Called to God's Mission: Report of the Third Round of the International Dialogue Between Representatives of the World Communion of Reformed Churches and Representatives of the Pentecostal World Fellowship 2014-2020

By World Communion of Reformed Churches

The international dialogue between the World Communion of Reformed Churches and classical Pentecostals began in 1996. At the end of the first round of talks a common document was released in 2001: "Word and Spirit: Church and World." The second round produced a report entitled "Experience in Christian Faith and Life" in 2011. Both of these repor

• Language: English
• Publisher: World Communion of Reformed Churches
• Release date: Jan 15, 2021
• ISBN: 9783949281013

Book preview

Called to God’s Mission:

Report of the Third Round of the International Dialogue

Between Representatives of the

World Communion of Reformed Churches

and

Representatives of the Pentecostal World Fellowship

2014-2020

Published by the World Communion of Reformed Churches

Knochenhauerstrasse 42

30159 Hannover, Germany

ISBN - 978-3-949281-01-3

© Copyright 2020, The World Communion of Reformed Churches. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing from the copyright holders, or as expressly permitted by law, or under the terms agreed with the appropriate reprographic rights organization. Unless otherwise indicated, the Scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, Anglicized Edition, copyright © 1989, 1995 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches, in the United States of America, and are used by permission. All rights reserved.

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CONTENTS

Introduction

I. Mission and Salvation

II. The Holy Spirit and Mission

III. Mission and the Unity of the Church

IV. Mission and Eschatology

V. Where Do We Go from Here?

Appendix

Introduction

Scripture:

¹⁶For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. ¹⁷"Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (John 3:16-17)

¹⁴But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him? ¹⁵And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news! (Romans 10:14-15)

¹⁸And Jesus came and said to them, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age. (Matthew 28:18-20)

We live in exciting times! Many are responding to the gospel and many more are engaged in God’s mission (missio Dei) among all people. How can we engage in God’s mission authentically? What constitutes mission today? How does mission engage people in our communities? How do we read the signs of our times in a way that helps us respond to God’s call to mission? This document is a testimony to how Pentecostal and Reformed Christians respond together to God’s mission into which we have been called. We are exploring together what we think is important for the mission of the Church today.

The Reformed and Pentecostal representatives, meeting from 2014-2020, are grateful to God and are encouraged by what we share in our vision of God’s mission and how we respond to it. Through these years, the Rev. Dr. Karla Ann Koll served as the Co-Chair for the Reformed team, while the Rev. Dr. Cecil M. Robeck, Jr. served as Co-Chair on behalf of the Pentecostals. Given the topic of Mission, the dialogue members thought it was essential to experience something of different parts of the world where mission is an ongoing reality. As a result, they met at the Reformed retreat center, Megbékélés Háza, in Berekfürd, Hungary, 16-21 November 2014; at the St. Paul Cultural Center in Antalya, Turkey, 1-7 December 2015; at the Latin American Biblical University in San José, Costa Rica, 2-6 December 2016; at the Alphacrucis College in Parramatta, Australia, 1-5 December 2017; in Legon, Accra, Ghana, 29 November-4 December 2018; and at the Asia Pacific Theological Seminary in Baguio City, Philippines, 23-30 October 2019. On two occasions, drafting groups met, first from 18-22 August 2019 at the home of Jean-Daniel and Susan Plüss, in East Booth Bay, Maine, to begin a draft