“MISSIONSHIFT” AND THE WAY FORWARD

Abstract

INTRODUCTION Fifty years ago a polemical debate was raging between two contrasting theologies of mission. Leaders in the evangelical movement charged the conciliar movement (the World Council of Churches) with jettisoning the classical view of mission for a radical, new reinterpretation of the concepts of mission. We are now in the midst of another debate over theology of mission - this time within the evangelical movement. Ed Steztzer pulled together an assortment of missiologists, theologians, and practitioners last summer to address the confusion that has arisen over the meaning of the term “missional.” One of the results of this “conversation” was a book Stezter edited and co-published with David Hesselgrave called MissionShift. The first of three themes the book addressed was the shifting conceptualization of “mission” among evangelicals.  This “missionShift”   has led to confusion - among church members, among pastors, among church leaders and among missionaries.