• Directories
    • Business Directory
    • Church Directory
    • Organization Directory
  • Advertise
  • Donate
  • Help
  • Log In

MENUMENU
  • Learning
        • Leader’s Edge
          • Author Interviews
          • Book Summaries
        • Book Reviews
          • Book Look
          • EMQ Book Reviews
        • Publications
          • Anthology
          • Evangelical Missions Quarterly (EMQ)
          • Missiographics
        • Podcasts
          • The Mission Matters
          • Members Only Feed
          • Missions Podcast DirectoryNew
        • Topics
          • COVID-19 Resources
          • Diaspora Missions
          • Global Issues Updates
          • Member Highlights
          • Mobilization
          • Muslim Missions
          • Support Raising
          • UkraineNew
        • Media Library
          • Conferences
          • Global Issue Updates
          • On Mission
          • Thought Leader Briefings
          • Webinars
          • Workshop
          • View All
  • Programs
    • Accreditation
    • Bible Certificate
    • Church Missions Coaching
    • Cohorts
    • Cybersecurity
    • ImproveNew
    • Mission Jobs
    • Missions DataNew
    • Publish
    • RightNow Media
    • The Mission App
    • Women’s Development
  • Events
          • Calendar
          • In-Person Events
          • Virtual Events
          • Event Recordings
          • Awards
        • Premier Events
          • Mission Leaders Conference
          • On Mission
        • Upcoming Events

          • Webinar: An Introduction to the Theology and Practice of Cross-Cultural Risk
            Thu May 26 2022, 12:00pm EDT
          • Pocket Guide to Being a Missions Pastor: 5 Things Every Missions Pastor Needs to Know
            Wed Jun 1 2022, 01:00pm EDT
          • From Harlem to the World - the Local Church Mobilized for Global Missions
            Wed Aug 3 2022, 01:00pm EDT
        • View All Events
  • Research
          • Missions DataNew
          • Missiographics
          • Research Reports
        • Popular Research
          • Compensation Reports
          • COVID-19 Resources
          • Field Attrition Report
          • View All Reports
        • Contribute
          • Current Research Projects
          • Volunteer
  • About Us
        • Who We Are
          • Our Contribution
          • Meet the Team
          • Board Members
          • History (1917–present)
        • Our Beliefs
          • Statement of Faith
          • Community Standards
        • Awards
        • Partner with Us
          • Advertise
          • Donate
          • Sponsorships
          • Volunteer
        • Help
          • Contact Us
          • Advertising Specs
          • Branding Guidelines
  • Join
        • Learn
        • Learn what you cannot learn anywhere else.

        • Meet
        • Meet people you otherwise won’t meet.

        • Engage
        • Engage in a community like none other.

          • Benefits
          • Benefits for Churches
          • Pricing

Sponsored Content

Upcoming Events

  • Webinar: An Introduction to the Theology and Practice of Cross-Cultural Risk
    Thu May 26 2022, 12:00pm EDT
  • Pocket Guide to Being a Missions Pastor: 5 Things Every Missions Pastor Needs to Know
    Wed Jun 1 2022, 01:00pm EDT
  • From Harlem to the World - the Local Church Mobilized for Global Missions
    Wed Aug 3 2022, 01:00pm EDT
  • Innovation Leaders Discussion
    Mon Aug 8 2022, 01:00pm EDT
  • Peer 2 Peer for Communications and Marketing Staff: Communications and the Mission of God: Aligning organizational communications with God's purposes
    Thu Aug 18 2022, 01:00pm EDT

View all events »

Topics

author interview CEO Church Church Missions Church Mission Team Church Planting COVID-19 Cross Cultural Skills Diaspora Disciple Making Discipleship Focus Future Innovation Islam Justin Long Leadership Management Member Care Missiology Missionaries Mission Finance and Administration MLC2019 MLC2020 MLC2021 Mobilization muslim Muslim Diaspora Networks Partnership Podcast Presenter Pursuing Partnerships Series Research Risk Short-Term Missions Spirituality support raising Training Trends Unengaged Unreached Weekly Roundup Women Women in Leadership

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Symposium: Response 1: Not without Problems

Posted on January 1, 2015 by Ted EslerJanuary 1, 2015

by Douglas McConnell

Does the move away from the term “mission” diminish the mission of God, at least among those of us for whom English is our primary language? Reflecting on the complexity of the issues, my answer is yes, but perhaps other significant questions should also be considered.

IN THE WEEKS LEADING UP to our name change, a major donor and friend of the School of World Mission warned me that it would open the door for a loss of vision and mission for both the school and the seminary. We agonized over these issues as the pressures for change grew among our alumni serving around the world. It came to a head when a leading Arab- born American missionary was deported from a Middle Eastern country after an examination of his transcript from Fuller’s School of World Mission.

Our concern was to apply the principles of contextualization in a manner that would not compromise or block the mission. We explored many names, but in the end followed the trend in academic missiology among evangelicals. “Intercultural Studies” was chosen as academically credible since it was intrinsically interdisciplinary, bringing together the social sciences, theology, history, and mission practice from a global perspective. Fuller was by no means first in line to change the name in May 2003. Clyde Cook, a fourth-generation missionary and beloved president of Biola University at that time, established a School of Intercultural Studies in 1983.

Yet as Marv Newell rightly notes, the implications are not without problems. Does the move away from the term “mission” diminish the mission of God, at least among those of us for whom English is our primary language? Reflecting on the complexity of the issues, my answer is yes, but perhaps other significant questions should also be considered.

Yes, it inevitably allows for a broadening of the agenda. Creating new names opens the door for organizational expansion necessitating more leaders, more facilities, and more expenses. Reorganizing to meet changing needs and embrace new opportunities leads to questions about the relevance of our historical mission statements. An example is the focus on leadership so common in our meetings, retreats, curriculum, and mission statements. In more ways than we realize, the agenda for missions changed with the names and is in need of the careful appraisal Newell suggests. But does the move away from the word “mission” in our collective experience really mean a loss of mission? What about the dynamics of globalization, in particular the accessibility of information blurring the boundaries which were so much a part of our perspective of sending missionaries? What about the missionary movements of Christians from the South to the North, from vibrant and growing churches to a post-Christendom world? Is the de-missionization of missions in the West a symptom of something bigger? Perhaps we need to move deeper in our analysis of the mission of the sovereign triune God. What, after all, is God doing in the world and how should we respond?

….

Douglas McConnell is provost and senior vice president of Fuller Theological Seminary. He served as a missionary in Australia and Papua New Guinea, as associate professor of missions & intercultural studies at Wheaton College, and as international director of PIONEERS.

EMQ, Vol. 51, No. 1 pp. 51-52. Copyright  © 2015 Billy Graham Center for Evangelism.  All rights reserved. Not to be reproduced or copied in any form without written permission from EMQ editors.

GoToOlder PostNewer PostAll PostsArticlesEMQSectionVolume 51 - Issue 1

Comments are closed.

Subscribe to Our Mailing List

Keep up to date with our community.

Menu

  • Home
  • Directories
  • Advertise
  • Donate
  • Contact Us

Join

  • Join
  • Benefits
  • Learn
  • Meet
  • Engage

Help

  • Contact Us
  • Terms
  • Cookies Policy

About Us

  • Who We Are
  • Statement of Faith
  • Awards
  • Resources
Missio Nexus Logo

© Missio Nexus. All rights reserved.
As an Amazon Associate Missio Nexus earns from qualifying purchases.


PO Box 398
Wheaton, IL 60187-0398

Phone: 770.457.6677
678.392.4577

Annual Sponsors

ECFA Logo Brotherhood Mutual Logo

Subscribe to our Mailing List

Membership website powered by MembershipWorks