Mission and Theology: Teaching Missiology on the Basis of Together towards Life

Abstract

Theological education and Christian mission have a history of mutual relations of only a century or so -from the time when missiology as a distinctive course was introduced into the curricula of certain theological schools and seminaries. For almost a generation, I have been involved both in global theological education, through the World Conference of Associations of Theological Institutions, and in global Christian mission, through the Commission on World Mission and Evangelism, trying to analyze the viability and effectiveness of a missiological formation of future religious leaders. A New Understanding of TheologyTwenty years ago, the World Council of Churches' (WCC) Ecumenical Theological Education (ETE) called a major global consultation on the viability of theological education, particularly in its ecumenical dimension.

Mission and Dialogue: An Assessment of the Interaction of Orthodox Theology and Practice with the Reformation

“…As an example we can name the ecumenical proclamation on the subject of mission, Together Towards Life: Mission and Evangelism in Changing Landscapes (TTL), which was produced jointly by Protestants and Orthodox, after many years of engagement that involved the leadership of the churches, academic experts, and in most cases Christian communities as a foundation. 76 TTL was also recognized by the Orthodox as a very useful working tool, especially as part of educational processes, 77 as it reinterprets mission as an act that primarily serves life, deconstructs older, expansive ways of understanding mission, bringing in the idea of mission from the margins and emphasizing in a spirit of resurrection the concepts of healing and reconciliation.…”

The Missionary Formation in the Eastern Orthodox Theological Education in Present Day Romania

“…From this perspective, mission is an outcome of the communion of love that exists within the Holy Trinity. The contemporary orthodox missiologists agree on the fact that ‘this Trinitarian basis can have tremendous effect in helping the Christian missionaries to avoid imperialistic or confessionalistic attitudes’ (Vassiliadis, 2017: 56). For this rather creative type of discourse, the Romanian missiology owes a lot to Ion Bria.…”