Offers a progressive Christian approach to soteriology and missiology in a global, postcolonial context. This book proposes an integration of gospel and culture. It aims to steer a third course towards an integration of the knowledge and treasures, the losses and laments of Christianities forged in colonizing and colonized societies.

In this book, Sarosh Koshy strives to go beyond the mission model of Christianity that emerged alongside and within the colonial enterprise and ethos since the sixteenth century. Rather than denounce the inheritance of the mission movement that transformed both the church and world in innumerable ways, it is a simultaneous expression of appreciation for this precious heritage, and an attempt to do justice by it through a yearning quest for relevant paradigms of Christian engagement.Indeed, there is an intense tension within this book, and in fact a twin tension at that. The tension is between those seeking to keep the current mission paradigm alive out of habit or as a self-serving device, thus corrupting and withering away a bequeathal that essentially set free the voluntary/independent spirit of Christian individuals and their intentional collectives from both the ecclesiastical and political authorities. On the other side are those who enlist mission both as a subsequent activity and as a basis to pursue innocuous, and at times apparently heroic options that would seemingly satisfy a supposed missional mandatory. This work enlists postcolonial and poststructuralist resources pedagogically, to teach of mission, missiology, World Christianity, and intercultural theology.

Mechanistic dehumanization occurs when human beings are objectified and exploited as a means to an end, comparable to expendable components of a machine. This misconstruction of human value is a source and sustainer of overproduction, an excess of consumption, and the pursuit of unrestrained economic growth, damaging both people and the planet. Can the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Global Mission respond to mechanistic dehumanization through mission as accompaniment? The notion of mission as accompaniment, which emerges from liberation theology and development methodology, promotes solidarity among church companions that embodies interdependence and mutuality. Grounded in the New Testament expression of koinonia, Mission as Accompaniment is affirmed in this study as a suitable foundation to counteract mechanistic dehumanization. Through this research with the University of KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa) Theology and Development program, Brian E. Konkol incorporates economics, ecology, anthropology, and postcolonial missiology. He maintains that two particular elements—the African concept of Ubuntu, and an Olive Agenda—when integrated into mission as accompaniment, will equip the ELCA Global Mission with an advocacy-driven trajectory in response to mechanistic dehumanization.

Postcolonial studies has challenged the Eurocentric frameworks and methodologies in the fields of biblical studies and theology. Postcolonial Practice of Ministry is a groundbreaking anthology that enables a new engagement between postcolonial and practical theologies, focused on three key areas of the practice of ministry: pastoral leadership, liturgical celebration, and interfaith engagement. Postcolonial Practice of Ministry will make an impact in at least two areas of theological reflection: first, among postcolonial scholars, it will stretch postcolonial theology into an area where it has been neglected; second, it will provide a comprehensive resource for rethinking the practice of ministry. Contributors to this volume are well-known scholars from different racial, national, and denominational backgrounds, bringing with them experiences of hybrid identities and multicultural churches. Many of them are pioneers in introducing postcolonial discourse to their fields.

The Oxford Handbook of Mission Studies represents more than a century of scholarship related to the theology, history, and methodology of the propagation of Christian faith and the engagement of Christians with cultures, religions, and societies worldwide. It contains more than 40 articles by experts from different disciplinary and ecclesial perspectives, who are from all continents. It not only offers a broad overview of key approaches and issues in mission studies but it also highlights current trends and suggests future developments. The Handbook builds on renewed interest in mission studies this century generated by recent key statements on mission from ecumenical, evangelical, Catholic, and Orthodox sources, and by a spate of academic works on the topic. Western church leaders now apply insights from foreign missions (such as, inculturation, liberation, interfaith work, and power encounter) to today's multicultural societies. Meanwhile, there are new initiatives in mission from the Majority World, where most Christians live, so that sending is not only 'from the west to the rest' but 'from everywhere to everywhere'. Therefore, this volume aims to reflect the voices of the receivers of mission as well as its protagonists and to raise awareness of new movements. In a time of growing recognition of 'religions' more generally, this work examines and theorizes the missional dimensions of the world's largest religion: its agendas, growth, outreach, role in public life, effect on cultures, relevance for development, and its approaches to other communities.

Hate is unveiled on our streets. Politics is polarized and the cohesion of communities is under stress and threat. Religious and theological leaders appear compromised or paralyzed. Robert S. Heaney grew up in a Northern Ireland where enmity paraded itself and policed the boundaries between segregated identities and aspirations. Such conflict, with deep historic roots, is inextricably linked to religion and colonization. The theologizing of colonialism, and the ongoing implications of colonialism, cannot be ignored by those who wish to understand the most intractable of human conflicts. Religious adherents and scholars are increasingly seeking to understand colonialism and decolonization in theological terms. The field of post-colonial studies, across a range of contexts and in a complex network of inter-disciplinary analyses, has emerged as a major scholarly movement seeking to provide resources for such a task. Theologians have increasingly seen the field as a resource and have made their own contributions to its development. However, depending as it does on a series of theoretical and technical commitments, post-colonialism remains inaccessible to the uninitiated. Beginning with his own particular context of formation, in this book Heaney provides an accessible introduction to post-colonial theology.

This book offers a critical analysis of the use of language in mission studies. Language and Christian missionary activity intersect in complicated ways to objectify the other in cross-cultural situations. Rethinking missiological language is both urgent and necessary to subvert narratives that continue to fetishize the other as cultural stereotypes. The project takes a step forward to reconceptualize otherness as gift, and such an affirmation should create a pathway for human flourishing and furthermore, open new avenues for missiological exploration to address issues arising from a world dominated by bigoted discourses, lies, and hate speech.

Weighing Approaches to Finish the Task Christians have been reflecting on best practices for as long as they have been engaging in missions. Practitioners have developed diverse strategies to promote the spread of the Gospel—such as indigenous church planting, disciple-making movements, community development, dynamically equivalent Bible translations, and chronological Bible storytelling. These models began as creative analyses of the mission endeavor, in light of the current cultural context. As that context shifts, it is also important to critically re-examine these models. Advancing Models of Mission reflects on the missionaries and models of the past and reconsiders current models, all with the aim of looking toward the future of evangelical mission. This compendium of thirteen essays tackles such timely and difficult questions as: -How does globalization challenge the 10/40 window model? -How does hybridity and diaspora change the way we think about people groupsand identity formation? -How does the colonial history in Africa affect believers' connection with globalevangelism? Readers can learn about the contexts of the past that shaped our current missiological models while listening to diverse voices describe how those models are experienced considering our changing realities. Through honest analysis of the past few centuries of missionary movement, Advancing Models of Mission provides hope for the future.

From a major scholar, a postcolonial perspective on key current and historical issues in Anglicanism, foregrounding the voices of theologians and church leaders from the Global South. In recent years, the Anglican Communion has been consumed by debates about gender, sexuality, authority, and biblical interpretation, which have frequently divided along North/South lines. Much of these controversies stem from the colonial history of Anglicanism. Written by a pioneer in postcolonial theology, this groundbreaking volume challenges Eurocentrism and racism in the Anglican Communion by highlighting the voices of theologians and church leaders from the Global South. The Anglican Tradition from a Postcolonial Perspective scrutinizes Anglican theology and history to advocate for the decolonization of the Church. It examines controversies on Christianity and the social order, economic justice, worship, gender and sexuality, women’s leadership, and the Church’s mission in a religiously pluralistic world.

A rare opportunity to read and reflect upon the thought of some of the most prominent voices in contemporary theology in one volume, this collection offers informative indicators of the state of theology today. Together, these provocative essays offer a resource for teachers and a chance to facilitate conversation among those working in different areas of an increasingly fragmented discipline. (Publisher).