Religious mission and Religious Conversion Books

Book SynopsisDoes Religion Do More Harm Than Good? is a chapter from Nicky Gumbel's book, Searching Issues. Nicky tackles questions around faith and the misuse of faith in our world today. This is an ideal take away for an Alpha guest who is struggling with this topic or anyone curious to find out more.Alpha creates an environment of hospitality where people can bring their friends, family and work colleagues to explore the Christian faith, ask questions and share their point of view. Alpha makes it easy to invite friends to have spiritual conversations which explore life's biggest questions in a safe and respectful way. Alpha's approach to hospitality, faith and discussion is designed to welcome everyone, especially those who might not describe themselves as Christians or church-goers. Each session includes time for a large group meal, short teaching, and small group discussion.This resource is written in Spanish.

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Book SynopsisWhen Love Heals is a powerful message of how each of us is called to do as Christ did when He walked the earth. He loved in a way that people had never seen before, embracing the broken and the outcast, healing the blind and the lame. Founded in 1968, Medical Ministry International provides medical care in over 23 developing countries and is devoted to bringing that same love and healing to a world in need. When Love Heals shares stories of people whose lives have beenhealed and profoundly changed by the compassion of MMI. Read what happens When Love Heals as Jesus did years ago.

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Book SynopsisThe command of Jesus Christ to Born-Again Christians that rings through the ages is to ‘go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature.’ “Ole Slewfoot” does just that, and was written to greatly assist Christians in witnessing to the very ones who need Jesus most. It addresses many (if not most) of the arguments worldlings try to confound Christians with. As the lost person reads, one after another of his strongest objections to Christianity will fall to the Truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ….not by the words of man’s wisdom….but by the Power of the Spirit of the Risen Saviour! To God be the Glory, Great things He hath done!

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Book SynopsisAnchored in Scripture and Tradition, Radical Hospitality for a Prophetic Church conveys Amanda D. Quantz’s firsthand experiences as a chaplain working with emerging ministries that meet people where they are. Building on the biblical concept that all wisdom was present in the mind of God before it filtered into the world’s religious traditions, the book provides Christians with ideas for how to approach someone from a different religious or spiritual creed and learn about their faith traditions and values. Whether seekers are experimenting with open Communion, church without walls, or ancient but little-known Christian practices, this book is a resource for those who feel stuck in outdated ideas about what it means to be a church.Table of ContentsIntroduction A Prophetic Endeavor: Mutuality, Plurality, Transformation Chapter 1 Welcoming the Stranger: Courage, Curiosity, Generosity Chapter 2 Interspirituality: Similarity-in-Difference Chapter 3 Church Outside the Walls: Health, Healing, Wholeness, Holiness Chapter 4 Sanctuary and City: A Radical Ministry of Presence Chapter 5 Action-Reflection: Radical Hospitality and the Contemplative Life Conclusion Welcome Home

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Book SynopsisMission is contrived from and performed over lived contexts, but the visions that guide and drive mission are oftentimes blinded by power, position, protection, and plenitude. This collection visits those matters with queering attention to the shadows empires cast over the contexts of mission, and to the collusion and complicity of Christians and churches with empires past (as in the case of Rome) and present (as in the case of the United States of America). In the interests of those in mission fields who survived, but continue to agonize under the burdens of empires, the contributors to this work dare to re-vision the course and cause of mission.Writing from minoritized settings in Africa, Asia, the Americas, and Oceania, the authors interweave the principles and practices of mission with the opportunities in decolonial theology and hermeneutics, minoritized and migrant Christologies, repatriation and the courage to get up and get out, indigenous insights and wisdom, mission archives, stories of resistance and endurance in zones of contact and violence, restless souls and returning spirits, and life-centered spiritual (en)countering. In Mission and Context as with previous volumes in this series—empires do not have the final word, nor the final world.Table of Contents1.repatriation of native minds Jione Havea CONTEXT MATTERS 2.Turn to Decolonial Theology: A Southern African InvitationTeddy Chalwe Sakupapa 3.Hermeneutical Embers from the “Zone of Non-being”Vuyani S. Vellem 4.Reading Christ in the Neighbor’s Eyes: An Asian InvitationSamuel Ngun Ling 5.Who is Christ for Ali? Refugees in a Post-Truth AgeEunice Karanja Kamaara 6.Get Out: Soul Trans-Formations in TrumpireJennifer Leath 7.The Philippine Nation-State and the Killing of Indigenous Peoples: Christianity and Modernity as Walls of Legitimation and ConquestS. Lily Mendoza 8.Dare Not! Or Fear Not! Reimagining the Story of the Canaanite-Noisy Woman (Matthew 15)Surekha Nelavala MISSION MATTERS 9.Counter-creating Mission in but not of EmpirePeter Cruchley 10.Conservative Evangelicalism, Prosperity Gospel, and the Pornification of Western ChristianityRoderick R Hewitt 11.Calling for Communities of Resistance in the Context of EmpireSindiso Jele 12.Mission and Violent Conflict: Seeking ShalomDeborah Storie 13.Reassembling the OikoumenēKathryn Poethig 14.Theology at the Nexus of Spirit and LifeKim Yong-Bock

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Book SynopsisMission is contrived from and performed over lived contexts, but the visions that guide and drive mission are oftentimes blinded by power, position, protection, and plenitude. This collection visits those matters with queering attention to the shadows that empires cast over the contexts of mission, and to the collusion and complicity of Christians and churches with empires past (as in the case of Rome) and present (as in the case of the United States of America). In the interests of those in mission fields who survived, but continue to agonize under the burdens of empires, the contributors to this work dare to re-vision the course and cause of mission.Writing from minoritized settings in Africa, Asia, the Americas, and Oceania, the authors interweave the principles and practices of mission with the opportunities in decolonial theology and hermeneutics, minoritized and migrant Christologies, repatriation and the courage to get up and get out, indigenous insights and wisdom, mission archives, stories of resistance and endurance in zones of contact and violence, restless souls and returning spirits, and life-centered spiritual (en)countering. In Mission and Context as with previous volumes in this series—empires do not have the final word, nor are they the final world.Trade ReviewMission and Context is a courageous endeavor of fourteen scholars, including the editor, Jione Havea, to raise our consciousness about chronic effects of colonization of the church around the globe. Churches of marginalized people, specifically in the global south, suffer the pains of abusive power wielded by “Empire Churches” that are more concerned about mega memberships and individualized spiritualities than “the vulnerable and the dispossessed.” This book provides a bold and brave position on the real meaning of mission considering context and culture through interpretation of scripture, ethical analysis, and reexamined/reshaped theologies. Such an undertaking is the practice of decolonization, the dismantling of Empire. This book is essential reading if theological educators are serious about equipping students for mission that transforms lives in contexts of poverty, racism, and political ineptness. -- Evelyn L. Parker, Perkins School of TheologyThis book is a missiological treasure trove of our times. It contains the latest cutting-edge reflections on the greatest challenges facing Christian mission globally. The chapters are written by a carefully assembled group of some of the best theologians in the world at this time. At the heart of each chapter is an analysis of the interplay between the Missio Dei and context in a world dominated by the ideology and the values of Empire. It is remarkable how contributors to this volume, each in her or his own way, manage at once to unmask the negative strategies of Empire and to point out the various ways in which Christians all over the world are resisting it and providing alternatives through their lived faith. -- Tinyiko Maluleke, University of PretoriaThe publication of this book in academic and other church circles is—to use the phrase of my friend Tony Gittins—“a presence that disturbs.” But the disturbance that it causes is a grace, a grace that only those who speak from the margins of society and empire can offer. The entire church, but especially those of us at the privileged center, need to listen, learn, repent, and be converted. -- Stephen BevansMission and Context is the fifth and last volume of a series of collections of essays edited by Jione Havea that re-examine and challenge all aspects of Christian practice and theology from the perspective of resistance to Empire and imperialism. Contributors hailing from all corners of the globe unflinchingly unmask the various ways in which Christian churches have colluded with imperial power in “matters of power, position, protection and plethora.” If readers feel uncomfortable with the views expressed in this book, it will have achieved its goal of provoking them to critically rethink the traditional understanding of Christian mission and to acknowledge that “empires do not have the final word,” nor are they the “final world.” Reading this book with an open mind is already an act of resistance. -- Peter C. Phan, Georgetown UniversityMission and Context is an empowering collection of experiences and theological discourse that turns the concept of mission upside down. Mission was for the majority of its history carried out in the context of Empire. This book decolonizes the concept of empire and the forces with which it was associated. For instance, it captures the impact of the missionary movements of the 18th century and their silent and complicit relationship with slavery. The different contexts represented in these chapters give us an honest insight into the role and place of mission, both historically and in contemporary context. This is a book about mission from the margins that looks with hope to the marginalized communities as the places where Jesus lives and speaks. -- Feiloaiga Taule’ale’ausumai, Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New ZealandTable of Contents1.repatriation of native minds Jione Havea CONTEXT MATTERS 2.Turn to Decolonial Theology: A Southern African InvitationTeddy Chalwe Sakupapa 3.Hermeneutical Embers from the “Zone of Non-being”Vuyani S. Vellem 4.Reading Christ in the Neighbor’s Eyes: An Asian InvitationSamuel Ngun Ling 5.Who is Christ for Ali? Refugees in a Post-Truth AgeEunice Karanja Kamaara 6.Get Out: Soul Trans-Formations in TrumpireJennifer Leath 7.The Philippine Nation-State and the Killing of Indigenous Peoples: Christianity and Modernity as Walls of Legitimation and ConquestS. Lily Mendoza 8.Dare Not! Or Fear Not! Reimagining the Story of the Canaanite-Noisy Woman (Matthew 15)Surekha Nelavala MISSION MATTERS 9.Counter-creating Mission in but not of EmpirePeter Cruchley 10.Conservative Evangelicalism, Prosperity Gospel, and the Pornification of Western ChristianityRoderick R Hewitt 11.Calling for Communities of Resistance in the Context of EmpireSindiso Jele 12.Mission and Violent Conflict: Seeking ShalomDeborah Storie 13.Reassembling the OikoumenēKathryn Poethig 14.Theology at the Nexus of Spirit and LifeKim Yong-Bock

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Book SynopsisBuilding on the work and legacy of Darrell L. Guder, Converting Witness: The Future of Christian Mission in the New Millennium constructively explores key questions and new possibilities in the field of missiology in light of the context of world Christianity. The conversation around missional theology and the missional church sought to address the gap between theology and mission and foster renewal within North American Christianity, but the growing consciousness around world Christianity has forced theologians and missiologists to give greater consideration to global cultural diversity. Many of the classic categories and methods—such as church planting, catholicity, and even the term “world Christianity” itself—are in need of fresh examination and thoughtful analysis. The contributors to this volume address a range of important missiological topics, including globalization, interfaith dialogue, integral mission, intercultural hermeneutics, and church practices.Trade ReviewThe breadth and depth of Darrell Guder’s theological and missiological work over the last half century are not only on display through the essays collected in this book, but his ideas are celebrated in the way any leading scholar would be honored by: through critical retrievals and constructive reappropriations intervening in important contemporary conversations. That the future of the theological and missiological endeavors will be even more closely intertwined than ever will be a part of Guder’s legacy, which is solidified and extended through this volume. -- Amos Yong, Fuller Theological SeminaryDarrell Guder introduced me to the field of missiology in his own gracious, humble way. His work, especially on missional ecclesiology, has influenced my own thoughts and inspires my students. In addition, with all the warmth of his personality he helped me find my bearings in a discipline that was relatively new to me, and he introduced me to some brilliant students of his, both as colleagues and as PhD candidates. In short, as a brother and as a colleague, Darrell has been extremely important to me. This volume is a great tribute to the width of his theological scopus, his love for the church (and, of course, Karl Barth!), and his passion for Christian witness to a secularizing culture. I pray that God will bless it to carry Darrell's missiological heritage further into this exciting century we are living in. -- Stefan Paas, J. H. Bavinck Chair for Missiology and Intercultural Theology at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam; professor of missiology, Theological University in KampenBack in the day, missiology was focused on the work of missionaries overseas. Now, largely due to the theological groundwork of Darrell Guder, it is as likely to be about the local church...In paying tribute to Guder's work, it has become a valuable introduction to contemporary missiology as a whole. -- Kirsteen Kim, Fuller Theological SeminaryTable of Contents1. Darrell L. Guder: A Life of Continuing Conversion David W. Congdon and John G. Flett 2. Catholicity: A Missional Mark of the Church Stephen Bevans, SVD 3. The Sending of the Whole Christian Church: Reflections after Karl Barth Eberhard Busch 4. European Christianity Put to the Test: Observations Concerning the Use of the Term “Christendom” in the Study of World Christianity Christine Lienemann-Perrin 5. From Praxis to Reflection: The Development of Integral Mission in Latin America Samuel Escobar 6. Gospel and Culture Conversations about Biblical Interpretation James Brownson 7. Demythologizing as an Intercultural Hermeneutic David W. Congdon 8. For the Fitness of Their Witness: Missional Christian Practices Benjamin T. Conner 9. Missional Ecclesiology: Proposing Some Friendly Kuyperian Amendments Richard J. Mouw 10. Church Spawning: Reimagining New Church Development George R. Hunsberger 11. Revisiting Newbigin’s Ambivalence toward Interreligious Dialogues: How Can We Re-engage in Interreligious Dialogues in Asia? Seong Sik Heo 12. Converting Mission: Interfaith Engagement as Christian Witness Deanna Ferree Womack 13. Christian Mission and Globalization: Current Trends and Future Challenges Henning Wrogemann 14. Can These Dry Bones Live Again? The Priority of Renewal Wilbert R. Shenk

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Book SynopsisAs the North American church struggles to navigate the emerging post-Christian context, Theodore J. Hopkins argues that the church is identified by three fundamental relationships: Christ-church-world. By attending to the Christological center of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s theology, Hopkins establishes a framework for the church’s mission in the world that flows from Christ’s relationship to the church and his relationship to the world. This Christological framework also illuminates the changing relationship between the church and the world in Bonhoeffer’s works, such that Discipleship seems to demarcate the church from the world while Ethics seems to unite church and world in one Christ-reality. Following Bonhoeffer, Hopkins contends that the church is both distinct from the world and in solidarity with it in the dynamic of the crucified Lord Jesus who took the form of a servant and is present in Word, Sacrament, and community as the Risen One. Hopkins envisions the church within the story of Jesus so that preaching and teaching the Gospel identifies the church and calls it to faithfulness in Christ’s own mission. The church is formed to see itself and the world in Jesus and enabled to follow Christ’s mission of witness and service in the world.Trade ReviewFor better or worse, the word on the street is that Lutherans have yet to come up with a robust ecclesiology! But before getting ahead of ourselves with such a big project, Hopkins asks us to step back and ask what being the church even means today. In dialogue with Bonhoeffer and others, he argues that without a clear account of Christ's relationship to his church in his world, not only Lutherans but Christians in the U.S. have either become like the world without the church or like the church without the world. Hopkins calls the North American church to repentance for succumbing to such reductionisms, which end up replacing the church's story with political ideologies or therapeutic ends. More importantly, Hopkins offers us a wonderful grammar grounded in God's story of creation to reimagine what it means not only to talk about the church but to be formed as the church in the likeness of Christ for the sake of the world. -- Leopoldo A. Sánchez M., Concordia SeminaryAll too often Lutherans assume that Christianity enjoys an honored place in culture, and so their beliefs about the church take for granted an individualism where people focus solely on personal salvation or an introspection in which they are absorbed in the churches’ distinctive practices, in spite of the fact that such an advantage for the church no longer exists. In response to these illusions, what the church needs to do instead is to follow Christ where he leads it: into the world. Following the lead of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Hopkins energetically repairs our understanding of the church so that it can engage more fruitfully in witness, service, and justice. Neither elevated over the world nor merged into it, the church as connected to Jesus Christ is formed increasingly into Christ’s presence in the world. Hopkins offers a vibrant alternative to present ecclesiologies, one that urges the church animated from Christ himself to make a difference in the world. -- Mark Mattes, Grand View UniversityWhat is the nature of the Church in a time when church attendance is in such dramatic decline? Hopkins takes great care to lay out the various historical and theological problems that contend with a church struggling to enact its witness to the world. He skillfully binds ecclesiology and Christology together, highlighting important tensions and calling out harmful assumptions. Still, the argument retains an essential optimism. At the heart of the book is a call to a renewed spiritual imagination that, in Bonhoefferian parlance, lifts up Jesus Christ as the grounding of all reality even in the midst of (and especially for) a post-Christian culture. -- Joel Oesch, Christ College, Concordia UniversityProductive introspection is never easy. The temptation to egocentric self-absorption, coupled with the near impossibility of honest internal assessment, warn the wise to be wary of such pursuits. Prof. Hopkins demonstrates the requisite wisdom, however, as he patiently coaxes the church to engage in the uncomfortable and often disruptive work of self-evaluation. That he undertakes the task armed with solid insights and useful tools gleaned from close interaction with the work of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, greatly increases the likelihood that such reflection will not only occur but yield God-pleasing fruit. -- Joel Biermann, Concordia Seminary, St. LouisAs he moves human history forward, God accompanies his church, and the Holy Spirit turns its attention and energy to the challenges of its mission in new times and places. Hopkins addresses the profound and everyday shifts in congregational life in North America in the early twenty-first century with sensitivity and insight in formulating a fresh approach to the daunting task of guiding any group of individualists into common tasks. Using Luther and Bonhoeffer to explore ways of embracing and enhancing the incorporation of the story of Christ’s servant conduct in his mission of rescue and restoration into the thought and action of congregations, this volume integrates the biblical narrative of our salvation into the contemporary church’s living out of its God-given identity. A stimulating venture into a doctrine of the church for our time and a practical launching point for congregational life and mission. -- Robert Kolb, emeritus, Concordia Seminary, Saint LouisTable of ContentsIntroduction: The Hermeneutical Task of Ecclesiology after Christendom1.Logics of Lutheran Ecclesiology and the Necessity of Christology2.Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Christology in Ecclesiological Perspective3.Christ-Church-World: The Christological Center of the Church-World Relation4.Jesus Christ, Lord and Servant: A Storied Ecclesiology for Post-ChristendomConclusion

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Book SynopsisAs the North American church struggles to navigate the emerging post-Christian context, Theodore J. Hopkins argues that the church is identified by three fundamental relationships: Christ-church-world. By attending to the Christological center of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s theology, Hopkins establishes a framework for the church’s mission in the world that flows from Christ’s relationship to the church and his relationship to the world. This Christological framework also illuminates the changing relationship between the church and the world in Bonhoeffer’s works, such that Discipleship seems to demarcate the church from the world while Ethics seems to unite church and world in one Christ-reality. Following Bonhoeffer, Hopkins contends that the church is both distinct from the world and in solidarity with it in the dynamic of the crucified Lord Jesus who took the form of a servant and is present in Word, Sacrament, and community as the Risen One. Hopkins envisions the church within the story of Jesus so that preaching and teaching the Gospel identifies the church and calls it to faithfulness in Christ’s own mission. The church is formed to see itself and the world in Jesus and enabled to follow Christ’s mission of witness and service in the world.Trade ReviewFor better or worse, the word on the street is that Lutherans have yet to come up with a robust ecclesiology! But before getting ahead of ourselves with such a big project, Hopkins asks us to step back and ask what being the church even means today. In dialogue with Bonhoeffer and others, he argues that without a clear account of Christ's relationship to his church in his world, not only Lutherans but Christians in the U.S. have either become like the world without the church or like the church without the world. Hopkins calls the North American church to repentance for succumbing to such reductionisms, which end up replacing the church's story with political ideologies or therapeutic ends. More importantly, Hopkins offers us a wonderful grammar grounded in God's story of creation to reimagine what it means not only to talk about the church but to be formed as the church in the likeness of Christ for the sake of the world. -- Leopoldo A. Sánchez M., Concordia SeminaryAll too often Lutherans assume that Christianity enjoys an honored place in culture, and so their beliefs about the church take for granted an individualism where people focus solely on personal salvation or an introspection in which they are absorbed in the churches’ distinctive practices, in spite of the fact that such an advantage for the church no longer exists. In response to these illusions, what the church needs to do instead is to follow Christ where he leads it: into the world. Following the lead of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Hopkins energetically repairs our understanding of the church so that it can engage more fruitfully in witness, service, and justice. Neither elevated over the world nor merged into it, the church as connected to Jesus Christ is formed increasingly into Christ’s presence in the world. Hopkins offers a vibrant alternative to present ecclesiologies, one that urges the church animated from Christ himself to make a difference in the world. -- Mark Mattes, Grand View UniversityWhat is the nature of the Church in a time when church attendance is in such dramatic decline? Hopkins takes great care to lay out the various historical and theological problems that contend with a church struggling to enact its witness to the world. He skillfully binds ecclesiology and Christology together, highlighting important tensions and calling out harmful assumptions. Still, the argument retains an essential optimism. At the heart of the book is a call to a renewed spiritual imagination that, in Bonhoefferian parlance, lifts up Jesus Christ as the grounding of all reality even in the midst of (and especially for) a post-Christian culture. -- Joel Oesch, Christ College, Concordia University IrvineProductive introspection is never easy. The temptation to egocentric self-absorption, coupled with the near impossibility of honest internal assessment, warn the wise to be wary of such pursuits. Prof. Hopkins demonstrates the requisite wisdom, however, as he patiently coaxes the church to engage in the uncomfortable and often disruptive work of self-evaluation. That he undertakes the task armed with solid insights and useful tools gleaned from close interaction with the work of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, greatly increases the likelihood that such reflection will not only occur but yield God-pleasing fruit. -- Joel Biermann, Concordia Seminary, St. LouisAs he moves human history forward, God accompanies his church, and the Holy Spirit turns its attention and energy to the challenges of its mission in new times and places. Hopkins addresses the profound and everyday shifts in congregational life in North America in the early twenty-first century with sensitivity and insight in formulating a fresh approach to the daunting task of guiding any group of individualists into common tasks. Using Luther and Bonhoeffer to explore ways of embracing and enhancing the incorporation of the story of Christ’s servant conduct in his mission of rescue and restoration into the thought and action of congregations, this volume integrates the biblical narrative of our salvation into the contemporary church’s living out of its God-given identity. A stimulating venture into a doctrine of the church for our time and a practical launching point for congregational life and mission. -- Robert KolbTheodore Hopkins offers this timely analysis on how the church should better understand itself and the world. Taking his cue from Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Hopkins articulates how the Christian church is integrally connected to the story of God’s action in the world through Jesus. For anyone interested in how the church can better live out its purpose, this book provides a keen analysis that seeks to inspire the church today to live as a community of faith that embodies the mission of Christ to the world. -- Mark Koschmann, Concordia University, St. PaulTheodore J. Hopkins presents an ecclesiology of the cross inspired by Bonhoeffer that is more urgent today than ever. In contrast to ecclesiological concepts that either focus on the internal perspective of the church or engage in religious partisan politics, Hopkins develops an ecclesiology in which church and world are open to one another because they are related to God's mission for this world.Hopkins discovers in Bonhoeffer how church and world find their dialectical tension through the story of Jesus, Lord and servant: In her cruciform mission, "the church embodies Christ's solidarity with the world," "working from below, with and for others."Hopkins's message to a Christianity in a post-Christian society is a call to repentance, to confession of historical guilt, and to humble cooperation in the search for what is good, just, and appropriate in the world today. -- Christian Neddens, Lutherische Theologische HochschuleTable of ContentsIntroduction: The Hermeneutical Task of Ecclesiology after Christendom1.Logics of Lutheran Ecclesiology and the Necessity of Christology2.Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Christology in Ecclesiological Perspective3.Christ-Church-World: The Christological Center of the Church-World Relation4.Jesus Christ, Lord and Servant: A Storied Ecclesiology for Post-ChristendomConclusion

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Book SynopsisLos Angeles is a global crossroads of migrating communities that presents a case study of migration, transnationalism, and interfaith engagement with significant implications for thinking and practice in other global hubs. This book weaves together contributions from a group of internationally-recognized scholars who were brought together for the 2020 Missiology Lectures at Fuller Theological Seminary, which received funding from the Luce Foundation. They examine historical waves of migration — European Protestant, Asian, Latino/a, and Muslim — into Southern California and use sociological, missiological, and theological methods to understand the experience of migration and its effects, both on those who move and those who are already there. The result shows how migrants are inspired and sustained by faith and spiritual resources; how migration challenges faith communities about their identity and attitudes to others; how faith communities in turn impact the migration landscape through immigrant integration and public advocacy, and how migration forges new transnational and global ways of being in community and innovative religious movements. The contributors put forward a mission theology of migration and suggest mission practices in response to the suffering caused by forced migration and the injustices of immigration systems.Table of Contents1.Los Angeles as an Intersection: Questions of Mobility, Power, and Race in Southern CaliforniaKirsteen Kim2.City of Dreams: Los Angeles as a Cradle for Religious Activism, Innovation, and Diversity Richard Flory3.Errands in the Wilderness: Protestant Migrations and the (Re)Evangelization of Southern California in the Twentieth and Twenty-First CenturiesDarren Dochuk4.Mexican Americans and the Southern ErrandRobert Chao Romero5.Missiological Reflections on the “In-Betweenness” of Latino ProtestantismJuan F. Martínez6.Making their Mark: Asian Americans and the Californian “Christian” LandscapeRebecca Y. Kim7.Faith Resources: Muslim Migration to Los AngelesZayn Kassam8.Borders: Citizenship in CaliforniaJason Sexton9.Catholicity: Migration, Religion, and World ChristianityGioacchino Campese10.Theological Approaches to Migration: Their Impact on Missional Thinking and ActionLeopoldo A. Sánchez M.11.For Such a Time as This: Ministering with and Advocating for MigrantsAlexia Salvatierra

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Book SynopsisThese challenging times demand that Christian churches and their leaders faithfully and effectively address diverse global situations with Gospel-rooted compassion and justice. These essays argue that public theology provides the trinitarian theological framework which fuels wise and compassionate public participation in God's mission within the world today. Public church leaders from the Global South and Global North join their voices to explore the global implications of public theology within unique situational particularities. Their essays are principally based on the public theology and theological commitments of Gary M. Simpson, Lutheran pastor and systematic theologian. Simpson's public theology is an intersection of Lutheran theology, post-colonial approaches to missiology, the growing field of congregational studies, and the Civil Society turn in Critical Social Theory. Expanding on various aspects of Simpson's public theology, these essays provide a glimpse of newly-emerging global public theology with leadership implications for twenty-first century contexts. This book calls the church to bear today's multi-dimensional crises with courage, mutuality and cooperation. Congregations who seek to participate in God's mission by confronting these challenging realities will find encouragement through the theological reflections, first-hand experiences, and innovative public leadership narrated in these essays.Trade ReviewForming Leaders for the Public Church is a fitting testimony to the illuminating and piercing work of Professor Gary Simpson. Like the book's dedicatee, the essays in this volume reflect a fierce love for the gospel, a deep concern for those on the margins, and a clarion summons for the church to help build a more just and fruitful world. -- Michael J. Chan, Concordia CollegeNothing honors the career and creativity of Dr. Gary Simpson better than this salute to a true visionary from his former students, colleagues and friends. A collection edited with great love and respect, Forming Leaders for the Public Church lights up the theological depth and the manifold dimensions of Gary’s passion to send forth the church into public life. But it’s the personal anecdotes scattered among the chapters that remind us that a mentor’s deep love, affection, and sacrifice is key to forming leaders for missional vocation. -- Gregory P. Leffel, past-president, the American Society of Missiology, and author of Faith Seeking Action: Mission, Social Movements, and the Church in MotionThis excellent collection of essays by students and colleagues of Professor Gary Simpson carries forward his important teaching and scholarship on the theology and vocation of being a public church. The trinitarian theology that informs Simpson’s understanding of the public church as missional church is evident in these clear, well-written, and well researched accounts. Representing a variety of domestic, global, and cross-cultural congregational contexts and reflecting Simpson’s emphasis on the congregation as the center of the public church, the essays offer a variety of practical approaches to the church’s participation in civil society that are integral to the gospel centered worship life and witness of the congregation. Simpson’s gracious pastoral presence and love of the church, echoed throughout, has been infectious in the lives of these contributors and will shine through for readers as well. This is a treasure trove of insightful and innovative resources for leaders and leaders to be who aspire to the vocation of the public church. -- James M. Childs, Jr., Trinity Lutheran Seminary at Capital UniversityTable of ContentsForeword Mary E. HessIntroduction Samuel Yonas Deressa and Mary Sue DreierPart I: Christian MissionChapter 1: Implication of the Trinitarian Vision for the 21st Century Dinku BatoChapter 2: What Can the West Learn from the Rest? Nurturing the Culture of Global Conversation Samuel Yonas DeressaChapter 3: The Commonplace Congregation Scott J. HagleyChapter 4: Turning Outward: One Moravian’s Journey from Pietist Quietism to Public Theologian Betsy MillerChapter 5: Giving Them a Fair Shot: Musings on an Evangelical Reading of “Preferential Option for the Poor” Mark NygardChapter 6: Love Actually Tomas GulanPart II: Public VocationChapter 7: Civil Society and the Church in Kenya as a Public Moral Companion William O. ObagaChapter 8: Late Reformation Lutheran Preaching on the Legitimacy, Duties, and Responsibilities of Civil Authorities Mary Jane HaemigChapter 9: Teaching Solidarity in Civil Society for Love of Neighbor Mary E. HessChapter 10: The Vocation of the Local Congregation as Public Companion Jeremy MyersChapter 11: Pandemics are Terrible Things: A Theology of Promise for a Missional Church Emerging Dee PedersonPart III: Christian LeadershipChapter 12: Public Leadership Across Cultures: God’s Transforming Power for Mutual Governance Sekenwa Moses BriskaChapter 13: Worldly Spirituality for a Missional Church Mary Sue DreierChapter 14: Is Anybody Listening? An Analysis of the Role of Bishops as Adaptive Leaders and Public Theologians in a Time of Crisis Paul D. EricksonChapter 15: No Patiency, No Promise: Missional Warrants toward a Public Theology of Listening David C. HahnChapter 16: A Missional, Open and Relational System for Faith Formation in the Local Congregation Steve ThomasonEpilogue I: Reflection about Professor Gary Simpson Marie Y. HayesEpilogue II: Gary M. Simpson: A Fruitful Vocation David L. TiedeAfterword by Gary M. SimpsonAbout the Contributors

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Book SynopsisDrawing on the resources of contemporary systematic theologians Kevin Vanhoozer and Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen, Elmer A. Guzman explores the generative dimension of mission for the formation of doctrine for a church that needs to witness in a pluralistic world. Guzman argues that the understanding of doctrinal formation and development depends on the missional dimension of doctrinal hermeneutics. This means that these theological concepts and practices are justified based on the negotiation between the identity markers of theological sources and the diversity markers provided by the context. This book shows how perspectives that arise from the structural elements in theological methodology shed fresh light on missional theology and the interconnections between the doctrinal loci in theology.Trade ReviewEvangelical systematic theologian Vanhoozer and Luther-costal constructive theologian Kärkkäinen are refracted by Guzman's Adventist missiological lens in surprising ways. Readers of The Dialectics of Mission will be invited to revisit their considerations of the coherence and potency of both interlocutors while appreciating the ongoing emergence of Adventist theological and missiological perspectives in the global conversation. -- Amos Yong, Fuller Theological SeminaryThis work engages the fields of missiology and systematic theology by surveying major twentieth-century models of missional hermeneutics and assessing their value for traditionally Christian doctrinal claims. Guzman brings constructive systematic theology and important missiological concepts closer together by providing a valuable perspective on the tensions between claims of universality and contextual understandings of the Christian God. -- João B. Chaves, Baylor University; author of The Global Mission of the Jim Crow South: Southern Baptist Missionaries and the Shaping of Latin American EvangelicalismElmer Guzman’s work The Dialectics of Mission: Between Vanhoozer and Kärkkäinen provides a highly insightful and illuminating treatment of missional doctrinal hermeneutics by way of a careful study of the works of two highly influential theologians, Kevin J. Vanhoozer and Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen. Guzman's work is nuanced, clear, engages with an impressive array of scholarship, and makes an important contribution to theological scholarship. Highly recommended! -- John C. Peckham, Andrews UniversityTable of Contents1. Missional Hermeneutical Models in Christian Theology: The Contextual-Cultural and the Fixed-Dynamic Approaches2. A Constructive Christian Theology for the Pluralistic World: The Missional Doctrinal Hermeneutics of Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen3. A Canonical Linguistic Approach: The Missional Doctrinal Hermeneutics of Kevin J. Vanhoozer4. A Critical Comparison of Kärkkäinen’s and Vanhoozer’s Missional Doctrinal Hermeneutics

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Book SynopsisContemporary theologies of mission rely on the central concept of the missio Dei, which states that mission properly belongs to the triune God over the church. However, present accounts fail to establish any corresponding link between God’s trinitarian economy and ontology. In other words, the problem of the missio Dei is the problem of the break between the act and being of God. Benjamin H. Kim argues that a repair is needed for missio Dei theology, and this repair is found in reexamining Barth’s doctrine of revelation. In doing so, the locus of mission moves from God’s trinitarian sending to his trinitarian revealing. The repair is further advanced by Dietrich Bonhoeffer through his concept of person, which functions as the unity of act and being. This account returns mission to its original definition, which was intended to describe the inner-trinitarian being of God in relation to humanity. The concept of person recovers this meaning of mission by locating it first in the person of Christ and second, in the collective person of the church existing as the Christ community. Thus, Bonhoeffer’s description of revelation in terms of personhood provides and account that is more faithful to the missio Dei’s core insights.Trade ReviewThe issues Benjamin H. Kim raises concerning mission and its relation to the missio Dei are the questions being asked by thoughtful missiologists and especially theologians of mission. . . . It carries the missio Dei argument forward to its next stage of development and to a deeper level, with consequences for how we see the church and its mission. All missiologists and theologians of mission should be interested in this book. -- W. Ross Hastings, Regent CollegeIn this systematic work, Benjamin H. Kim adds significantly to the debate on the twentieth-century origins of the problematic concept of missio Dei. By appropriating Barth's theology of revelation through Bonhoeffer's explication of "person," Kim offers a fecund mission theology of the church community being Christ's body with and for the world. -- Kirsteen Kim, Fuller Theological SeminaryThere is no theologian of the twentieth century who diagnosed the significance of the current context for the church as well as Bonhoeffer and in so thoroughly a theological way. Benjamin H. Kim draws out the deep theological logics of Bonhoeffer’s work for a theological account of mission. His work is scholarly, ecclesial, and – most importantly – timely. -- Tom Greggs, FRSE, Marischal Chair (1616) and Head of Divinity, University of AberdeenTable of ContentsChapter 1 Re-examining Missio Dei TheologyChapter 2 The Theology of the Missio DeiChapter 3 Karl Barth and the Mission of RevelationChapter 4 Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Person of MissionChapter 5 Reconstructing a Theology of Mission

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Book SynopsisThis book explores the widespread mass conversions to Christianity and Islam that took place in Europe and Asia in the ninth to eleventh centuries. Taking a comparative perspective, contributors explore the processes at work in these conversions. Focusing on Christianity and Islam, it contrasts religious conversion in the period with earlier conversions, including those of Manichaeism in central Asia; Buddhism in east Asia; and Judaism in Khazaria, exploring why conversions to Christianity and Islam led to centralized political structures.Table of Contents1. Introduction - Tsvetelin Stepanov and Osman Karatay2. Approaching Salvation: Early Process of Christianisation in Viking-Age Denmark and Sweden - Władysław Duczko3. The Christianisations in Scandinavia - Henrik Janson4. Bruno of Querfurt and the Practice of Mission - Ian Wood5. Who Converted the Poles? - Przemysław Urbańczyk6. Great Moravia: The Uneasy Beginnings of Slavic Christendom - Alexandar Nikolov7. The Christianisation of the Kingdom of Hungary - Nora Berend8. Choice of Faith in Early Medieval Eastern Europe: Individual and Mass Conversion - Vladimir Petrukhin9. The Times of St. Tsar Boris-Michael of Bulgaria (852-889; † 907): Between the Real Historical Facts of the Ninth Century and the 'Facts' of Selective Memory - Tsvetelin Stepanov10. The Conversion of the Volga Bulgars to Islam - István Zimonyi11. Islamization of the Turks: A Process of Mental Change - Osman Karatay12. Establishment of Islam in Central Asia: Geo-Cultural Patterns and Geographical Realities - Erkan Göksu13. Islam in India: Acceleration under the Ghaznavids (10th–11th Centuries) - M. Hanefi Palabıyık14. Postscript: Conversion as History - Vladimir Gradev

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Book Synopsis

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Book SynopsisWas ist eigentlich Religionswissenschaft? Viele meinen, dies zu wissen. Doch es herrscht große Verwirrung. Ist Religionswissenschaft z.B. etwas anderes als Theologie? Ist Religionswissenschaft nicht gläubig im Unterschied zur gläubigen Theologie? Beschäftigt sich Religionswissenschaft nur mit den fremden Religionen wie Buddhismus und Islam, die Theologie dagegen mit dem Christentum? Ist jede Bewertung von Religion Theologie? Darf ein Religionswissenschaftler von Sekten sprechen und sie auch noch kritisch beurteilen? Diese und ähnliche Fragen werden in dem Sammelband aufgegriffen und von Fachgelehrten aus verschiedenen Disziplinen beantwortet.

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Book SynopsisThis is an intellectual biography of the early life and missionary career of James Legge (1815-1897), a monumental figure in 19th century European sinology. In the first volume details about Legge's family, religious setting, and educational experiences in northeastern Scotland are shown to anchor his intellectual interests, shaping his later religious transformation and commitment to Chinese missionary work. The trials, adjustments and initial missionary strategies of the Legge family's first years in Malacca and the new colony of Hongkong (1840-1848) bring this volume to a close. In the second volume the flourishing of Legge's missionary scholarship is cast in the context of his application of principles of Scottish Nonconformism and Scottish realist philosophy to many unexpected aspects of the Hongkong and Chinese contexts. While his sinological scholarship has weathered more than a century of criticism and neglect, Legge's unexpected emergence into roles as a Scottish Nonconformist prophet and counter-cultural folk hero in Hongkong reveal new dimensions of Protestant missions in China which challenge standard Orientalist interpretations of cultural imperialism.

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Book SynopsisThe vibrancy of faith and the fast growth of different churches in Nigeria seem to obscure the reality of some precarious historical challenges that call for crucial and genuine ecclesiological inquiry. The Nigerian Church’s unique history loaded with various facets of indoctrination and the peculiarities of her constituents demands an urgent ecclesial and theological attention. Following an exploratory, analytical, critical and historical methodology, this book finds Francis Alfred Sullivan’s explication of the intricate nuances of the Four Marks of the Church as a fitting ecumenical model for the Nigerian ecclesial situation. It delves into this model and presents the findings through a catechetical prism as an alternative for effective and sustainable de-indoctrination. The author also finds dialogue as a probable effective tool for de-indoctrination, but also acknowledges that legitimate ecclesiological dialogue does not rule out difficulties in the process. He therefore argues that the consciousness of the ecumenical worth of the Four Marks of the Church as well as faithfulness to the principles of dialogue will lead to the resolution of much of these differences.Table of ContentsContents: Francis Sullivan and the notion of the Church – The Four Marks of the Church – Dynamics of Sullivan’s ecclesiological articulation of the Four Marks of the Church – Nigeria and the birth of Christianity – Ecumenism – The Church in Nigeria and the Ecumenical Option of Sullivan’s Four Marks of the Church.

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