HE TWO STRUCTURE T OF GOD’S REDEMPTIVE MISSION S Ralph D. Winter

In an address given to the All-Asia Mission Consultation in Seoul, Korea in August 1973 (The founding of the Asia Missions Association), Ralph Winter describes the forms that GodÕs two Òredemptive structures,Ó take in every human society, and have taken throughout history. His thesis has two major implications: (I) We must accept both structures, represented in the Christian church today by the local church and the mission society, as legitimate and necessary, and as part of ÒGodÕs People, the ChurchÓ and (2) Non-Western churches must form and utilize mission societies if they are to exercise their missionary responsibility effectively. Such structures are not ÒWestern but Biblical.Ó

It is the thesis of this article that the Messiah had come in Jesus whether Christianity takes on West- Christ, the Son of God; that in ern or Asian form, there will still be Christ a final authority even greater two basic kinds of structures that than Moses existed; and that this will make up the movement. Most made more understandable than of the emphasis here will be placed ever the welcoming of the Gentiles on pointing out the existence of without forcing upon them any lit- these two structures as they have eral cultural adaptation to the ritual continuously appeared across the provisions of the Mosaic Law. An centuries. This will serve to define, outward novelty of PaulÕs work illustrate and compare their nature was the development eventually of and importance. The writer will wholly new synagogues that were also endeavor to explain why he not only Christian, but Greek. believes our efforts today in any Very few Christians casually part of the world will be most effec- reading the New Testament (and tive only if both of these two struc- with only the New Testament avail- tures are fully and properly able to them), would surmise the involved, and supportive of each degree to which there had been other. Jewish evangelists who went before Paul all over the EmpireÑa move- Redemptive Structures in New ment that began 100 years for Testament Times Christ. Some of these were the peo- First of all let us recognize the ple whom Jesus himself described structure so fondly called Òthe New as Òtraversing land and sea to make Testament ChurchÓ as basically a a single proselyte.Ó Saul followed Christian synagogue.1 PaulÕs mis- their path. Paul built on their efforts sionary work consisted primarily of and went beyond them with the going to synagogues scattered new gospel he preached, which across the Roman Empire, begin- allowed the Greeks to remain ning in Asia Minor, and making Greeks and not be circumcised and clear to the Jewish and Gentile culturally assimilated into the Jew- believers in those synagogues that ish way of life. Paul had a vast HE TWO STRUCTURE T OF GOD’S REDEMPTIVE MISSION S foundation on which to build: Peter demanded. It was also dependent, declared ÒMoses is preached in from time-to-time, not alone upon every City (of the Roman Empire)Ó the Antioch church, but upon (Acts 15:21). other churches that had risen as a Yet not only did Paul apparently result of evangelistic labors. go to every existing synagogue of PaulÕs team may certainly be Asia,2 after which he declared, considered a structure. While its ÒÉall Asia has heard the gospel,Ó design and form is not made con- but, when occasion demanded, he crete for us on the basis of remain- established brand new synagogue- ing documents, neither, of course, type fellowships of believers as the is the structure of a New Testa- basic unit of his missionary activity. ment congregation defined con- The first structure in the New Tes- cretely for us in the pages of the tament scene is thus what is often New Testament. In both cases, the called the New Testament church. absence of any such definition It was essentially built along Jewish implies the pre-existence of a com- synagogue lines,3 embracing the monly understood pattern of rela- community of the faithful in any tionship, whether in the case of the given place. The defining character- congregational structure or the istic of this structure is that it missionary band structurewhich included old and young, male and Paul employed earlier as Saul the female. Note, too, that Paul was Pharisee, and later, at the time the willing to build such fellowships Antioch congregation in Acts 13:2 out of former Jews as well as non- released Paul and Barnabus for Jewish Greeks. missionary work. There is a second, quite different Thus, on the one hand, the structure in the New Testament structure we call the New Testa- context. While we know very little ment church is a prototype of all about the structure of the evangelis- subsequent Christian fellowships tic outreach within which pre- where old and young, male and Pauline Jewish proselytizers female are gathered together as worked, we do know, as already normal biological families in mentioned, that they operated all aggregate. On the other hand, over the Roman Empire. It would PaulÕs missionary band can be con- be surprising if Paul didnÕt follow sidered a prototype of all subse- somewhat the same procedures. quent missionary endeavors And we know a great deal more organized out of committed, expe- about the way Paul operated. He rienced workers who affiliated was, true enough, sent out by the themselves in task-oriented com- church in Antioch. But once away munities as a second decision from Antioch he seemed very much beyond membership in the first on his own. The little team he structure. formed was economically self- Note well the additional com- sufficient when occasion mitment. Note also that the struc- 2 HE TWO STRUCTURE T OF GOD’S REDEMPTIVE MISSION S ture that resulted was something New Testament is trying to show definitely more than the extended us how to borrow effective pat- outreach of the Antioch church. No terns ; it is trying to free all future matter what we think the structure missionaries from the need to fol- was, we know that it was not sim- low the precise forms of either the ply the Antioch church operating at Jewish synagogue or Jewish mis- a distance from its home base. It sionary band, and yet to allow was something else, something dif- them to choose comparable indige- ferent. We will consider the mis- nous structures in the countless sionary band the second of the two new situations across history and redemptive structures in New Tes- around the worldÑstructures tament times. which will correspond faithfully to In conclusion, it is very impor- the function of patterns Paul tant to note that neither of these employed, if not their form ! two structures was, as it were, Òlet It is no wonder that a consider- down from heavenÓ in a special able body of literature in the field way. It may be shocking at first to of missiology today underlies the think that God made use of either a fact that world Christianity has Jewish synagogue pattern or a Jew- generally employed the various ish evangelistic pattern. But this existing languages and cultures of must not be more surprising than the world-human communityÑ the fact that God employed the use more so than any other religionÑ of the pagan Greek language, the and in so doing, has cast into a Holy Spirit guiding the biblical shadow all efforts to canonize as writers to lay hold of such terms as universal any kind of mechanically kurios (originally a pagan term formal extension of the New Testa- meaning lord or even dictator), and ment churchÑwhich is not a pound them into shape to carry the unique structure but Òthe people Christian revelation. The New Tes- of GodÓ however those individuals tament refers to a synagogue dedi- are organized. We seek dynamic cated to Satan, but this did not equivilence , not formal replica- mean that Christians, to avoid such tion.4 a pattern, could not fellowship together in the synagogue pattern. The Early Development of These considerations prepare us Christian Structures Within for what comes next in the history Roman Culture of the expansion of the gospel, We have seen how the Chris- because we see other patterns cho- tian movement built itself upon sen by Christians at a later date two different kinds of structures whose origins are just as clearly that had pre-existed in the Jewish Òborrowed patternsÓ as were those cultural tradition. It is now our in the New Testament period. task to see if the functional equiva- In fact, the profound missiologi- lents of these same two structures cal implication of all this is that the were to appear in later Christian 3 HE TWO STRUCTURE T OF GOD’S REDEMPTIVE MISSION S cultural traditions as the gospel femaleÑthat is, a biologically per- invaded that larger world. petuating organism. Of course, the original syna- Meanwhile, the monastic tradi- gogue pattern persisted as a Chris- tion in various early forms, devel- tian structure for some time. oped as a second structure. This Rivalry between Christians and new, widely proliferating structure Jews, however, tended to defeat undoubtedly had no connection at this as a Christian pattern, and in all with the missionary band in some cases to force it out of exis- which Paul was involved. Indeed, tence, especially where it was possi- it more substantially drew from ble for Jewish congregations of the Roman military structure than dispersion to arouse public perse- from any other single source. cution of the apparently deviant Pachomius, a former military man, Christian synagogues. Unlike the gained three thousand followers Jews, Christians had no official and attracted the attention of peo- license for their alternative to the ple like Basil of Caesarea, and then Roman Imperial cult.5 through Basil, John Cassian, who labored in southern Gaul at a later Thus, whereas each synagogue date.6 These men thus carried for- was considerably independent of ward a disciplined structure, bor- the others, the Christian pattern rowed primarily from the military, was soon assimilated to the Roman which allowed nominal Christians context, and bishops became to make a second-level choiceÑan invested with authority over more additional specific commitment. than one congregation with a terri- Perhaps it would be well to torial jurisdiction not altogether dif- pause here for a moment. Any ref- ferent from the pattern of Roman erence to the monasteries gives civil government. This tendency is Protestants culture shock. The well confirmed by the time the offi- Protestant Reformation fought des- cial recognition of Christianity had perately against certain degraded its full impact: the very Latin word conditions at the very end of the for Roman magisterial territories 1000-year medieval period. We was appropriatedÑthe dioceseÑ have no desire to deny the fact that within which parishes are to be conditions in monasteries were not found on the local level. always ideal. What the average In any case, while the more Protestant knows about monaster- ÒcongregationalÓ pattern of the ies may be correct for certain situa- independent synagogue became tions. But the popular Protestant pervasively replaced by a Òconnec- stereotype surely cannot describe tionalÓ Roman pattern the new correctly all that happened during Christian parish church still pre- the 1000 years! During those centu- served the basic constituency of the ries there were many different eras synagogue, namely, the combina- and epochs and a wide variety of tion of old and young, male and monastic movements, radically dif- 4 HE TWO STRUCTURE T OF GOD’S REDEMPTIVE MISSION S ferent from each other, as we shall est use of marl in improv- see in a minute; and any generaliza- ing the soil is attributed to tion about so vast a phenomenon is them. The great French bound to be simply an unreliable monastic orders led in the and no doubt prejudiced caricature. agricultural colonization Let me give just one example of of Western Europe. Espe- how far wrong our Protestant stere- cially did the Cistercians otypes can be. We often hear that make their houses centres the monks Òfled the world.Ó Com- of agriculture and contrib- pare that idea with this description ute to improvements in by a Baptist missionary scholar: that occupation. With their lay brothers and their The Benedictine rule and hired laborers, they the many derived from it became great landed pro- probably helped to give prietors. In Hungary and dignity to labor, including on the German frontier the manual labor in the fields. Cistercians were particu- This was in striking con- larly important in reduc- trast with the aristocratic ing the soil to cultivation conviction of the servile and in furthering coloniza- status of manual work tion. In Poland, too, the which prevailed in much of German monasteries set ancient society and which advanced standards in was also the attitude of the agriculture and introduced warriors and non-monastic 7 ecclesiastics who consti- artisans and craftsmen. tuted the upper middle For all of us who are interested classes of the Middle in missions the shattering of the AgesÉTo the monaster- Òmonks fled the worldÓ stereotype iesÉwas obviously due is even more dramatically and much clearing of land and decisively reinforced by the mag- improvement in methods nificent record of the Irish pere- of agriculture. In the midst grini , who were Celtic monks who of barbarism, the monaster- did more to reach out to convert ies were centres of orderly Anglo-Saxons than did Augus- and settled life and monks tineÕs later mission from the South, were assigned the duty of and who contributed more to the road-building and road evangelization of Western Europe, repair. Until the rise of the even Central Europe, than any towns in the eleventh cen- other force. tury, they were pioneers in From its very inception this sec- industry and commerce. ond kind of structure was highly The shops of the monaster- significant to the growth and ies preserved the industries development of the Christian of Roman timesÉThe earli- movement. Even though Protes- 5 HE TWO STRUCTURE T OF GOD’S REDEMPTIVE MISSION S tants have an inbuilt prejudice these two structures are formally against it for various reasons, as we different fromÑand historically have seen, there is no denying the unrelated toÑthe two in New Tes- fact that apart from this structure it tament times, they are nevertheless would be hard even to imagine the functionally the same. In order to vital continuity of the Christian tra- speak conveniently about the con- dition across the centuries. Protes- tinuing similarities in function, let tants are equally dismayed by the us now call the synagogue and other structureÑthe parish and diocese modalities , and the mis- diocesan structure. It is, in fact, the sionary band and monastery, relative weakness and nominality sodalities. of the diocesan structure that Elsewhere I have developed makes the monastic structure so these terms in detail, but briefly, a significant. Men like Jerome and modality is a structured fellowship Augustine, for example, are in which there is no distinction of thought of by Protestants not as sex or age, while a sodality is a monks but as great scholars; and structured fellowship in which people like John Calvin lean very membership involves an adult sec- heavily upon writings produced by ond decision beyond modality such monks. But Protestants do not membership, and is limited by usually give any credit to the spe- either age or sex or marital status. cific structure within which Jerome In this use of these terms, both the and Augustine and many other denomination and the local con- monastic scholars worked, a struc- gregation are modalities, while a ture without which Protestant mission agency or a local menÕs labors would have had very little to club are sodalities.8 build on, not even a Bible. A secular parallel would be that We must now follow these of a town (modality) compared to threads into the next period, where a private business (a sodality)Ñ we will see the formal emergence of perhaps a chain of stores found in the major monastic structures. It is many towns. The sodalities are sufficient at this point merely to subject to the authority of the more note that there are already by the general structures, usually. They fourth century two very different are ÒregulatedÓ but not Òadminis- kinds of structuresÑthe diocese teredÓ by the modalities. A com- and the monasteryÑboth of them plete state socialism exists where significant in the transmission and there are no regulated, decentral- expansion of Christianity. They are ized private initiatives. Some each patterns borrowed from the denominational traditions, like the cultural context of their time, just as Roman and the Anglican, allow for were the earlier Christian syna- such initiatives. Many Protestant gogue and missionary band. denominations, taking their cue It is even more important for from LutherÕs rejection of the our purpose here to note that while sodalities of his time, try to govern 6 HE TWO STRUCTURE T OF GOD’S REDEMPTIVE MISSION S everything from a denominational Christian beliefÑthey were Ari- office. Some local congregations ans. As a result, in many places cannot understand the value or the there were both ÒArianÓ and need for mission structures. ÒCatholicÓ Christian churches on Yet Paul was Òsent offÓ not opposite corners of a main streetÑ Òsent outÓ by the Antioch congre- something like today, where we gation. He may have reported back have Methodist and Presbyterian to it but did not take orders from it. churches across the street from His mission band (sodality) had all each other. the autonomy and authority of a Again, however, it is not our Òtravelling congregation.Ó purpose to downplay the signifi- In PaulÕs time his missionary cance of the parish or diocesan band specifically nourished the form of Christianity, but simply to congregationsÑa most significant point out that during the early symbiosis. In the early period period of the Medieval epoch the beyond the pages of the Bible, how- specialized household called the ever, there was little relation monastery, or its equivalent, between modality and sodality. We became ever so much more impor- shall now see how it took centuries tant in the perpetuation of the in the medieval period to recover Christian movement than was the the healthy New Testament rela- organized system of parishes, tionship between modality and which we often call Òthe churchÓ sodality. as if there were no other structure making up the church. The Medieval Synthesis of Perhaps the most outstanding Modality and Sodality illustration in the early medieval We can say that the Medieval period of the importance of a vital period began when the Roman and dynamic relationship between Empire in the West started to break modality and sodality is the collab- down. To some extent the diocesan oration between Gregory the Great pattern, following as it did the and man later called Augustine of Roman civil-governmental pattern, Canterbury. While Gregory, as the tended to break down at the same bishop of the diocese of Rome, was time. The monastic (or sodality) the head of a modality, both he pattern turned out to be much more and Augustine were the products durable, and as a result gained of monastic housesÑa fact which greater importance in the early reflects the dominance even then medieval period than it might have of the sodality pattern of Christian otherwise. The survival of the structure. In any case, Gregory modality (diocesan Christianity) called upon his friend Augustine was further compromised by the to undertake a major mission to fact that the invaders of this early England in order to try to plant medieval period generally diocesan structure there, where belonged to a different brand of Celtic Christianity had been 7 HE TWO STRUCTURE T OF GOD’S REDEMPTIVE MISSION S deeply wounded by the invasion of strictly sodalities, but sodalities Saxon warriors from the continent. which contributed massively to the As strong as Gregory was in his building and the rebuilding of the own diocese, he simply had no Corpus Cristianum , the network structure to call upon to reach out of dioceses, which Protestants in this intended mission other than often identifynarrowly as ÒtheÓ the sodality, which at this point in Christian movement (excluding history took the form of a Benedic- sodalities). tine monastery. This is why he At many points there was ended up asking Augustine and a rivalry between these two struc- group of other members of the tures, between bishop and abbot, same monastery to undertake this diocese and monastery, modality rather dangerous journey and and sodality, but the great achieve- important mission on his behalf. ment of the medieval period was The purpose of the mission, curi- the ultimate synthesis, delicately ously, was not to extend the Bene- achieved, whereby Catholic orders dictine form of monasticism. The were able to function along with remnant of the Celtic ÒchurchÓ in Catholic parishes and dioceses England was itself a network of without the two structures conflict- sodalities since there were no par- ing with each other to the point of ish systems in the Celtic area. No, a setback to the movement. The Augustine went to England to harmony between the modality establish diocesan ChristianityÑ and the sodality achieved by the though he himself was not a dioce- Roman Church is perhaps the san priest. Interestingly enough, the Benedicting ÒRuleÓ (way of life) most significant characteristic of was so attractive that gradually vir- this phase of the world Christian tually all of the Celtic houses movement and continues to be adopted the Benedictine Rule, or RomeÕs greatest organizational Regula (in Latin). advantage to this day. This is quite characteristic. Dur- Note, however, that is not our ing a lengthy period of time, per- intention to claim that any one haps a thousand years, the building organization whether modality or and rebuilding of the modalities sodality was continuously the was mainly the work of the sodali- champion of vitality and vigor ties. That is to say the monasteries throughout the thousands of years were uniformly the source and the of the medieval epoch. As a matter real focus point of new energy and of actual fact, there really is no vitality which flowed into the dioc- very impressive organizational esan side of the Christian move- continuity in the Christian move- ment. We think of the momentous ment, either in the form of modal- Cluny reform, then the Cistercians, ity or sodality. (The list of bishops then the Friars, many others and at Rome at many points is a most eventually the JesuitsÑ all of them shaky construct and unfortunately 8 HE TWO STRUCTURE T OF GOD’S REDEMPTIVE MISSION S does not even provide a focus for gained clear authority for at least the entire Christian movement.) semi-autonomous operation, and On the other hand, it is clear the secularization of the orders that the sodality, as it was recreated was averted. again and again by different lead- We may note that the same ers, was almost always the structu- structural danger of secularization ral prime mover, the source of exists today whenever the special inspiration and renewal which concerns of an elite mission sodal- overflowed into the papacy and ity fall under the complete domi- created the reform movements nation (e.g. administration not just which blessed diocesan Christianity regulation) of an ecclesiastical gov- from time to time. The most signifi- ernment, since the Christian cant instance of this is the accession modalities (congregations) inevita- to the papal throne of Hildebrand bly represent the much broader (Gregory VII), who brought the and, no doubt, mainly inward con- ideals, commitment and discipline cerns of a large body of all kinds of of the monastic movement right Christians, who, as Òfirst-decisionÓ into the Vatican itself. In this sense members, are generally less select. are not then the papacy, the College Their democratic majority tends to of Cardinals, the diocese, and the move away from the high- parish structure of the Roman discipline of the mission struc- Church in some respects a secon- tures, and denominational mission dary element, a derivation from the budgets tend to get smaller across monastic tradition rather than vice the decades as church membership versa? Òbroadens.Ó In any case it seems appropriate We cannot leave the medieval that the priests of the monastic tra- period without referring to the dition are called regular priests , many unofficial and often perse- while the priests of the diocese and cuted movements which also mark parish are called secular priests. the era. In all of this, the Bible itself The former are voluntarily bound seems always the ultimate prime by a regula, while the latter as a mover, as we see in the case of group were other than, outside of Peter Waldo. His work stands as a (Òcut offÓ) or somehow less than powerful demonstration of the the highly committed second- simple power of a vernacular decision communities bound by a translation of the Bible where the demanding way of life, a regula. people were unable to appreciate Whenever a house or project or par- either JeromeÕs classical translation ish run by the regular clergy is or the celebration of the Mass in brought under the domination of Latin. A large number of groups the secular clergy, this is a form of referred to as ÒAnabaptistsÓ are to the ÒsecularizationÓ of that entity. be found in many parts of Europe. In the lengthy ÒInvestiture Contro- One of the chief characteristics versy,Ó the regular clergy finally of these renewal movements is that 9 HE TWO STRUCTURE T OF GOD’S REDEMPTIVE MISSION S they did not attempt to elicit represented by the various sodali- merely celibate participation, ties of this momentous millen- although this was one of their traits nium, which almost always arose on occasion, but often simply somewhere else, and were often developed whole Ònew communi- opposed by the Roman hierarchy. tiesÓ of believers and their families, attempting by biological and cultu- The Protestant Recovery of the ral transmission to preserve a high Sodality and enlightened form of Christian- The Protestant movement ity. These groups usually faced started out by attempting to do such strong opposition and grave without any kind of sodality struc- limitations that it would be very ture. Martin Luther had been dis- unfair to judge their virility by their contented with the apparent progress. It is important to note, polarization between the vitality however, that the average Mennon- he eventually discovered in his ite or Salvation Army community, own order and the very nominal where whole families are members, parish life of his time. Being dissat- typified the desire for a ÒpureÓ isfied with this contrast, he aban- church, or what is often called a doned the sodality (in which, ÒbelieversÓ church, and constitutes nevertheless, he was introduced to a most significant experiment in the Bible, to the Pauline epistles Christian structure. Such a struc- and to teaching on Òjustification by ture stands, in a certain sense, mid- faith,Ó) and took advantage of the way between a modality and a political forces of his time to sodality, since it has the constitu- launch a full-scale renewal move- ency of the modality (involving full ment on the general level of families) and yet, in its earlier church life. At first, he even tried years, may have the vitality and to do without the characteristically selectivity of a sodality. We will Roman diocesan structure, but return to this phenomenon in the eventually the Lutheran move- next section. ment produced a Lutheran dioce- We have space here only to san structure which to a point out that in terms of the dura- considerable extent represented bility and quality of the Christian the readoption of the Roman dioc- faith, the 1000-year medieval esan tradition. But, the Lutheran period is virtually impossible to movement did not in a comparable account for apart from the role of sense readopt the sodalities, the the sodalities. What happened in Catholic orders, that had been so the city of Rome is merely the tip of prominent in the Roman tradition. the iceberg at best, and represents a This omission, in my evalua- rather superficial and political tion, represents the greatest error level. It is quite a contrast to the of the Reformation and the great- foundational well-springs of Bibli- est weakness of the resulting Prot- cal study and radical obedience estant tradition. Had it not been 10 HE TWO STRUCTURE T OF GOD’S REDEMPTIVE MISSION S for the so-called Pietist movement, CareyÕs famous book, An Enquiry, the Protestants would have been proposed Òthe use of means for the totally devoid of any organized conversion of the heathen.Ó His renewing structures within their key word means refers specifically tradition. The Pietist tradition, in to the need for a sodality, for the every new emergence of its force, organized but non-ecclesiastical was very definitely a sodality, inas- initiative of the warmhearted. much as it was a case of adults Thus, the resulting Baptist Mis- meeting together and committing sionary Society is one of the most themselves to new beginnings and significant organizational develop- higher goals as Christians without ments in the Protestant tradition. conflicting with the stated meetings Although not the earliest such soci- of the existing church. This phe- ety, nevertheless, reinforced as it nomenon of sodality nourishing was by the later stages of the pow- modality is prominent in the case of erful ÒEvangelical AwakeningÓ the early work of John Wesley. He and by the printing of CareyÕs absolutely prohibited any abandon- book, it set off a rush to the use of ment of the Parish churches. A con- this kind of ÒmeansÓ for the con- temporary example is the widely version of the heathen, and we influential so-called East African find in the next few years a num- Revival , which has now involved a ber of societies forming along simi- million people but has very care- lar lines: the LMS and NMS in fully avoided any clash with func- 1795, the CMS in 1799, the CFBS in tioning of local churches. The 1804, the BCFM in 1810, the ABMB churches that have not fought in 1814, the GMS in 1815, the DMS against this movement have been in 1821, the FEM in 1822, and the greatly blessed by it. BM in 1824Ñtwelve societies in However, the Pietist movement, thirty-two years. Once this method along with the Anabaptist new of operation was clearly under- communities, eventually dropped stood by the Protestants, three back to the level of biological hundred years of latent energies growth; it reverted to the ordinary burst forth in what became, in pattern of congregational life. It LatouretteÕs phrase, ÒThe Great reverted from the level of the sodal- Century.Ó By helping to tap the ity to the level of the modality, and immense spiritual energies of the in most cases, rather soon became Reformation CareyÕs Enquiry has ineffective either as a mission struc- probably contributed more to glo- ture or as a renewing force. bal mission than any other book in What interests us most is the history beyond the Bible itself! fact that in failing to exploit the The Nineteenth Century is thus power of the sodality, the Protes- the first century in which Protes- tants had no well-accepted mecha- tants were actively engaged in mis- nism for missions for almost three sions. For reasons which we have hundred years, until William not space here to explain, it was 11 HE TWO STRUCTURE T OF GOD’S REDEMPTIVE MISSION S also the century of the lowest ebb The Contemporary of Catholic mission energy. Amaz- Misunderstanding of the Mission ingly, in this one century Protes- Sodality tants, building on the Almost all mission efforts in the unprecedented world expansion of Nineteenth Century, whether the West, caught up with eighteen sponsored by interdenominational centuries of earlier mission efforts. boards or denominational boards, There is simply no question that were substantially the work of ini- what was done in this century tiatives that were mainly indepen- moved the Protestant stream from a dent of the ecclesiastical structures self-contained, relatively impotent to which they were related. European backwater into a world Toward the later half of the Nine- force in Christianity. Looking back teenth Century, there seemed from where we stand today, of increasingly to be two separate course, it is hard to believe how structural traditions. recently the Protestant movement On the one hand, there were has become prominent. men like Henry Venn and Rufus Organizationally speaking, how- Anderson, who were the strategic ever, the vehicle that allowed the thinkers at the helm of older socie- Protestant movement to become tiesÑthe Church Missionary Soci- vital was the structural develop- ety (CMS) in England and ment of the sodality, which har- American Board of Commissioners vested the vital ÒvoluntarismÓ for Foreign Missions (ABCFM), latent in Protestantism, and sur- respectively. These men champi- faced in new mission agencies of all oned the semi-autonomous mis- kinds, both at home and overseas. sion sodality, and they voiced an Wave after wave of evangelical ini- attitude which was not at first con- tiatives transformed the entire map tradicted by any significant part of of Christianity, especially in the the leaders of the ecclesiastical United States, but also in England, structures. in Scandinavia and on the conti- On the other hand, there was nent. By 1840, the phenomenon of the centralizing perspective of mission sodalities was so promi- denominational leaders, princi- nent in the United States that the pally the Presbyterians, a perspec- phrase Òthe Evangelical EmpireÓ tive which gained ground almost and other equivalent phrases were without any reversal throughout used to refer to the phenomenon, the latter two-thirds of the Nine- and now began a trickle of eccle- teenth Century, so that by the early siastical opposition to this bright part of the Twentieth Century the new emergence of the second struc- once-independent structures ture. This brings us to our next which had been merely related to point. the denominations gradually 12 HE TWO STRUCTURE T OF GOD’S REDEMPTIVE MISSION S became dominated by the churches, and at least in their youthful vital- that is, administered not merely ity, have felt quite capable as regulated. denominations of providing all of Partially as a result, toward the the necessary initiative for over- end of the Nineteenth Century, seas mission. It is for this latter rea- there was a new burst of totally son that the many new separate mission sodalities--later denominations of the U.S. have called the Faith Missions-- with tended to act as though centralized Hudson TaylorÕs CIM taking the church control of mission efforts is lead. It is not widely recognized the only proper pattern. that this pattern was mainly a rec- As a result, by the Second rudescence of the pattern that had World War, a very nearly complete been established earlier in the cen- transmutation had taken place in tury, prior to the trend toward the case of almost all mission denominational boards. efforts related to denominational The transition to ecclesiastical structures. That is, almost all older control, to centralization took place denominational boards, though very gradually. Attitudes at any once semi-autonomous or very point are hard to pin down, but it nearly independent, had by this does seem clear that Protestants time become part of unified bud- were always a bit unsure about the get provisions and similar central- legitimacy of the second structure, izing schemes. At the same time, the sodality. The Anabaptist tradi- and partially as a result, a whole tion consistently emphasized the new host of independent mission concept of a pure community of structures burst forth again, espe- believers and thus was uninter- cially after the Second World War. ested in a voluntarism that would As in the case of the earlier emer- involve only part of that commu- gence of the Faith Missions, these nity. The same is true of Alexander tended to pay little attention to CampbellÕs ÒRestorationÓ tradition, denominational leaders and their and the Plymouth Brethren. The aspirations for Òchurch-centeredÓ more recent sprinkling of indepen- mission. The Anglican church with dent ÒCharismatic CentersÓ with all its CMS, USPG, etc., displays the their exuberance locally, also tend medieval synthesis, and so, almost toward sending out their own mis- unconsciously, does the American sionaries, and have not learned the CBA with its associated CBFMS, lesson of the Pentecostal groups CBHMS structures. Thus, to this before them which have employed day, among Protestants, there con- mission agencies with great effect. tinues to be deep confusion about U.S. denominations, lacking tax the legitimacy and proper relation- support (as was common on the ship of the two structures that Continent), have been generally a have manifested themselves more selective and vital fellowship throughout the history of the than the European state churches, Christian movement. 13 HE TWO STRUCTURE T OF GOD’S REDEMPTIVE MISSION S To make matters worse, Protes- ate also be set up on the field. tant blindness about the need for As a matter of fact, many of the mission sodalities has had a very mission agencies founded after tragic influence on mission fields. World War II, out of extreme def- Protestant missions, being modal- erence to existing church move- ity-minded, have tended to assume ments already established in that merely modalities, e.g., foreign lands, have not even tried churches, need to be established. In to set up churches , and have most cases where mission work is worked for many years merely as being pursued by what are essen- auxiliary agencies in various ser- tially semi-autonomous mission vice capacities trying to help the sodalities, it is the planting of churches that were already there. modalities, not sodalities, that is the Meanwhile, we live in a world only goal. That is to say, the mis- in which many new churches and sion agencies (even those that have new denominations have assumed been completely independent from that an envisioned local church is denominations back home) have all you need to send missionaries; tended in their mission work very the mission agency, as they see it, simply to set up churches and not is either unnecessary or unbiblical! to plant, in addition, mission sodal- The historical record is that mis- 9 ities in the so-called mission lands. sion families sent out by a single The marvelous ÒThird World Mis- congregation are rarely as likely to sionÓ movement has sprung up get the best preparation before from these mission field churches, going to the field or the valuable but with embarrassingly little guidance and fellowship other encouragement from the Western missionaries after they get there. mission societies, as sad and sur- The question we must ask is prising as that may seem. how long it will be before the Thus, as we look back today, it younger churches of the so-called is astonishing that most Protestant mission territories of the non- missionaries (although they work Western world come to that epo- within mission structures that did chal conclusion (to which the Prot- not exist in the Protestant tradition estant movement in Europe only for hundreds of years and without tardily came), namely, that there whose existence there would have need to be the sodality structures been no mission initiative) have called for by William CareyÕs Òuse nevertheless been blind to the sig- of means,Ó in order for church peo- nificance of the very structure ple in their modalities to reach out within which they have worked. In in vital initiatives in mission, espe- this blindness they have merely cially cross-cultural mission. There planted churches and have not are already some hopeful signs effectively concerned themselves to that this tragic delay will not con- make sure that the kind of mission tinue. We see, for example, the out- structure within which they oper- standing work of the Melanesian 14 HE TWO STRUCTURE T OF GOD’S REDEMPTIVE MISSION S Brotherhood in the Solomon 4. What does Winter claim was Islands. Òthe greatest error of the Refor- mation and the greatest weak- Conclusion ness of the resulting Protestant This article has been in no sense traditionÓ? an attempt to decry or to criticize the organized church. It has End Notes assumed the necessity and the 1. One can hardly conceive of more providentially supplied means for the importance of the parish structure, Christian mission to reach the Gentile the diocesan structure, the denomi- community. Wherever the community of national structure, the ecclesiastical Christ went, it found at hand the tools structure. The modality structure in needed to reach the nations: a people living under covenant promise and a responsible the view of this article is a signifi- election, and the scriptures, GodÕs cant and absolutely essential struc- revelation to all men. The open synagogue ture. All that is attempted here is to was the place where all these things explore some of the historical pat- converged. In the synagogue, the Christians were offered an inviting door of access to terns which make clear that God, every Jewish community. It was in the through His Holy Spirit, has clearly synagogue that the first Gentile converts and consistently also used another declared their faith in Jesus. (Richard F. structure other than (and some- DeRidder, The Dispersion of the People of God (Netherlands: J.H. Kok, N.V. Kampen, times instead of) the modality 1971), p. 87. structure. It is our attempt here to 2. In PaulÕs day Asia meant a small help church leaders and others to portion in the extreme west of what we understand the legitimacy of both today call Asia MinorÑpresent-day Turkey. In those days no one dreamed how structures, and the necessity for far the term would later be extended. Paul both structures not only to exist but was, then, only referring to one relatively to work together harmoniously for small Òcounty.Ó the fulfillment of the Great Com- 3. That Christians in Jerusalem mission, and for the fulfillment of organized themselves on the synagogue pattern is evident from the appointment of all that God desires for our time. elders and the adoption of the service of prayer. The provision of a daily support for Study Questions a recognized category of widows and needy reflects the current synagogue 1. Define the terms ÒmodalityÓ and practice (Acts 2:42, 6:1). It is possible that Òsodality,Ó and give examples of the epistle of James reflects the prevailing each. Jerusalem situation: in James 2:2 reference is made to a wealthy man coming Ôinto 2. Do you agree with WinterÕs the- your assemblyÕ. The term translated sis that sodality structures within ÔassemblyÕ is literally ÔsynagogueÕ, not the the church are both legitimate more usual word ÔchurchÕ. Glenn W. and necessary? What practical Barker, William L. Lane and J. Ramsey Michaels, The New Testament Speaks (New significance does your answer York: Harper and Row Co., 1969), p. suggest? 126-127. 4. Charles Kraft, ÒDynamic Equivalence 3. Explain the importance of being Churches,Ó Missiology: An International able to distinguish between form Review , 1, no. 1 (1973), p. 39ff. and function. 5. Christians, it said, resorted to the 15 HE TWO STRUCTURE T OF GOD’S REDEMPTIVE MISSION S formation of Òburial clubs,Ó which were (Note that this article, written at the legal, as one vehicle of fellowship and founding of the Asia Missions Association worship. in 1973, gives only hints of the exciting new 6. Kenneth Scott Latourette, A History wave of ÒThird World MissionÓ interest: the of Christianity (New York: Harper & COMIBAM movement in Latin America, the Brothers, 1953), pp. 181, 221-234. Third World Mission Association, the revi- 7. Kenneth Scott Latourette, A History talized Missions Commission of the World of the Expansion of Christianity , vol. 2, The Evangelical Fellowship, the growth not only Thousand Years of Uncertainty (New York: of non-Western mission structures, but Harper & Brothers, 1938), pp. 379-380. national level associations of missions, such 8. Ralph D. Winter, ÒThe Warp and the as NEMA (Nigerian Evangelical Missions Woof of the Christian Movement,Ó in his Association) and the IMA (India Mission and R. Pierce BeaverÕs, The warp and the woof: organizing for Christian mission Association), and all around the world doz- (Pasadena, Calif.: William Carey Library, ens of training schools and programs for c1970), pp. 52-62. such missionaries. In 1992 it is estimated 9. Ralph D. Winter, ÒThe Planting of that there are well over 400 non-Western Younger Missions,Ó in Church/Mission mission agencies. What an incredible change Tensions Today, ed. by Peter C. Wagner in 20 years! But, rarely has this been the ini- (Chicago: Moody Press, 1972). tiative of ecclesiastical structures.)

Ralph D. Winter After serving ten years as a missionary among Mayan Indians in western Gua- temala, Ralph D. Winter spent the next ten years as a professor of missions at the School of World Mission at Fuller Theological Seminary. He is the founder of the U.S. Center for World Mission in Pasadena, California, a cooperative center focused on people groups still lacking a culturally relevant church. Winter has also been instrumental in the formation of the movement called Theological Education by Extension, the William Carey Library publishing house, the American Society of Missiology, the Perspectives Study Program and the International Society for Frontier Missiology. Since March of 1990 he has been the President of the William Carey International University.

Some other booklets in the USCWM Series: ¥ A Church in Every PeopleÑDonald McGavran ¥ Crucial Issues in MissionsÑRalph D. Winter ¥ A Giant Step In Christian Mission ÑDonald McGavran ¥ The Non-Essentials of LifeÑRoberta Winter ¥ Commitment to a Wartime LifestyleÑRalph D. Winter

To order copies of this or other mission booklets contact: William Carey Library P.O. Box 40129 Pasadena CA 91104 1-800-MISSION

USCWM Series No. 01-995 Copyright©1995 by William Carey Library 16