AEPM News and Views

by David J. Hesselgrave

In my part of the country, a sure-fire way to get either a frown or a question about the Lord’s leading is to announce that you have a winter quarter lecture series in Florida or on the West Coast. You can imagine the response when, as was my case, I had to spend the entire winter quarter in Florida, Washington, and southern California.

I anticipate still more oblique references to God’s goodness when I return to Trinity in two or three weeks. No matter. The winter of 1984 has been an especially good one for me from several points of view, not the least of which is the encouragement that I have received about the future of the AEPM. Contacts with colleagues in all three states have been reassuring.

One younger professor of missions in Washington noted that although he and his colleagues have not been greatly involved in any of the three associations of missions professors, they are taking another look at AEPM and expect to be represented at the fall meeting in Pasadena.

When he heard that I was visiting his campus, another professor interrupted a heavy schedule to invite me to his office and assure me that he would staunchly support a revitalized AEPM.

Hearing of the AEPM commitment to supply at least 200 new subscriptions to the Evangelical Missions Quarterly during 1984, Ralph Winter promptly went out and secured over 100 of them singlehandedly. That kind of response points in the right direction. Think what we could do for missions if all evangelical professors of missions would translate good will into solid support, active involvement, and corporate productivity.

Looking ahead, I call your attention once again to the triennial meeting of the AEPM (with the IFMA and EFMA) at the U.S. Center for World Mission in Pasadena, September 24-28, 1984. The program committees have been hard at work and are settling on speakers and topics. The nominating committee of the AEPM is preparing its slate. A number of very important decisions will be made that will chart the future of AEPM.

Write to Ray Tallman or to me with your suggestions and questions. But, by all means, plan to attend. This will be your chance to become intimately acquainted with others of like mind, heart, and vision. This will be your opportunity to interact with other researchers and classroom teachers. Additional bonuses will include opportunities to become better acquainted with the personnel and enterprises of the U.S. Center and with the leaders of the IFMA and EFMA mission agencies.

The following pages will put you in touch with the current thinking of three outstanding men. One of the main architects of the American Society of Missiology, Ralph Winter, reflects on some important history and the role of the AEPM. Howard Whaley, dean of a school that has produced more missionaries than any similar institution, gives his views on how we should respond to future changes. A longtime professor of anthropology at one of America’s leading universities, Raleigh Ferrell, writes of the relationship between anthropology and missiology.

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