Concordia Seminary - Saint Louis Scholarly Resources from Concordia Seminary Edinburgh Centenary Series Resources for Ministry 1-1-2010 Witnessing to Christ Today Daryl Balia University of Edinburgh, [email protected] Kirsteen Kim University of Edinburgh, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://scholar.csl.edu/edinburghcentenary Part of the Missions and World Christianity Commons Recommended Citation Balia, Daryl and Kim, Kirsteen, "Witnessing to Christ Today" (2010). Edinburgh Centenary Series. Book 26. http://scholar.csl.edu/edinburghcentenary/26 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Resources for Ministry at Scholarly Resources from Concordia Seminary. It has been accepted for inclusion in Edinburgh Centenary Series by an authorized administrator of Scholarly Resources from Concordia Seminary. For more information, please contact [email protected]. EDINBURGH 2010 SERIES Edinburgh 2010 Volume II Witnessing to Christ Today For personal use only - not for sale For personal use only - not for sale EDINBURGH 2010 SERIES Series Preface The Centenary of the World Missionary Conference, held in Edinburgh 1910, is a suggestive moment for many people seeking direction for Christian mission in the 21st century. Several different constituencies within world Christianity are holding significant events around 2010. Since 2005 an international group has worked collaboratively to develop an intercontinental and multi- denominational project, now known as Edinburgh 2010, and based at New College, University of Edinburgh. This initiative brings together representatives of twenty different global Christian bodies, representing all major Christian denominations and confessions and many different strands of mission and church life, to prepare for the Centenary. Essential to the work of the Edinburgh 1910 Conference, and of abiding value, were the findings of the eight think-tanks or ‘commissions’. These inspired the idea of a new round of collaborative reflection on Christian mission – but now focused on nine themes identified as being key to mission in the 21st century. The study process is polycentric, open-ended, and as inclusive as possible of the different genders, regions of the world, and theological and confessional perspectives in today’s church. The titlesFor personal of the Edinburghuse only - not 2010 for Seriessale are divided into two categories: (1) the three official titles of Edinburgh 2010, and (2) publications of various study groups, including the Edinburgh 2010 main study groups, transversal, regional and different confessional study groups. These publications reflect the ethos of Edinburgh 2010 and will make a significant contribution to its study process. It should be clear that material published in this series will inevitably reflect a diverse range of views and positions. These will not necessarily represent those of the series’ editors or of the Edinburgh 2010 General Council, but in publishing them the leadership of Edinburgh 2010 hope to encourageFor personalconversation use only between - not for Christianssale and collaboration in mission. All the series volumes are commended for study and reflection in both churches and academies. Series Editors Daryl Balia Edinburgh 2010, Edinburgh, UK Tony Gray Bound Biographies, Bicester, UK Knud Jorgensen Areopagos Foundation, Norway Kirsteen Kim Edinburgh 2010, Edinburgh, UK Wonsuk Ma Oxford Centre for Mission Studies, Oxford, UK A full listing of titles in this series appears at the end of this book EDINBURGH 2010 SERIES Edinburgh 2010 Volume II Witnessing to Christ Today For personal use only - not for sale Edited by Daryl Balia and Kirsteen Kim For personal use only - not for sale Copyright © ‘Edinburgh 2010’, 2010 First published 2010 by Regnum Books International Regnum is an imprint of the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies St. Philip and St. James Church Woodstock Road, Oxford, OX2 6HR, UK www.ocms.ac.uk/regnum 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 The right of ‘Edinburgh 2010’ to be identified as the Editors of this Work has been asserted by them in accordance with the For personal useCopyright, only - not Designs for sale and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher or a license permitting restricted copying. In the UK such licenses are issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1P 9HE. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library For personal use only - not for sale ISBN: 978-1-870345-77-4 Typeset by BB Ltd Printed and bound in Great Britain for Regnum Books International CONTENTS Acknowledgements vii Introduction Daryl Balia and Kirsteen Kim 1 Theme 1 Foundations for Mission 10 Theme 2 Christian Mission among other Faiths 34 Theme 3 Mission and Postmodernities 61 Theme 4 Mission and Power 86 Theme 5 Forms of Missionary Engagement 116 Theme 6 Theological Education and Formation 148 Theme 7 ChristianFor Communitiespersonal use only in -Contemporary not for sale Contexts 175 Theme 8 Mission and Unity – Ecclesiology and Mission 199 Theme 9 Mission Spirituality and Authentic Discipleship 222 Tranversals Women and Mission, Bible and Mission 245 For personal use only - not for sale Appendix I The 2010 Mission Themes 262 Appendix II Conveners of the Edinburgh 2010 Study Groups 269 Index 271 Bibliography 279 For personal use only - not for sale For personal use only - not for sale ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This second volume in the Edinburgh 2010 series contains reports of the work of nine groups working on the main study themes identified for the study process, and two shorter contributions from those working on transversal topics. It is not presented as the final word on any of these topics but represents a stage in the process and provides the raw material from on discussion at the conference in Edinburgh in June 2010 will build. The volume is commended to churches, mission groups and students of mission for study and reflection throughout the Christian world. In particular, it is intended to serve as pre- conference reading material for all those attending in June, who are encouraged to study it and work out their own responses to facilitate informed and stimulating discussion which will help to clarify the main issues and priorities in ‘witnessing to Christ today’. It should be clear that material published in this volume, and in the series will generally reflect the diversity of the views and positions of the contributing individuals and groups, and does not necessarily represent those of the series editors or the Edinburgh 2010 General Council. The editors wish to express their warm appreciation of the work of the conveners of the different study groups, who bore the responsibility for the conduct of each study, their core group members, and those who worked hard to draft and redraft the texts to deadlines. We recognise with hearty thanks the guiding Forand personal advisory use work only - ofnot the for saleStudy Process Monitoring Group: Maria Aranzazu Aguado, Rosemary Dowsett, Knud Jørgensen, John Kafwanka, Jooseop Keum, Wonsuk Ma and Petros Vassiliadis. We also wish to thank Wonsuk Ma (Regnum) and Tony Gray (Bound Biographies) for their help in making its publication possible. Daryl Balia Kirsteen Kim General Editors For personal use only - not for sale For personal use only - not for sale For personal use only - not for sale INTRODUCTION EXPERIMENTING WITH A MULTI-REGIONAL, CROSS- DENOMINATIONAL, POLY-CENTRIC STUDY PROCESS Daryl Balia and Kirsteen Kim The World Missionary Conference, Edinburgh 1910 was motivated by the perception that the Christian gospel is good news for the whole world but it understood that world to be divided into Christian and non-Christian lands. One hundred years later Christianity is recognised as a truly world religion, widely spread across the globe and locally rooted in a huge diversity of cultures and in varied regions. Historic forms of church life which originated in West Asia and Europe are being reconfigured for new situations, and in the context of newly emerging churches and movements, especially in Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas. The representatives of churches and mission organisations meeting in 2010 do not see themselves as part of an enterprise of European peoples on a For personal use only - not for sale mission to the rest but as participating in the mission of God, which is worldwide and multi-directional. Christian mission today is made up of the witness of countless local churches as well as transnational and cross-cultural flows. It is facilitated by an ever growing variety of organisations and groups, inspired by new and renewed forms of spirituality, and undergirded by academic studies of various kinds. The context of world Christianity poses new challenges to Christians and churches seeking to be faithful in witnessing to Christ today. Faithfulness in fulfilling the one mission of God implies participating in the one body of Christ and sharing the same Holy Spirit. ButFor thispersonal raises use the only issue: - not How for cansale we witness faithfully together, and recognise one another’s contributions to God’s mission, when we belong to so many different denominations, live in such diverse cultures, speak so many different languages, and