engaged in is pastoral care for the elderly people. These elderly people have different and special characters, situations and needs. The purpose of this research is how to pay attention to all dimensions of life (biopsychosociospiritual) in assisting the elderly. The research method used in this research is literature study; This elaboration will be complemented by data and facts taken from existing studies on this area of study. The results of this study show several practical steps that can be taken
 to provide integral assistance to elderly people.

Theology and politics. political attempts to subordinate the Church

The article reviews a cultural hybrid, which is defined as religious political science or “theopolitics”. Within the framework of this phenomenon, according to the author, the language of church mission and catechetical practices is subordinated to the discourse of political activists. Among the examples of such subordination are the so-called “maidan theology”, the Declaration on the “Russian World” Teaching, Polish political Catholicism, the accession of the Hrodna episcopate clergy to the “zmagar” political opposition in 2020, etc. Religious political science tends to consider politics itself as a religious practice; political theology, on the contrary, looks at political issues as something that should be brought in accordance with a theological canon. The goals of theopolitics are reached with the close application of modernist theology. The latter seeks to transform the Christian canon according to the secularism, in particular, to sacralize specific events in secular history - this principle is characteristic of concepts from the category of the so-called “theology after” (after Auschwitz, after 9/11, after the global pandemic, etc.) According to the author, the field of church mission is thus taken under control, preaching is reinterpreted in line with the political propaganda, the church is represented as a subsystem of a “civil society”. The author emphasizes the importance of the motives of the “weak Church” and “weak God” for creating a “theological” justification of the ideas of religious political science and concludes that theopolitics is one of the manifestations of the “new Reformation” (otherwise: secular reformation) aimed at secularisation of church institutions.

Patterning Constitutional Conflicts in the Church of Christ in Zimbabwe

This paper set out to analyse the patterning of conflict in the Church of Christ in Zimbabwe (COCZ) with the introduction of the Constitution; which has been described as an unfair proposition, given that conflict is inevitable in a postmodern society. Conflicts in communities have largely been caused by resource scarcity, group affinities, and poor leadership. The study used data collected from participants who were purposively selected to answer electronic questions posted on a WhatsApp group platform for this study. They were randomly chosen from the national fellowship of the COCZ pastors. The study observed that conflict was caused by the shifting centres of power through the adoption of the Somabhula Conference Centre. These conflicts thus bolster a deeper appreciation of Christian identity and mission in contemporary ecclesiastical circles. The data analysed revealed that there are three frameworks: concept, content, and composition of constitutions. It also revealed that conflicts in Zimbabwean churches happened in the Anglican Diocese of Harare; the Apostolic Faith Mission of Zimbabwe; the Baptist Convention of Zimbabwe and the Marange Apostles’ succession battles. Positively, conflicts have been observed to remove complacency among the leadership and followership. It concluded that citing the 2015 Constitution, therefore, becomes an unfair proposition as conflicts occurred in the history of mission churches in Zimbabwe inclusive of the conflicts in the COCZ history. This study contributes in a small measure to discussions around international best practices for resolving church conflicts. Keywords: Constitutions, Conflicts, Conflict Resolution Mechanisms, Church of Christ in Zimbabwe

“We Aim at Nothing Less Than the Whole World”: The Seventh-day Adventist Church's Missionary Enterprise and the General Conference Secretariat, 1863–2019. By A. L. Chism, D. J. B. Trim and M. F. Younker. General Conference Archives Monographs, Vol. 1. Silver Spring, MD: Office of Archives, Statistics, and Research, Seventh-day Adventist Church World Headquarters, 2021. xxvi + 285 pp. $9.99 paper.

“We Aim at Nothing Less Than the Whole World”: The Seventh-day Adventist Church's Missionary Enterprise and the General Conference Secretariat, 1863–2019. By A. L. Chism, D. J. B. Trim and M. F. Younker. General Conference Archives Monographs, Vol. 1. Silver Spring, MD: Office of Archives, Statistics, and Research, Seventh-day Adventist Church World Headquarters, 2021. xxvi + 285 pp. $9.99 paper.

Doing Church Missions in Indigenous Community Poverty-Stricken Remote Rural Areas: Lessons from Indonesia

God calls his ecclesial church to go out to proclaim his Gospel to all creation and baptise, teach, and make all nations his disciples. Local churches, particularly in Indonesia, commonly carry on the calling by using the so-called One Duty (the Missio Dei)-Three Tasks (koinonia, martyria, diakonia) tasks. Reality shows of not uncommon partial and unbalanced implementations of the three tasks, mostly heavy focused on koinonia but less in both martyria and diakonia. The study objective is to assess implementation of the church missions view of drawing general lessons for a more effective implementation. The study was conducted at a small-sized church congregation in an indigenous community in a remote rural local area, using a mixed literature review, field observation and interviews, and conceptual synthesis methodology. The key findings are that mission fields are diverse and wide and requires contextual missions, the diakonia task plays a pivotal role, and a small size of congregation is good for quality-oriented missions, the Strength Gift Based Community Development conducted in a holistic integrated transformational mission is an appropriate approach. The study contributes to interdisciplinary understanding and formulation of basic principles in doing integrated missions by local churches, particularly in rural areas with indigenous community, remote location, and poverty-stricken mission fields.

Michael W. Goheen and Timothy M. Sheridan, Becoming a Missionary Church: Lesslie Newbigin and Contemporary Church Movements (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2022), pp. ix + 277. $28.99

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Siphefumula Ngenxeba in our own homes: Gender-based violence during COVID-19 pandemic

Gender-based violence (GBV) has become a major problem in South Africa, making headlines on a regular basis. When the president of the Republic of South Africa, Mr. Cyril Ramaphosa, declared the lockdown in reaction to the worldwide pandemic: COVID-19 one of the expectations was that families would spend more time together in harmony. However, the number of recorded domestic violence instances increased as a result of the lockdown. Women have historically been subjected to GBV in their communities, businesses, streets, marketplaces and even churches; recently, their homes have proven to be unsafe as well. There have been a number of marches of women around the country to call for justice for women who are victims of GBV. The lives of women were endangered, what was supposed to be a place of solace became a dungeon to them. They were essentially breathing through the wound in their own homes: Baphefumula ngenxiba. This article, through a literature review, will highlight how the lives of women were endangered during the lockdown in response to the global pandemic in South Africa. This article aims to call missionary churches to practice the theology of missio Dei within this context.Contribution: In the light of the above challenges of GBV, the missionary churches are called to practice the theology of missio Del within the context of gender-based violence that took place in private homes during COVID-19. ‘Siphefumula Ngenxeba’ is a Zulu phrase that means [we are breathing through the wound]. The church is therefore called to play a significant role in response to GBV in South Africa.

God at Work in the World: Theology and Mission in the Global Church

This is a book review of Lalsangkima Pachuau, God at Work in the World: Theology and Mission in the Global Church (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2022), xiv + 177 pp., ISBN: 9781540961365, $16.09, paperback.

GEREJA YANG BERBAGI DAYA DALAM MISI LINTAS BUDAYA: KAJIAN MISIOLOGIS ROMA 15:22-33

The church has been chosen as God's mission agent in the time of grace to express God's love for all ethnic groups in the world in a cross-cultural mission program. However, church mission activities (missio ecclesiae) in cross-cultural missions are often interpreted as limited to preaching the gospel by taking Matthew 28:19-20 to be the primary text reference. Evangelicals and Pentecostals widely hold this view. Considering other texts, it will be evident that the local church's involvement in cross-cultural missions is more expansive to include other activities. Through the method of thematic analysis of Romans 15:22-33, through a missiological lens, it is revealed that the church can share power in cross-cultural missions in three ways: accompanying evangelism in the field and donating funds for humanitarian services and praying for ongoing tasks. Church involvement is holistic, touching both spiritual and physical aspects.

Dean Flemming. Foretaste of the Future: Reading Revelation in Light of God’s Mission

Dean Flemming. <i>Foretaste of the Future: Reading Revelation in Light of God’s Mission</i>

Mission-minded pastoral theology and the notion of God’s power: Maturity through vulnerability

This article contributed to constructive missional theology by grappling with the issues of God’s power and Christian maturity. This is important, because we live in a wounded world fraught with injustice, violations of human dignity, and power abuse. Pastors and other caregivers are called to be involved with caring for people to promote more just societies where human dignity flourishes. Such caring practices form a crucial and practical part of the human embodiment of God’s loving mission in our wounded living spaces. The main research question that was addressed, is as follows: How can pastoral theology be directed by a missional understanding of the church so that it can become clear how caring practices embody the missio Dei? Considering this question, this article explicated what kind of theology is appropriate when mission-minded Christian caregivers want to interpret God’s power in a fractured world. The author indicated – through a careful and methodical literature study – that the recovery of a missional, trinitarian understanding of God, offers fresh resources for reconceptualising spiritual formation, focusing on mission as authentic discipleship. While unravelling this article’s main argument, it was deemed of paramount importance to harmonise our ideas about the power of God, because such notions (about God’s power) often dictate how we act within human relationships, which are also replete with power. It was concluded that preference needs to be given to viewing ‘power as love’ (vulnerability) rather than ‘power as force’ (control). Eventually the analysis of relevant literature resources indicated that pastoral care done in congregations, does not merely find its end goal in strengthening believers to grow into maturity in Christ, but also fosters our missional calling as sent disciples of the triune God. In addition, Christian faith maturity was found to be essential if pastoral theology and pastoral care practices – mostly performed by pastors or other caregivers in faith communities – aim to promote justice and human dignity as integral part of the missio Dei.Contribution: The dearth of consideration for the vital issue of Christian maturity presents a challenge for the field of mission studies, when pastoral theology and care practices engage with views regarding God’s power. The rigorous literature study contributed constructive insights for missional churches that value God’s justice and dignity to all.