Teaching Christian Mission in an Age of World Christianity

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Teaching Christian Mission in an Age of World Christianity Teaching Christian Mission in an Age of World Christianity Teaching Christian Mission in an Age of World Christianity Te 2016 Proceedings of the Association of Professors of Missions. Published by First Fruits Press, © 2017 Digital version at http://place.asburyseminary.edu/academicbooks/18/ ISBN: 9781621716402 (print), 9781621716754 (digital), 9781621716761 (kindle) First Fruits Press is publishing this content by permission from the Association of Professors of Mission. Copyright of this item remains with the Association of Professors of Mission. First Fruits Press is a digital imprint of the Asbury Teological Seminary, B.L. Fisher Library. Its publications are available for noncommercial and educational uses, such as research, teaching and private study. First Fruits Press has licensed the digital version of this work under the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial 3.0 United States License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by-nc/3.0/us/. For all other uses, contact Association of Professors of Missions 108 W. High St. Lexington, KY 40507 http://www.asmweb.org/content/apm Teaching Christian Mission in an Age of World Christianity The 2016 Proceedings of the Association of Professors of Missions.5D&.,)(#5,-)/,E 1 online resource (v, 247 pages) : digital5 Wilmore, Ky. : First Fruits Press, ©2017.5 ISBN: omnglhgmglmkj (&.,)(#) 1. Missions – Study and teaching – Congresses. 2. Missions – Teory – Congresses. 3. Education – Philosophy – Congresses. 4. Teaching – Methodology – Congresses. I. Title. II. Danielson, Robert A. (Robert Alden), 1969- III. Hartley, Benjamin L. (Benjamin Loren) IV. Association of Professors of Mission annual meeting (2016: St. Paul, Minn.) V. Association of Professors of Mission. VI. Te 2016 proceedings of the Association of Professors of Missions. BV2020 .A876 2016eb Cover design by Jon Ramsey First Fruits Press The Academic Open Press of Asbury Theological Seminary 204 N. Lexington Ave., Wilmore, KY 40390 859-858-2236 [email protected] asbury.to/frstfruits Teaching Christian Mission in an Age of World Christianity Te 2016 proceedings of Te Association of Professors of Missions Edited by Robert A. Danielson & Linda F. Whitmer 2016 APM Annual Meeting St. Paul, Minnesota June 16 - 17, 2016 Robert Danielson, Advisory Committee Member | i About the Association of Professors of Mission Robert Danielson, Advisory Committee Member Te Association of Professors of Mission (APM) was formed in 1952 at Louisville, Kentucky and was developed as an organization to focus on the needs of people involved in the classroom teaching of mission studies. However, the organization also challenged members to be professionally involved in scholarly research and share this research through regular meetings. In the 1960’s Roman Catholic scholars and scholars from conservative Evangelical schools joined the conciliar Protestants who initially founded the organization. With the discussion to broaden membership to include other scholars from areas like anthropology, sociology, and linguistics who were actively engaged in mission beyond the teaching profession, the decision was made to found the American Society of Missiology (ASM) in 1972. Since the importance of working with mission educators was still vital, the APM continued as a separate organization, but always met in conjunction with the ASM at their annual meetings. Te APM continues as a professional society of those interested in the teaching of mission from as wide an ecumenical spectrum as possible. As an organization it works to help and support those who teach mission, especially those who often lack a professional network to help mentor and guide them in this task. Trough its infuence, the APM has also helped establish the prominence and scholarly importance of the academic discipline of missiology throughout theological education. ii Table of Contents | iii Table of Contents About the Association of Professors of Mission ............................ i Robert Danielson, Advisory Committee Member Foreword .................................................................................................. 1 Angel Santiago-Vendrell Conference Theme ................................................................................ 5 Plenary Papers Teaching Missiology in and for World Christianity Content and Method .................................................................................................... 11 Peter C. Phan The Bodies We Teach By: (En) Gendering Mission for Global Christianities ........................................................................................25 Mai-Ahn Le Teaching Christian Mission in an Age of World Christianity: A Reflection on the Centenary of the 1916 Panama Congress ................................................................................................................... 45 Philip Wingeier-Rayo, Ph.D. Conference Papers Theological Metaphors of Teaching Mission in An Age of World Christianity in the North American Context .............................. 71 David Thang Moe, Ph.D. Student iv | Table of Contents Mission Shifts from Pope Benedict XVI to Pope Francis ....... 91 William P. Gregory The Elephant in the Room: Towards a Paradigm Shift in Missiological Education .................................................................. 107 Sarita D. Gallagher, Ph.D. Historic Models of Teaching Christian Mission: Case Studies Informing an Age of World Christianity ................................... 127 Robert L. Gallagher How the West Was Won: World Christianity as Historic Reality .................................................................................................. 153 Matt Friedman, Ph.D. The World’s Christians: Strategies for Teaching International Graduate Students in Kenya’s Christian UniVersities .......... 165 Janice Horsager Rasmussen Gendered Mission: Educational Work or Itinerating Preaching? The Mission Practice of the Presbyterian Church USA in Barranquilla, Colombia, 1880-1920 .......................................... 185 Angel Santiago-Vendrell Mary McLeod Bethune: Christ Did Not Designate Any Particular Color to Go .......................................................................................... 199 Mary Cloutier Teaching Mission in an Age of World Christianity: History, Theology, Anthropology, and Gender in the Classroom ...... 211 Angel Santiago-Vendrell Conference Proceedings First Fruits Report for the APM ................................................... 225 Minutes of 2016 Meeting ............................................................... 227 Secretary’s Treasury Report ........................................................ 231 Conference Program ....................................................................... 232 Table of Contents | v vi Angel Santiago-Vendrell | 1 Foreword Angel Santiago-Vendrell Teaching Christian Mission in an Age of World Christianity Te June 2016 Annual Meeting of the Association of Professor of Mission examined how the concept of World Christianity has impacted the teaching of mission. Mission and World Christianity are terms that seem to exclude each other. If Christianity is already a world religion, what is the need for mission? By the late 1970s, Andrew Walls drew attention to the fact that Christianity in the twentieth century was spreading and gaining converts mostly in the areas of Africa, Asia, and Latin America, while at the same time Europe and North America were experiencing stagnation and decline in numbers and fervor. Tis recognition of Christianity as a world religion, spread over all six continents has given way to conceiving the study of mission, ecumenics, and interreligious studies under the new nomenclature of World Christianity. Tis new feld of World Christianity studies the Christian faith as expressed in all six continents placing emphasis on the experiences of the poor, women of color, and marginalized communities in the Majority World. Tese churches at one time were known in missionary circles as “receiving” or “younger” churches. Given that the majority of Christians now live in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean and the Pacifc, and that the gospel was spread mostly through indigenous Christians, how are we supposed to teach mission in North American colleges, universities, and theological seminaries? What role do the European and 2 | Foreword North American churches play today? Are the experiences of Christians in the Majority World at the center of our teaching of mission in North America? What are the new resources for teaching mission in an age of world Christianity? Papers were brought forward exploring theological metaphors or models for excellent teaching and thinking about teaching mission studies in an age of world Christianity. Historical, biblical, and theological factors continue to contribute to the changes one observes in modern mission studies. It also becomes clear that changes in one’s own teaching or in an institution’s curriculum itself are necessary for promoting gender equality in mission studies. Case studies and other instructional methods focused on women can help put the study of Christianity in Africa, Asia, and Latin America into new forms of learning about the global nature of Christianity. As North American professors we must fnd ways to put the experiences of majority world women at the center of our research agendas. We must also learn to deal with diferent cultural contexts and related constructs (e.g. conceptions
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