The Church in Mission

The whole issue of what is appropriate and what is not for Short Term Mission Trips (STM) continues to generate a number of suggestions. The following are some thoughts by Sherron George, missiologist and educator with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in Brazil. I sympathize with many of her comments. I do not think, however, that the first observation in her second list below, is necessary and may provoke misunderstanding among well-intentioned STMs. It states:

Frame the experience less on an emphasis on the “great commission” and more on Biblical texts which talk about servanthood. By engaging in projects of manual labor in such a manner that we are serving in a subordinate position, traditional roles can be reversed, stereotypes can be corrected, and humility can help overcome our ingrained spirit of triumphalism (Birth). We go and work as servants and followers, not as leaders.

I do not think it is necessary to de-emphasize the “great commission” since that is one of the greatest biblical motivations of many STMs. Rather, one simply needs to teach the “great commission” properly; in other words, remember that making disciples of Jesus (Matthew 28.19) and “teaching them all that I have commanded” (Matthew 28.20) entails being sent as Jesus himself was sent (John 20.21), above all, as a servant (John 12.26; Romans 1.1). Sherron and I are saying the same thing here. I’m simply clarifying that the “great commission” does not need to be emphasized any less in the process.

Sherron suggests two lists, one which presents problems or cautions and the other which offers ways to correct some of them. Here go Sherron’s reflections based on an article by Robert Priest in the periodical, Missiology, 34/4 (2006), a special issue devoted to Short-Term Missions (STM’s): Continue Reading »

The number of people in Britain going to church is falling rapidly and only one in 10 adults attends church weekly even though 53 percent of adults or 26.2 million people in the United Kingdom identify themselves as Christian. A survey, “Churchgoing in the UK Today,” by Christian relief and development agency Tearfund, said this reflects a drop of 20 percent in weekly church attendance from a similar survey conducted six years ago. The survey shows that 7.6 million adults go to church each month. One in four (12.6 million) attend at least once a year.

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Technorati: Church attendance, Christianity

This video is pretty disturbing even if it was edited to accent the humor. While you will not want to take it too seriously, it may provoke some interesting conversation to begin a mission committee meeting!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJuNgBkloFE]

Technorati: World facts, global awareness