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How mission is changing
This article may need to be rewritten as soon as it is finished, writes Dr Cathy Ross. Mission is always changing – God‘s Spirit blows where it will and we need discernment to keep up with that movement.
Perhaps the most dramatic shift in the history of mission has occurred in our lifetime – in fact during the last 20 years or so.
This is the shift of the ‘centre of gravity’ of Christianity from the West to the Majority World or the Global South.
The growth of Christianity in Africa, for example, is staggering. In 1900 there were approximately 8.7 million Christians in Africa. By 2000 there were approximately 350 million.
Professor Lamin Sanneh, from Gambia, notes that the fastest growth in Africa was after colonialism, surmising that perhaps colonialism was an obstacle to the growth of Christianity.
The delayed impact of Bible translation also helped Christianity to spread as did – with Africans leading the way in the spread of the gospel. So we now find that Africa has the fastest growing church, Latin America is the largest Christian continent and the church is growing rapidly in parts of Asia, notably China. The church is stagnating or in decline in the West.
New approaches to mission
The church in the Majority World is generally theologically more conservative than the West, has a greater awareness of the supernatural and has a more holistic understanding of discipleship.
This has huge implications for mission: the churches in the Majority World may no longer wish to approach mission in the same way as Western mission engagement in the past. While they may still be happy to welcome mission partners from the West, it is usually for a specific task and timeframe.
They also feel a responsibility to re-evangelise the West and many go to Western countries with this aim. They may not be sent by a traditional mission agency but rather they may go as professionals, migrants or even refugees but always with the aim of reaching out in the name of Christ. We now see that mission really is from everywhere to everywhere.
Migration, AIDS and other big issues
The dramatic increase in migration, whether through natural disasters, wars, genocide or personal choice, has created a multicultural world which means that we can engage in cross-cultural mission without leaving home. This is a new phenomenon, highlighted by the relative ease of travel and increased global communications.
There are other big issues rising up the mission agenda: global warming, increasing violence, the rapid spread of HIV/AIDS, rising nationalism, religious freedom, multiculturalism, ethnicity and identity, and of course the advent of the worldwide web.
Time for a rethink
All these issues (and more) have meant major changes for the theory and practice of mission. Westerners now find themselves as a minority in the Christian world and are having to learn how to listen with humility to the concerns of our sisters and brothers from the Majority World.
Although the initiative in mission has not changed and is still that of our Triune God, we need to rethink our structures and patterns so that we are in touch with the wind of the Holy Spirit in our changing world.
Dr Cathy Ross is manager of the Crowther Centre for Mission Education at CMS in Oxford and JV Taylor Fellow in Missiology at Regent's Park College and Wycliffe Hall, Oxford.
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