The mission church literature seems to be dominated by idealized conceptions of the benefits of equipping congregations to participate in local mission work. This investigation challenges this idealism, by paying critical attention to congregants’ ordinary theologies that develop in reaction to the communication of Missio Dei theology to them. Their voices are absent from the formal literature. The study employs rescripting methodology to modify key assumptions made in the formal ecclesiological literature by drawing on insights that come from Christians’ ordinary theological voices. The study traces how the introduction of a Missio Dei theology to a British Reformed congregation had a significant impact on them. A small team of Christian leaders communicated Missio Dei theology to this church over a period of six years. It found that mission changes came at substantial personal cost to the church’s members: 1) a schism occurred when congregants attempted to remove the leader responsible for these changes from his office as church pastor, and a third of congregants left the church because they did not want to embrace the church’s new mission identity; 2) three divergent groups then emerged—two of them wanted different kinds of churches that seemed incompatible; 3) two thirds of members supported and participated in the church’s mission activities, which put strains on some of their families; 4) unresolved tensions continued to impact the congregation throughout the whole change process; 5) unexpectedly, for a Reformed church, a third group made up of women developed prophetic practices that arose due to the mediation of Missio Dei theology. Vitally, this thesis challenges the notion that helping churches to become mission-focused will make them thrive.

The mission church literature seems to be dominated by idealized conceptions of the benefits of equipping congregations to participate in local mission work. This investigation challenges this idealism, by paying critical attention to congregants’ ordinary theologies that develop in reaction to the communication of Missio Dei theology to them. Their voices are absent from the formal literature. The study employs rescripting methodology to modify key assumptions made in the formal ecclesiological literature by drawing on insights that come from Christians’ ordinary theological voices. The study traces how the introduction of a Missio Dei theology to a British Reformed congregation had a significant impact on them. A small team of Christian leaders communicated Missio Dei theology to this church over a period of six years. It found that mission changes came at substantial personal cost to the church’s members: 1) a schism occurred when congregants attempted to remove the leader responsible for these changes from his office as church pastor, and a third of congregants left the church because they did not want to embrace the church’s new mission identity; 2) three divergent groups then emerged—two of them wanted different kinds of churches that seemed incompatible; 3) two thirds of members supported and participated in the church’s mission activities, which put strains on some of their families; 4) unresolved tensions continued to impact the congregation throughout the whole change process; 5) unexpectedly, for a Reformed church, a third group made up of women developed prophetic practices that arose due to the mediation of Missio Dei theology. Vitally, this thesis challenges the notion that helping churches to become mission-focused will make them thrive.

This book argues that God's mission is broad and that all of us can live with missional intentionality by understanding the many facets of missions and focusing on a particular calling. Just like different instruments of a symphony harmonize together, each aspect of human participation in mission--evangelism, justice initiatives, poverty alleviation, faithful work in the marketplace, art--helps us play our part in God's work in the world. Combining expertise from a mission scholar and a working pastor, the book includes practical examples and tools to help readers imagine their part in God's mission.

Seeing God in the Ordinary is an appeal to recover the place of the imagination in the Christian life, to rediscover the use of metaphor in a prose-flattened world, to see God in the ordinary. By a careful examination of film, literature, and other aspects of contemporary culture--as well as the Gospels--the author argues for a robust faith that embraces human experience in all its forms, that is open to the intuitive, and that has the capacity to fill us with wonder and astonishment.

I am not like Hudson Taylor, David Livingstone, or William Carey. The stories of these people are inspiring, but they also make me question, "Am I really good enough to be a missionary? Because I don't consider myself super-spiritual like these missionary heroes seem to be." Ordinary Missionary introduces world missions through the story of an ordinary family facing ordinary questions about their own insecurities and inadequacies. Step into the shoes of three authors who combine their thoughts to put a face, a feeling, and a person to contemporary missions. Join Jay, husband and father, as he prepares to minister among the Builsa people in Ghana, West Africa. Observe Pam, wife and mother, as she addresses the personal concerns of the family. Follow Emily, oldest daughter, in the struggles and joys of being a missionary kid. This story is not a triumphant tale of missionary heroes. The real heroes show up in unlikely places when they are least expected. Our steps are ordinary, but the journey is beyond extraordinary. These real stories will inspire you to trust your own life in the hands of our extraordinary God.

This short book seeks to reintroduce the full scope of the mission of God's people, challenging the common contemporary assumption that the gospel of Jesus has nothing to say outside the walls of the church.

The recent rediscovery of the doctrine of the Trinity has left great impact on the thought and life of the Christian Church. With this reinstatement, the Trinity, which was left out for long as an esoteric mystery, has captured the imagination of theologians and elicited remarkable trinitarian formulations from across theological traditions. This contemporary development has forced the church to review its dogma, spirituality, and Christian practices through the lens of this central doctrine of the Christian faith. One of the important and essential upshots of the doctrine has been the reclamation of a theocentric and trinitarian understanding of mission as the missio Dei. In view of the modern renewal of the Trinity and the global expansion of Christianity, this book explores insights and perspectives from the trinitarian thoughts of St. Augustine and the Indian theologian Brahmabandhab Upadhyay that can inform missio Dei theology relevant for the Indian context.

Christian theology affirms that the persons of the Son and the Holy Spirit are sent into the world to gather a scattered and rebellious humanity back to God. But how are we to understand these divine missions, given that the Son and the Spirit have already been present in the world from its foundation? Moreover, in what sense are they on a mission if they never leave the unity of the Trinity? In this volume, Vidu introduces us to the profound riches of this ancient and foundational doctrine. With ample illustration, he explains the technical concepts, the operative principles, and he clarifies the historical and contemporary debates. In the process, a constructive theology emerges where the category of divine missions frames topics such as the incarnation and life of Christ, his atoning death and ascension, the Pentecostal outpouring of the Spirit, the invisible indwelling of the Spirit, and finally the eschatological beatific vision.

What are Christian women thinking about mission? How do they do mission? What informs their knowledge and action as they address issues in a complex world where religious proselytizing has become suspect? This empirical study explores those questions, finding congruence among women from diverse backgrounds and cultural contexts. Women in mission face common identity issues, utilize art and beauty in their work, and develop character as they overcome obstacles in their cultural and denominational settings. Through nearly one hundred interviews of women in Europe, Asia, Brazil, and the United States, a study of women's theologies of mission, lectures, and countless conversations with women around the globe, this study finds common themes among contemporary women doing Christian mission. This book fills a lacuna in mission studies that professors, pastors, and church women and men will find informative and refreshing.