Evangelical Missiological Society Series

The essays in this book take a fresh look at the biblical data and address the contemporary questions raised by religious pluralism. The reader will gain a greater understanding of different religions and gain an increased confidence in the majesty and greatness of the one true God.

The lands where Muslims, Jews, and Christians have encountered each other are littered with the ruins of fortresses. Each faith community built barriers to keep out the enemies of their faith. The present studies look at the barriers erected by peoples considered resistant to the gospel, and the bridges God is using to carry the gospel to them.

This volume continues the EMS Series with selected presentations from the November 2000 annual meeting. Caring for the Harvest Force in the New Millennium presents the theological foundations, challenges, and contexts for caring for those in full-time Christian service.

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.

Over the past decade, there have been few forums in which the controversial subject of this book could be openly discussed. During the 1994 and 1996 annual conferences of the Evangelical Missiological Society this subject was a central topic of discourse. These ten chapters represent an attempt to reflect the concerns and present understanding of evangelical missiologists on the Holy Spirit and mission dynamics.

Experts in various branches of social science address the reader, explaining the scope and limitations of their discipline in the science of missiology. Find the balance between those who discount the value of the sciences for missions and those who use them without discernment.

David Hesselgrave uses the work of ten influential men to describe what is going on in missions. Each chapter deals with a different aspect of the use of the Bible in the church and in mission, from the study of the Bible to teaching biblical principles to church leaders on the mission field. As the first title in the new Evangelical Missiological Society series, this textbook is designed for use in addressing: Contemporary Issues in Missions, Mission Strategy, Theology of Mission, Survey of Mission, Mission Principles and Practices, Strategy for World Evangelization, Church Planting, Church Growth, and Contextualization.

In this book, three missiologists (Priest, Campbell, and Mullen) wrestle with the issue of spiritual power. The first two chapters deal with spiritual warfare while the third chapter affirms the role of prayer and the Holy Spirit in missions.

This collection of presentations from the 1999 IFMA/EFMA/EMS Triennial Conference explores the incredibly ambitious purpose and challenging task of Working Together with God to Shape the New Millennium. Topics include Biblical Foundations for the New Millennium, Working Together Strategically, and Leadership Needed for the New Millennium.

“Culture’s influence upon Christianity is easier to discern in retrospect than in prospect. If history is our guide, one thing is sure: This age will be as syncretistic as any other…How is the gospel being contextualized in the contemporary world? To what degree are these new contextualizations syncretistic? This book attempts to answer these questions by defining and analyzing contextualization and syncretism.”–Gailyn Van Rheenen

"This volume is not a set of textbook answers on how to witness to Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, and people with other religions based on simple formulas. It is the wrestlings, affirmations, and testimonies of those who have been deeply involved in ministries to people of other religious faiths and have thought deeply about the issues religious pluralism raises." - Paul G. Hiebert, Professor Emeritus, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

The churches from the whole world are joined in the effort to reach the whole world. Although it has been documented that Western missionaries serving outside their countries still comprise the majority of world missions workers, the growth rate of majority world missionaries far outpaces that of the West. In recent years, while Western missionary forces are shrinking in numbers and possibly in influence, missions from the majority world have proliferated, bringing amazing progress and some challenges. Missions from the Majority World represents the thinking of 14 majority world mission scholars and 10 Westerners with lengthy experience in the missionary enterprise. The book shows the progress and challenges of missions from the majority world and illustrates this by case studies from Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

This volume traces its origins to the 2001 annual meeting of the Evangelical Missiological Society with the theme of “Lessons in Mission from the Twentieth Century.” The papers from this meeting, combined with insightful essays by other EMS members, reflect upon the history of evangelical missions and upon its future. “May God give us grace to draw from the lessons presented in this book in ways that will enrich us as people, as a church, and as a community calling others to come worship Jesus Christ.” –A. Scott Moreau

Is Jesus really the only way? What is unique about Christ and missions? How can a new understanding of Jesus Christ bridge the gap between modern positivism and post-modern relativism? Can we learn from the model of Jesus how to be more effective mission workers? This volume (Number 12) of the annual Evangelical Missiological Society series offers answers to these questions and more as it discusses the clear and relevant communication of the centrality of Jesus Christ.

This volume deals with the contexts of violence. In an age of increasing concern for this type of missionary work, the missions community needs to hear from those that have reflected on the multifaceted elements involved in understanding the phenomenon of martyrdom-persecution violence as it relates to telling the age-old Gospel story. The place to begin is with Biblical and theological analysis followed by the grounding provided by constructing consequent lifestyles, strategies and practices in physically risky settings. Finally, insights from the live settings of violence are warranted.

"To put it bluntly, business as mission (BAM) is a work in progress. It is a field that needs definition, theological clarity, and missiological focus. Our call for papers for our regional conferences is timely…to make a pivotal contribution in a sea of some confusion and even controversy.” (Doug Pennoyer, Dean of SIS, Biola University and President of EMS) This volume will provide some definition and precision while identifying areas that demand further discussion.

Rapid urbanization and globalization processes worldwide have changed the landscape of our times. In Asia and Africa the number of urban dwellers increases by an average of one million per week, according to the United Nations. More than half of the globe’s seven billion human beings now live in cities. These realities have far reaching implications for mission in urban contexts at the start of the third millennium. Reaching the City: Reflections on Urban Mission for the Twenty-first Century seeks to address the missiological challenges associated with this new world order. Each author in this collection respectfully builds upon the significant contributions of seminal writers such as Ray Bakke, Jacques Ellul, Basil of Caesarea and others, while making new and creative proposals for urban mission in our world today. Beginning with the bigger picture of the global challenges of urbanization, and moving through theological, historical, and educational perspectives, this volume concludes with a rich bevy of case studies engaging these new realities of both North American and international cities to encourage a missional thrust to reach these communities.

The title of this book points to a feature—the missionary family—often considered to be a distinctive of the Protestant missionary movement. Certainly the presence of missionary families in the field has been a central factor in enabling, configuring, and restricting Protestant missionary outreach. What special concerns does sending missionary families raise for the conduct of mission? What means are available for extending care and support to missionary families? These issues are the focus of the chapters in part 1 of this book. In recent years an increasing number of reports have surfaced of sexual abuse in mission settings. Some reports have been based on “recovered memories,” the assessment of which raises difficult questions. Clearly sexual abuse in mission settings and how to understand allegations of abuse based on recovered memories are matters of grave concern to mission agencies and mission supporters as well as to missionary families. Part 2 serves the mission community by scrutinizing such matters, offering legal, historical, and psychological perspectives on the topic. In a new feature, “Forum on Sexual Orientation and Mission: An Evangelical Discussion,” the Evangelical Missiological Society takes up a pressing issue of our day. Fourteen evangelical scholars participate in the discussion found in part 3. Far from being the final word, this forum is presented with the prayer that it will serve as an opening to and basis for ongoing missiological conversation about an urgent and timely topic.

The twenty-first century is marked by a renewed emphasis on the missional responsibility of individual Christians and local churches. Churches on Mission: God’s Grace Abounding to the Nations is an attempt to explore the relationship between the local church and its missionary responsibilities. Through history, theology, case studies, and actual ministry practices, each author in this collection presents an aspect of local church participation. The book aims to be informational and inspirational on many levels and invites readers from local churches to become active participants in the mission of God.

The word “ethics” carries an aura of countervailing views, overlapping claims, uncertain footing, and seductive attractions. Some issues are as clear as the horizontal versus vertical axes in Sawai Chinnawong’s striking painting, Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife, that graces the cover of this book. At the same time—because we are involved, because our interests, our inclinations, our plans and relationships are at stake—the issues that engage missionary practitioners can be frustratingly labyrinthine, curling endlessly back on themselves. Evangelical missionaries and mission agencies are concerned about personal morality—and rightly so. But as the chapters in this volume attest, evangelical mission’s ethical engagement extends far beyond simply avoiding compromising sexual situations and not absconding with the finances. How should we talk about others’ beliefs and practices to ourselves? To them? How should we represent ourselves to others? What role does tolerance for ambiguity play in missionaries’ mental preparation? How should accountability be structured in intercultural partnerships? Are there ways to enable organizational justice to flourish in mission institutions? What might integrity in short-term mission outreach look like? How does care for creation relate to mission? What role can a code of ethics for missionary practice play? Limited and fallible and marred by the fall, we need both guidance and admonition—and deep reflection on the conduct of evangelical mission such as is provided in this volume—so that we may serve Jesus with true integrity.

Effective Engagement in Short-term Missions represents the single most ambitious effort to date to understand and improve upon patterns of ministry in STM. In six sections, the authors explore topics such as the links between STM and older patterns of long-term missions; engagement with people of other cultures; international partnerships; specialized ministries such as medical missions; legal and financial liabilities; and last but not least, the impact of STM on participants. The goal of this book is to improve the ways in which STM is carried out and to improve the understandings needed on the part of all who engage in the ministry. In short, this book attempts to provide a knowledge base for those who provide leadership within the short term missions movement. Youth pastors, mission pastors, lay leaders, college and seminary students, and missiologists will all find information that is helpful and relevant to their concerns.

One hundred years ago Roland Allen authored his landmark study Missionary Methods: St. Paul’s or Ours? The 2012 annual conference of the Evangelical Missiological Society celebrated this centennial by addressing this ever relevant topic. The present volume brings to readers insights from that conference examining the theological foundations, historical precedence, and practical challenges regarding missionary methods. Missiologists, missionary practitioners, and strategic leaders alike will benefit from these essays, which give fresh perspective on methods for fulfilling the Great Commission in our day.

The true story of mission has been deeper, wider, and far more diverse than many Christians in countries with long histories of church presence have realized. The authors in Reflecting God’s Glory Together: Diversity in Evangelical Mission drive that point home in a variety of ways. From Filipino and Ghanaian missionary work in North American cities, to Canadian work among the Chinese diaspora, to African-American work in Zimbabwe, the authors help us begin to grasp just how many ways evangelicals in mission are truly going from and coming to everywhere as they follow Christ’s mandate to reach the nations. Diverse voices utilizing diverse strategies pursuing a common call: these result in a mosaic whose larger pattern glorifies the God who came to live among us—and who continues to send us out in the pattern God so clearly established. As editors, Beth and Scott invite you to explore the stories embedded in that marvelous mosaic that we have been privileged to collect for this volume.

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.

Weighing Approaches to Finish the Task Christians have been reflecting on best practices for as long as they have been engaging in missions. Practitioners have developed diverse strategies to promote the spread of the Gospel—such as indigenous church planting, disciple-making movements, community development, dynamically equivalent Bible translations, and chronological Bible storytelling. These models began as creative analyses of the mission endeavor, in light of the current cultural context. As that context shifts, it is also important to critically re-examine these models. Advancing Models of Mission reflects on the missionaries and models of the past and reconsiders current models, all with the aim of looking toward the future of evangelical mission. This compendium of thirteen essays tackles such timely and difficult questions as: -How does globalization challenge the 10/40 window model? -How does hybridity and diaspora change the way we think about people groupsand identity formation? -How does the colonial history in Africa affect believers' connection with globalevangelism? Readers can learn about the contexts of the past that shaped our current missiological models while listening to diverse voices describe how those models are experienced considering our changing realities. Through honest analysis of the past few centuries of missionary movement, Advancing Models of Mission provides hope for the future.

With increased globalization and modernization reaching into the furthest corners of the earth also comes the influence of secularization. These three tides of influence impact traditional religious beliefs, practices, and institutions in significant ways. Some modernizing societies see religion on the decline, while others find it thriving in surprising ways. This collection of essays presents the opportunities and the challenges of secularization for the mission of the Church, with hopeful signs and reassurance that God is still at work in a secularizing world. Readers will find both analysis and guidance that will assist the Church in an informed, missional engagement with secularization in a variety of contexts—starting with North America, then Europe, Asia, and Africa. Each local church and mission organization must discern the appropriate missional response for evangelism, discipleship, congregational life, and social involvement. To be Against the Tide means regaining your voice, as a church on mission, informed by your context and inspired by the responses of others in theirs.

Crossing social, cultural, and religious barriers and making disciples of all nations has probably never been without some level of controversy. This book is an attempt to hit the pause button on this rapid-paced world and to reflect on how we do mission, especially in light of the new layers of complexity that globalization brings. While the contributors engage in new aspects of mission and cultural encounter unique to the twenty-first century, the underlying issues of each chapter are age-old topics that have reared their heads at various times throughout history: priorities in mission, power struggles, perspectives on cultural others, and contextualization. With that in mind, our aims are twofold: (1) to carefully consider issues causing tension and contention within current mission thought, practice and strategy and then (2) to engage in serious but charitable dialogue for the sake of God’s mission and the salvation of all peoples.

For many years, cross-cultural missions were directed to people in the countries of their birth, generally in Majority World areas. Foreigners present among or around the intended focus of ministry were not viewed as part of mission ministry. Diaspora missions focus on these peoples, who are now actually and virtually in more accessible places. This book will help you understand the dynamics behind this accelerated movement of peoples from one region to another, biblical principles and precedents that guide ministry today, the application of social and communication studies, and actual cases of ministry to and with diaspora peoples.

Communicating the Gospel—To All People, By All Means    Communication has always been the heartbeat of God’s interaction with humankind, and without thoughtful communication, mission is not fully effective. With the rise of technology and social media, the church faces a unique set of opportunities. At the same time, our shrinking world presents challenges and requires an increased sensitivity to social, cultural, and geopolitical triggers.    With case studies that span the globe from Australia and Asia to the Black church and Muslim youth diaspora in the United States, this book closely considers what is working in the twenty-first century and what isn’t. From post-colonial contexts to creative-access countries, this collection doesn’t shy away from today’s complex issues. Communication in Mission pulls together diverse voices—some seem like shouts and others like gentle whispers—but each has an important contribution for all who will listen and learn. 

The greatest crisis is being separated from Christ. In the constant swirl of human suffering, the church has long wrestled with appropriate responses. As crises come and go, the need for the church’s theological, missiological, and practical readiness remains, so that people not only survive but thrive in the context of a crisis. Practicing Hope brings together global scholars and practitioners who share and think broadly about the church’s mission in a world rife with crises. Rather than harmonizing the voices of the contributors to provide general guidelines for generic crisis response, Practicing Hope allows the reader to hear multiple perspectives on complex issues such as sustainability, empowerment, human rights, biblical principles, and missio Dei (mission of God). These essays highlight that being separated from Christ is the focus that will keep the church from losing its raison d’être—its reason for being. This book provides a potent reminder that crises are not the end; sometimes they are the beginning of something better. In these chapters, you will fi nd stories of hope amid unimaginable darkness. Practicing Hope describes what it really means (not just in theory, but in practice) to be the salt of the earth and light of the world (Matt 5:14–15). We hope that you will be inspired, as Jesus said in the parable of the Good Samaritan, to “go and do likewise.”