Mission in the Context of World Christianity

Beyond alerting the academy about the simultaneous expansion and contraction of Christianity across the globe, World Christianity scholarship  has increasingly argued that because Christianity is by nature translatable, the faith has ability to expand globally and take on locally convergent cultural forms. Such translation processes of Christian faith have resulted in modes of local appropriation that are profoundly affecting the missionary calling of the churches.

Responding to this context, the course will argue that Christianity’s global expansion and local appropriation imply that its multiple centers of ecclesial power and transcontinental missional connectivities must be studied both in terms of how they were historically expressed and are currently being experienced by the faithful across different places and times. Beginning with an overview of the decline of established Christianity in western Europe, we discuss how the dominant western missionary engagements have changed to allow space for the recently arrived Global South Christians to take their place in helping to revive the missionary calling of Europe.

The course will highlight the biblical and theological basis of mission, explore the missional implications of Global South migration, and outline the theological contributions of approaches such as World Christianity and Intercultural Theology to the ongoing missionary task in Europe. Students will gain knowledge, attitudes, and skills that facilitate a deeper understanding of the church’s changing missional calling in relation to cultural diversity, ecumenical relations and interreligious dialogue.

By

DR. BOSCO BANGURA (ETF Leuven)

and

PROF. DR. BENNO VAN DER TOREN (PthU)