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regional Gatherings
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In this day of frequent jeremiads blasted out in tweets of 140 characters or less, sincere conversation is endangered. Yet, deep, intentional conversation in our reflections on the mission of God and the participation of Christians in it is crucial for missions' continued relevance in the 21st century. When such conversation occurs, it is a gift; it is often a surprise.
Such is the conversation I have enjoyed with Carolyn C. Wason for the last three years. In October 2014, the Evangelical Missiological Society issued a call for papers concerning contemporary problems in mission. In my view, a critical problem is the wide disaffection of millennials toward Christianity and even of many Christian millennials toward Western missions. They ask how Western missions, burdened by past abuses, can possibly be a viable vehicle of God's message of grace today, and even if missions is positively transformed, what assurance is there that its practitioners might not be as equally blind to their errors as were previous generations of missionaries?
In 2014, Carolyn happened to be a student - an exceptional one, now pursuing graduate studies in anthropology at the University of Oxford - in her final year of the Missiology and Anthropology program at Eastern University. As a Christian millennial skeptical of Christian missions, Carolyn bravely accepted my invitation to have an extended conversation concerning this generation problem facing mission. Our paper was in the form of a dialogue between a millennial Christian and a member of the baby boomer generation, the latter convinced of the value of Christian missions. Our consequent dialogue, which occurred in writing, was not easy. It was often hard to really hear what the other was saying, and to respond concisely and meaningfully. We couldn't see at that time; however, our real work lay ahead.
The outcome of our six-month conversation was a paper entitled, "A Cross-Generational Conversation Concerning the Future of Western Missions." First presented in the northeast regional conference of the EMS, it was subsequently chosen to be presented at the EMS national conference in Dallas, Texas in September 2015. At the conference we were assigned the unfortunate hour of eight o'clock in the morning on Sunday - the last day of the conference. I advised Carolyn who Skyped in from Maine not to be discouraged if only five or ten people attended. To our surprise the room was packed with more in the hallway! The paper generated robust discussion - even debate! Millennials expressed that ours was the only presentation in the conference they really wanted to hear! Afterward, as Carolyn and I reflected on the unusually strong reception in two missiological conferences, we concluded the topic was vital and our conversation should be continued.
And so, Millennials and the Mission of God: A Prophetic Dialogue was born. What began as a project of a few months became a two-year dialogue. As Carolyn writes in the preface:
As it turns out, writing a thoughtful critique of another author's work is considerably more difficult when that author critiques you right back. But that was the point of our paper, and it's the point of this book. This is a conversation. Not the kind of conversation that any of us normally have-the kind where I'm only silent because I'm waiting for my turn to reply and not because I'm actually listening; where I talk over you and you talk over me, and we all end up further affirming our own beliefs and denouncing that of the other. I can say with certainty that my views on Western missions (and my views on Baby-Boomers) have changed since we began this, and I suspect Andrew could say the same. I hope, Reader, that whatever your own views are, you will enter this conversation willing to stand up for what you believe as well as being willing to change your mind.
Our conversation's focus was the validity of Christian missions. In exploring this we discussed important related topics: can millennials find their place in the church? Is there a stream in Christian spirituality, which millennials might authentically embrace, that subsequently might facilitate the renewal of Christian missions? What place does social justice and sabbath rest have in Christian missions? How can evangelism separate itself from the political agenda of many conservative evangelicals?
Carolyn and I do not pretend to offer definitive answers to these questions. We are starting a conversation, and we hope readers will lend their voices to this ongoing dialogue. The future of Christian missions is at stake!
Andrew F. Bush, DMin., is the chair of the Global Studies and Mission Department at Eastern University. He speaks widely in churches, conferences and colleges. He has served internationally for thirty years and remains active in mission service in the Philippines and Palestine.
Andrew F. Bush and Carolyn C. Wason, Millennials and the Mission of God: A Prophetic Dialogue (Wipf & Stock: Eugene, Ore., 2017) p xv.
In less than six months we will gather for our ASM annual meeting to consider "interfaith friendship as incarnational mission practice." The past two Sundays three serendipitous events occurred which resonate for me with our ASM theme and make me anticipate our gathering even more! To be clear, the stories I relate here are not about interfaith friendships, but they are about friendship in the midst of difference and thus illustrate the generative nature of the theme ASM President Dr. Bonnie Sue Lewis has chosen.
First, this past Sunday I preached at two congregations near my home. This is not particularly unusual in itself. It is something I do every month or two. I preached on Mark 1:14-20; a few months ago I had written a short commentary on this text for the ASM "missional preacher" website. But the day before I was to preach, I saw something new in the text that I hadn't even mentioned in that commentary. In Mark's account of Jesus calling disciples by the Sea of Galilee, Jesus calls for three actions on the part of his disciples / eventual friends: Repent, believe, and follow. I closed my message by lingering with my congregations on the priority Jesus placed on repentance. Repentance is how our believing and following begins. Perhaps that is especially the case in our interfaith friendships. But surely not only there.
With my congregations I also spoke about another event that had occurred the previous week. I had visited a Coptic Orthodox Church in Portland, Oregon (the only Coptic church in Oregon) with my class of undergraduate students studying the history of African Christianity. In their ancient liturgy we heard the simple prayer, "Lord have mercy," well over a dozen times. I was reminded of the multiple layers of that simple prayer that simultaneously reminds us of our need to repent and the abundant grace and mercy that is poured out for us by our Lord Jesus Christ. While worshiping with these Coptic Christians I was also reminded of how little I pray for Christian sisters and brothers facing persecution in Egypt and elsewhere. Lord have mercy, indeed!
My third serendipitous event occurred the evening after I had preached on the Gospel of Mark. I went with a new friend to an evening service at a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in a nearby town. I am still somewhat new to the American West, so I decided several months ago that I needed to better understand the Mormon tradition in my new home. As I climbed into my friend's car that rainy evening, I asked again what this service was going to be about. He said that he thought it was going to be "A kind of revival service." He is always generous to find words within my own Protestant and Methodist tradition that make sense. At the end of the service which was indeed "A kind of revival service," one of the priests from the regional ministry area or "stake" came up to me and asked, with tears in his eyes, if he could give me a hug. We had met just once before, but we had a meaningful conversation. As we embraced he said, "Thank you for being so kind to us." I recall that I mumbled something along the lines of "But, of course, we're supposed to love one another." He had previously told me of some hurtful encounters he had with evangelical Christians many years ago in our area. I don't yet know the history or current reality of Latter Day Saints - evangelical relations in my new home, but I know I need to learn. I also don't know what repentance would look like in this case, but if I am to follow Jesus more closely in my new home I need to open my heart in prayer about this. My friend's tears and words of gratitude, it seems to me, can serve as a kind of icon for my prayers in the months to come.
"Repent, believe, follow." "Lord have mercy." "Thank you for being so kind to us." May these phrases resonate for you too in the days to come as we all look forward to our ASM meeting on "interfaith friendships" at St. Mary's College in South Bend, Indiana. I'm looking forward to seeing you there!
To be clear, I don't see my relationships with LDS friends as an interfaith friendship. The evangelical - LDS dialogue that has taken place for the past 20 years seems to mostly use the language of "heterodox Christian sect" as a descriptor of the Mormon tradition that LDS Christians themselves are comfortable with. For now, so am I.