Changes Observed in Missiological Studies

by J. Herbert Kane

The past decade has seen significant changes in the world mission of the church. These changes are naturally reflected in missiology the study of missions.

The past decade has seen significant changes in the world mission of the church. These changes are naturally reflected in missiology the study of missions.

To begin with, it must be observed that in seminaries across the country missiology seems to be on the wane. According to a recent survey made by Dr. William Danker of Concordia Theological Seminary and sent to 75 seminaries, 33 schools have no full-time faculty in missions and eleven have no one at all. Twenty-six professors were not sure that the missions program in their schools would be continued when the present incumbents transfer or retire.

Some mission programs have already been terminated. Included in this category are Kennedy School of Missions and the Lutheran School of Theology and Mission in Maywood, Illinois. Kennedy, once the most prestigious of them all, with a Ph. D. program in missions, now retains only its Islamic Studies, and these, according to some reports, may be transferred to Yale University next year.

Of great concern to all missiologists is the fate of the Missionary Research Library in New York City. Originally the brainchild of John R. Mott, and for many decades the conservative seminaries enrolment continues high finest institution of its kind on the continent, MRL has in recent years fallen on sad days. Personnel and services have been drastically cut and its monthly paper, Occasional Bulletin, is kept alive only by the timely intervention of Dr. R. Pierce Beaver, recently retired from University of Chicago Divinity School.1 In an effort to strengthen its financial position, MRL was taken over in the 1960’s by the National Council of Churches; but today the NCC has its own financial troubles and is in no position to put the ailing institution back on its feet. It will be a thousand pities if the MRL is allowed to perish simply for lack of funds.

The Evangelical Missions Information Service (IFMA/EFMA) several years ago initiated discussions looking forward to the establishment of a World Mission Research Center to be located somewhere in the midwest. The idea was enthusiastically endorsed by mission leaders and seminary professors. To date nothing has come of these talks. Again the bottleneck is finances. Such a center would require not only a huge initial outlay for land, buildings, equipment, and books, but also some guarantee of continuing support for years to come. This is difficult to get.

A year ago there were rumors that the prestigious International Review o f Mission was about to fold or to merge with the Ecumenical Review. This crisis appears to have passed, at least for the time being.

INTEREST GROWING
Among conservative evangelicals the interest in and commitment to world missions are definitely on the increase. Enrolment in the Bible colleges continues to increase at an annual rate of about six percent. Moody, Columbia, Lancaster, Multnomah, Prairie, Briercrest, Ontario and other Bible colleges all continue to train a steady stream of young people for the mission field. Several schools Columbia, Multnomah, Nyack, and Biola – have added an extra year of missions to their already strong programs. The Bible colleges continue to provide the lion’s share of the candidates for the IFMA/EFMA member missions.

In most conservative seminaries enrolment continues high with an increasing interest in world missions. In the past decade several seminaries have established a school of world mission, including Wheaton, Fuller, Concordia, and Trinity.

Each has its own emphasis and distinctives. Wheaton emphasizes communications. Fuller appeals to missionaries on furlough and specializes in church growth. Concordia makes its pitch to students from mission frontiers throughout the world to equip them for leadership positions in the church overseas. Trinity accepts missionary candidates as well as missionaries on furlough; consequently it has two programs – a one- or two-year program leading to the M.A. degree, and a three-year program leading to the M. Div. in Missions. Fuller is the only school granting a Doctor of Missiology.

Other seminaries report a high and sustained interest in world missions. Dallas Theological Seminary, though it has not yet developed a school of world mission, has a strong missions program and a large percentage of its graduates go to the mission field.

Some seminaries have recently introduced a special oneyear program leading to a Master in Religious Education or a Master or Arts in Religion. This program is specially designed for college graduates with little or no theological training, who wish to serve abroad, usually on a short-term basis.

The ecumenical institutions have always welcomed students from overseas. Only in recent years have the conservative seminaries gone out of their way to do the same. Cordon-Conwell now has an open door policy whereby it accepts overseas students for one year only, after which they get the MAR or the MRE degree. Generous scholarships are available for this purpose. Fuller has attracted a number of students (pastors) from overseas. Trinity has some 30 overseas students but only a few of them are doing their major work in missions.

ASSOCIATIONS OF MISSIOLOGISTS
At the present time there are three associations of missiologists in North America. The oldest is the Association of Professors of Missions formed in 1959 under the leadership of Dr. R. Pierce Beaver. It is a broadly based ecumenical association which is divided into two regional bodies – Eastern and Midwestern – which meet once or twice a year. The entire association has been meeting once every two years. In 1969 the conservative evangelicals got together and formed the Association of Evangelical Professors of Missions. Its membership is open to professors on both the graduate and the undergraduate levels. It has no regional groupings and meets in conference once a year. Every three or four years its meeting coincides with the Joint Retreat of IFMA/EFMA.

One of the most exciting developments in recent years was the birth of the American Society of Missiology. An exploratory meeting was held at Scarritt College in Nashville in June, 1972. This was followed by the founding meeting at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis a year later. ASM is a learned society supported by three groups, commonly referred to as ecumenical, evangelical, and Catholic. The ASM includes in its membership not only missiologists and mission executives but also historians, anthropologists, and others who, for one reason or another, have a genuine interest in the Christian mission. Its official organ is the new quarterly, Missiology: An International Review. With the first issue, January 1973, Practical Anthropology merged with the new journal. Founded only in June, 1973, the ASM already has more than 500 members. The inclusion of representatives of other disciplines has not only broadened the base of support but greatly enhanced the value of the annual meetings.

In Europe the International Association for Mission Studies was organized in Oslo, Norway, in 1970. It was formed as an international, inter-confessional, and interdisciplinary association for the study of the Christian message and its effects in the world. Already it has members in all six continents, representing a wide range of confessional allegiance.

Another recent development is the workshop for missionaries on furlough. Three or four workshops on church growth are sponsored each year in various places by Fuller School of World Mission. Each summer IFMA and EFMA sponsor a Summer Institute of Missions at Wheaton College. Each spring the Chicago Cluster of Theological Schools conducts a workshop specially designed for missionaries on furlough. Each summer the Saint Paul University Institute of Mission Studies (Ottawa, Canada) holds two workshops, one in French and the other in English. In attendance last year were 210 missionaries from over 40 countries.

STUDIES BEING PUBLISHED
Thirty years ago a new book on missions was an event. Not so today. Mission books are coming off the press so rapidly that one hardly has the time to read them, much less the money to buy them. Moody, Zondervan, Eerdmans, and Word Books, to mention only four publishers, are finding it increasingly profitable to produce books dealing with world missions. William Carey Library, established only a few years ago, is a new and flourishing venture. Most of its publications have been master’s theses produced by Fuller School of World Mission.

Church Growth Bulletin, published by the Institute of Church Growth (Fuller, is now in its ninth year. Closely associated with it is the Church Growth Book Club, operated icy Dr. Ralph Winter, which carries a stockpile of 40,000 books in missiology, including. 130 different titles. Last but by no means least is the Evangelical Missions Quarterly, published by the Evangelical Missions Information Service, official publishing arm of IFMA/EFMA. Five editions of Pulse, representing five major areas of the world, are also published by EMIS.

Not directly tied in with missiology, but certainly not completely divorced from it, are Theological Education by Extension and CAMEO (Committee to Assist Missionary Education Overseas), two new and rapidly expanding programs to which missiologists have given much time, thought, and expertise. Mention should also be made of MARC (Missions Advanced Research and Communication Center), a division of World Vision International, which by its research and publications is making a significant contribution to missiology. The last three editions of North American Protestant Ministries Overseas, an invaluable tool for missiologists, have been published by MARC.

Two major works of immense value have been produced in the last several years: The Encyclopedia of Modern Christian Missions, produced by the faculty of Gordon Divinity School (1967), and the Concise Dictionary o f the Christian World Mission edited by Stephen Neill, Gerald H. Anderson, and John Goodwin (1970).

A welcome addition to missiology is the interest that some historians are now showing in the "secular" aspects of the Christian mission. As a result same excellent books are now available to professors of missions. Included in this category are the following: Paul Varg’s Missionaries, Chinese, and Diplomats; Joseph Grabill’ s Protestant Diplomacy and the Near East; and Liu Kwang-ching’s American Missionaries in China.

During the past decade several major issues have engaged the attention of missiologists. Foremost among these has been the purpose of the Christian mission. This has led to a continuing controversy over humanization versus redemption, or development versus discipling. A related issue has been the meaning of salvation today, the theme of the Bangkok Assembly. Other hotly debated issues are the problem of syncretism, the dangers of dialogue, the relation of the older churches of the West to the younger churches of the Third World, the role of today’s missionary, churchmission tensions, and so on. All these issues- and othershave been discussed in the International Review of Mission, Evangelical Missions Quarterly, Ecumenical Review and other journals, and thrashed out in the give and take of the classroom situation.

In evangelical circles no issue has commanded more attention than church growth, whose pioneer and prophet is Dr. Donald A. McGavran, who founded the Institute of Church Growth in 1960 and ever since has been calling mission leaders back to the prime purpose of world missions – preaching the gospel, discipling the nations, and multiplying churches. Scores of books and hundreds of articles have been written on the subject – with still more to come.

CURRICULUM CHANGES
Recent years have seen some changes in curriculum. In the liberal schools the trend is away from apologetics to ecumenics, from mission history to church history, from systematic theology to the theology of development, theology of liberation, and theology of revolution. One recently compiled bibliography on the theology of liberation lists 800 titles. In the conservative schools the trend is away from the more conventional subjects, such as history of missions and missionary principles and practice to crosscultural communications, missionary anthropology, and church growth.

Endnotes
1. Occasional Bulletin is soon to be merged with Missiology: An International Review. – Eds.

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