REGNUM EDINBURGH CENTENARY SERIES A Learning Missional Church Reflections from Young Missiologists REGNUM EDINBURGH CENTENARY SERIES The Centenary of the World Missionary Conference of 1910, held in Edinburgh, was a suggestive moment for many people seeking direction for Christian mission in the twenty-first century. Several different constituencies within world Christianity held significant events around 2010. From 2005, an international group worked collaboratively to develop an intercontinental and multi-denominational project, known as Edinburgh 2010, and based at New College, University of Edinburgh. This initiative brought 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 mark 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 twenty-first century. The study process was 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. It was overseen by the Study Process Monitoring Group: Miss Maria Aranzazu Aguado (Spain, The Vatican), Dr Daryl Balia (South Africa, Edinburgh 2010), Mrs Rosemary Dowsett (UK, World Evangelical Alliance), Dr Knud Jørgensen (Norway, Areopagos), Rev. John Kafwanka (Zambia, Anglican Communion), Rev. Dr Jooseop Keum (Korea, World Council of Churches), Dr Wonsuk Ma (Korea, Oxford Centre for Mission Studies), Rev. Dr Kenneth R. Ross (UK, Church of Scotland), Dr Petros Vassiliadis (Greece, Aristotle University of Thessalonikki), and coordinated by Dr Kirsteen Kim (UK, Edinburgh 2010). These publications reflect the ethos of Edinburgh 2010 and will make a significant contribution to ongoing studies in mission. 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 hopes to encourage conversation between Christians and collaboration in mission. All the series’ volumes are commended for study and reflection in both church and academy. Series Editors Knud Jørgensen Areopagos, Norway, MF Norwegian School of Theology & the Lutheran School of Theology, Hong Kong. Former Chair of Edinburgh 2010 Study Process Monitoring Group Kirsteen Kim Leeds Trinity University College and former Edinburgh 2010 Research Coordinator, UK Wonsuk Ma Oxford Centre for Mission Studies, Oxford, UK Tony Gray Words by Design, Bicester, UK REGNUM EDINBURGH CENTENARY SERIES A Learning Missional Church Reflections from Young Missiologists Edited by Beate Fagerli, Knud Jørgensen, Rolv Olsen, Kari Storstein Haug and Knut Tveitereid. Copyright © Beate Fagerli, Knud Jørgensen, Rolv Olsen, Kari Storstein Haug and Knut Tveitereid, 2012 First published 2012 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 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 The right of Beate Fagerli, Knud Jørgensen, Rolv Olsen, Kari Storstein Haug and Knut Tveitereid to be identified as the Editors of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs 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, electric, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying. In the UK such licences are issued by the Copyright Licencing 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 ISBN: 978-1-908355-01-0 Typeset by Words by Design Printed and bound in Great Britain for Regnum Books International by TJ International LTD, Padstow, Cornwall CONTENTS Foreword Olav Fykse Tveit 1 Introduction Knud Jørgensen 3 MISSIONAL CHURCH Missional Church – Problem or Possibility for Global Mission? Thoughts from a Norwegian perspective Ragnhild Kristensen 15 Theological Education for a Missional Church – A Perspective From a Theological Training Institution in Brazil Mona Dysjeland 33 Building up the Missional Fellowship of Love: A Review of T.C. Chao’s Mission Theology. The Evangelical Tradition Wen Ge 49 Learnings from the Missional Church in India John Amalraj 68 ENCOUNTER BETWEEN RELIGIONS Biblical and Quranic reflections on ‘obedience’ Steinar Sødal 85 The Oslo Coalition for Freedom of Religion or Belief: Ground Rules for Missionary Activities Ingunn Folkestad Breistein 99 MIGRANT PERSPECTIVES Christian Communities in Contemporary Contexts: A Cross-cultural Church and Mission Experience Adèle Djomo Ngomedje 115 God’s Transforming Mission and Norwegian Churches and Mission Organizations: Some Observations from a Migrant Perspective Desta Lemma 132 vi A Learning Missional Church MISSIONAL CHALLENGES The Church in Mission: Contextual Bible Study and Liberation Marit Breen 149 Mission and Three South African Metropolitan Megachurches: Middle-Class Masses in search of Mammon? Genevieve Lerina James 171 Challenges Facing the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY): A Growing Charismatic Church in the Global South Dawit Olika Terfassa 185 Bibliography 201 Index 211 List of Contributors 215 FOREWORD Olav Fykse Tveit This book paints the picture of ‘A Learning Missional Church’ and contains reflections from young missiologists. The idea to collect material for such a book came into being as churches and organizations were planning the celebration of the centenary for Edinburgh 1910 in Norway. From the beginning they realized that a celebration in 2010 should provide much space for input from youth. “We need their dreams and hopes for mission today and tomorrow. Edinburgh 2010 must provide a voice for a new generation”, the organizers said. As a result they set in motion a study process for young missiologists and students about themes related to mission in our new century. It was the South African missiologist David Bosch who in 1991 taught us the concept ‘transforming mission’ to call our attention to what he described as ‘paradigm shifts in theology of mission’. Since the 1980ies churches and missions worldwide have become increasingly aware of these shifts, in terms of the geography of world Christianity, the acute challenges from political conflict, globalization, the environmental crisis and the drastic changes within churches in all parts of the world. Without the challenge to mission from Edinburgh 1910 the role of the Christian faith as a world religion would have looked very different from what it does today, particularly after the church in the West has declined. Today we find vital and numerous expressions of the Christian faith on all six continents. To a large degree this is a fruit of the missionary activities. At the same time Edinburgh 1910 painted a Western, Protestant view of mission and designed plans for the Global South, largely without the participation of the Global South. The paradigm shifts challenge us to do things differently and to let a fresh generation of leaders and thinkers take new initiatives. That is what the following chapters do – present the voices of young missiologists from different corners of the church universal, to explore and to learn – and to give us new eyes to see so that we may join in with the Spirit. To give us bold humility and humble boldness, as David Bosch often said, as we follow the Lord on the dusty roads of today. I welcome these new voices and I congratulate the Norwegian originators of this project, the Christian Council of Norway, the Church of Norway Council on Ecumenical and International Relations, the Norwegian Council on Mission and Evangelism, the Cooperative Committee on 2 A Learning Missional Church Congregation and Mission, the Egede Institute and the mission foundation Areopagos. May this contribution from my home country Norway be of inspiration for all of us to share how God of life is leading us forward in God's mission, in all contexts and all continents. Revd Dr Olav Fykse Tveit General Secretary of the World Council of Churches December 2011 INTRODUCTION: MISSION AS LEARNING Knud Jørgensen This book is compiled by contributions from young missiologists from different parts of the world. It is therefore written from the perspective of youth to be a fresh breath of air into more traditional mission thinking and mission paradigms. The basic flavour of this fresh breath of air, coming from the younger generation, is “learning from others and from one another”: How may traditional sending churches and organizations see themselves as receivers? How may we bring experiences from outside into our own context? What may we learn across geographical borders – North learning from South, South learning from North, South learning from South, etc? What can we learn from one another in a process of reciprocity? The Englishman David Smith has written an inspiring book about Mission after Christendom.1 In the midst of the global shift it