Chair "Missiology for the Church Today and Tomorrow"
ETF Leuven has established a Chair on “Missiology for the Church Today and Tomorrow”. The Chair stimulates research, education and broad communication on the missionary implications of the rise of world Christianity for intercultural faith encounters in Belgium and Europe. Dr. Bosco Bangura has been appointed as the first Chair holder.
Dr. Bosco Bangura is enthusiastic for this task: “I am excited that ETF Leuven has decided to establish this Chair, which gives particular attention to Christianity from the global south. It demonstrates ETF Leuven’s commitment to embrace diversity and to benefit from the gifts that are available in the global Christian community.”
Changing context
ETF Leuven’s mission is ‘to deepen, strengthen and equip the international Evangelical movement at an academic level.’ At the heart of its academic programs is the desire to equip people to take their place in church and society in order to spread the good news of Jesus Christ in the world. ETF Leuven welcomes students from every continent and from diverse Protestant evangelical denominations. The change in ecclesiastical demographics means that in Belgium, African, Brazilian, Romanian and many other Christian ‘migrant’ communities have emerged and now constitute the majority of the Protestant Evangelical presence in the country. They not only serve the religious needs of their own communities, but also seek to strengthen ‘indigenous’ Christian communities. This changing context has major implications for thinking about the church, missiological education, mission studies and mission theologies.
Rationale and main tasks
The Academic Dean of ETF Leuven, Prof. Dr. Jelle Creemers, explains the rationale of the Chair: “Christian Mission today cannot be seen any more as a movement from ‘North’ to ‘South’, but implies global movements in all directions ànd local encounters of diverse cultural expressions of Christian faith. Bosco Bangura’s Chair is positioned strongly within the Department of Religious Studies and Missiology and demonstrates ETF Leuven’s engagement for Christian mission today.” The Chair has three main tasks: (a) designing and providing education in missiology aware of the current global Christian context; (b) conducting research that addresses the exciting missionary issues that African Christian communities have brought to Belgium and Europe and (c) strengthening collaboration between diverse local Christian communities in view of revitalizing Christianity locally and globally.
The (part-time) Chair is co-financed by partners with a warm heart for Christian mission today.
