The Fremont Abbey aka Abbess Karen Ward and Church of the Apostles are hosting an Emerging Church Learning Party. It sounds great.
In my mission strategy class today, we discussed how mission was faithfully carried out by monks for 1500 years (basically from 300-1800), i.e. the Benedictines, the Byzantines, the Irish, the Franciscans, the Dominicans, and Jesuits, just to name only a few. Even though there were those outside these orders doing mission at this time, they were the exception and not the rule.
When we ponder the total history of Christian mission -- the period of the monks takes up a sizable part of that history (no, mission did not start with William Carey in 1792), in other words, 1500 of the 2000 years or 75%.
However, if we change the question to be about mission to the West, and not simply about traditional mission (outside of Christendom), the percentages change dramatically. Mission in the West has almost been exclusively performed by monastics or those strongly mirroring the monastic lifestyle. Until the last fifteen years, most Protestants did not consider the West a mission field, rather, it was a place for renewal for the largely Christian culture, primarily through an emphasis on church membership or inward experience. The monastic movements, on the other hand, called for a much more radical commitment, where faith was lived in community 24-7 and combined with a shared commitment to the poor, to simplicity, and to various forms of spiritual service.
As I explore those Christian communities that engage Western culture in signficant ways, such as Karen Ward's community in Seattle, I find that they strongly resemble these historic monastic communities. And why should this fact surprise? As we discussed in class, throughout Western history the monastic approach to mission has been a primary way if not the primary way in which Westerners have been challenged to serve the world...
Technorati Tags: Karen Ward, monasticism, Western Culture
As a new intercultural studies student at seminary currently taking (among other things) a course on history of Christian missions, where might we focus historically for missions insights that will be applicable to our Western cultural situation?
Posted by: John W. Morehead | August 25, 2005 at 02:33 PM
John,
Great question.
No doubt,all mission history is instructive, even when it is done wrong. So you do well to study the history of the people of God crossing cultures as God's servants (on their best days).
In addition to mission history, the Bible holds many insights for the people of God interacting with the nations. Most pointedly, it is in the New Testament era where we see Christ's followers go to other cultures to express the rule of God just as Jesus did in his. So, all of history has lessons for us.
In dealing with pluralism, we can learn much from the early church in their dealings with other religions. However, we cannot completely take this as a guide, as their responses were highly Greek in nature, as this was their particular context. Our response must refuse such leanings. So, although we follow their example, we must hold their formulations loosely. What may of more help is studying the many examples of contextualization in the Two-Thirds world, especially by those who were much less formal and institutional in their approach.
Hope this helps a bit...
Posted by: Ryan Bolger | August 30, 2005 at 05:58 PM