When: June 9, 2021, 2:45 pm - Wednesday

Where: Swang 238

Session 2

Session Abstract

The contexts in which we live inevitably shape and influence our understanding of the world, the gospel, and mission. Therefore, the church must understand that its view of the world, of others, of the earth, and of God, is neither univocal nor universal. We cannot simply assume context. We must name, identify, and analyze the global contexts in which mission occurs. This session brings together presentations that in different ways name the realities of contexts so the church can be faithful in its mission.

 

Paper Abstracts

Ron Clark, Kairos Church Planting, Portland, OR, “Living Missionally Among the ‘Humiliated’ in a Post-#MeToo World: A Missional Reading of Paul’s Challenge To the Roman Christians in Romans 12:1–16”

The vision of Agape Church of Christ, planted in Portland, OR (2007) is to be a community committed to Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence support, emanating from Jesus’s synagogue sermon in Luke 4:16–19. From the beginning it became clear that Paul’s challenge to the Roman congregations to transform spiritually by “associating with the humiliated” offered a more developed plan for this mission. With #MeToo losing its emphasis, it is evident that Jesus’s mission calls congregations not just to proclamation but to develop relationships/partnerships with the vulnerable and those who empower them by creating ministries that refuse to be conformed to this “world” and “are at peace with all.”

 

Gailyn Van Rheenen, Mission Alive, Dallas, TX, “How is God Working during the Pandemic to Create Ideal Settings for Church Planting?”

An imagination is stirring in our souls that God is working during this pandemic to lead us to discern new understandings of the church and his mission. How might new insights enhance renewal and facilitate disciple-making? How might the church become more like a community of disciples contextually living in a heart-to-heart relationship within a local community? In view of modern church tendencies and early church practices, this essay reflects on concerts and next steps for churches seeking to answer such questions.

 

Matthew Nance, Christian HolyLand Foundation, Noblesville, IN, “The Paradox of Missional Calling”

This paper discusses data produced in an initial round of interviews inquiring into the relationships between expatriate missionaries and native pastors in the country of Jordan. These interviews revealed a possible correlation between individual conceptualizations of personal calling and the health of future ministry relationships. This paper argues the “paradox of missional” is that a phenomenon generally understood as healthy may present obstacles to mutuality in mission partnerships.

Speakers

Chris Flanders, Abilene Christian University, Convener

• Ron Clark, Kairos Church Planting, “Living Missionally Among the ‘Humiliated’ in a Post-#MeToo World: A Missional Reading of Paul’s Challenge To the Roman Christians in Romans 12:1–16”
• Gailyn Van Rheenen, Mission Alive, “How is God Working during the Pandemic to Create Ideal Settings for Church Planting?”
• Matthew Nance, Christian HolyLand Foundation, “The Paradox of Missional Calling”
• Martin Rodriguez, Azusa Pacific University, Respondent