The Challenges of Integrating New Mission Sending and Old Mission Organizations
By Maria Lopez | Based on significant personal experience interfacing between traditional international western sending agencies and new sending nations, Maria Lopez outlines the challenges. These include administrative processes, financial disparity, different ways of doing mission, and the ability of older organizations to change. She raises questions about future direction for traditional agencies.
New Models of Mission
By Evelyn Hibbert | The growth of the church in the Majority World and its decline in traditional sending countries is causing significant changes in mission. This has created challenges and opportunities.
Local Arts in Polycentric Missions
By Héber Negrão | The landscape of global Christianity is shifting, and this is impacting global mission. The arts have always been critical to mission, but how we use them has changed from a bring it – teach it to a find it – encourage it approach. As engagement with local arts are embraced, Christianity is becoming more deeply rooted in the world’s diverse cultures.
Toward a Theology of Arts and Mission
By James R. Krabill | Artistic expressions are reshaping Christian mission and worship globally. As global churches increasingly contextualize their faith, the arts emerge as a powerful tool that increases spiritual depth and provides a more holistic understanding of the Christian experience.
Beyond Telling: Embodied Gospel Communication
By Lydia Hreniuc and Robin Harris | Studies in neuroscience and adult learning affirm the value of cultural, relational, and emotional means of knowing that extend beyond rational cognition. The arts are therefore a potent form of communication that allow all of us – not only those with special training as artists – to construct concepts and narratives that shape our lives and reflect the truth of the gospel. They provide a more holistic approach to gospel transmission that propositional telling strategies on their own miss.
Training in the Arts and Christian Mission
By Roch Ntankeh | Is the future of mission work painted in the colors of cultural diversity? The arts are gaining recognition as a powerful tool for Christian mission worldwide, but training in the arts remains scarce. Yet if training in the arts and mission can be developed to be flexible to varying contexts, the resulting shifts could revolutionize the spread of the Gospel.
Sparking New Arts for Mission: Practical Steps and Conversations
By Laura Roberts | Engaging with local arts opens doors to encourage cultures to use their own resources in the world of the church and mission. The Creating Local Arts Together (CLAT) approach offers a practical method for anyone to engage with the arts in their own culture or across cultures.
Indigenous Composers Bridge Traditions
By Elsen Portugal | About 50 years after evangelical missions started among the Xerente people of Brazil, singers and other musicians started composing their own songs. These compositions blended traditional Indigenous elements with aspects of popular music typical of the region. This fusion is a result of the cultural shifts that occurred over many years.
Redeeming Local Arts for Worship
By Bronwen Cleaver | The Altai people of southern Siberia have a rich artistic history. A local Bible translation team studied local art forms to see which ones could be used to convey passages of Scripture from the Psalms and Judges. The result was a worshipful rendition of biblical passages performed using local arts. This deeply resonated with local audiences while also affirming the value of the Altai culture.
Are Local Arts the Key to Reaching the Basque People?
By Juan Arvelo Montero | After repeatedly failing to communicate the gospel to the Basque people, God showed me that the arts offer a key to open hearts. The arts are a crucial form of gospel communication that move people’s emotions in a way that only sharing information does not. This makes it a powerful discipleship and evangelism tool.