Mission or partnership?
In many cases even Christians adopt an ambiguous attitude concerning Christian mission.They sympathize with the term "partnership” instead, particularly in connection with contemporary relations between Christians in the Northern Hemisphere and those in the Global South. But many of them are not aware of the close relationship between the history and different understandings of Christian mission, its theological background and the contemporary understanding of Christian partnerships.
The present thesis contains a critical analysis of the complex connections between Christian mission, different mission theologies and church partnerships today. Based on a review of the historical development of European external mission and its theological foundations, contemporary church partnerships will be analyzed with a particular focus on relationships between Protestant Western German churches and congregations, and Protestant Western and Southern African churches and congregations. Special emphasis will be placed on the question to what degree these partnerships are influenced by mission theological perspectives and how much awareness of the connection between mission, mission theologies and partnerships exists among those persons who are involved in the partnerships.
Table of Contents
1 Introduction
1.1 Mission impossible?
1.2 Mission or partnership?
2 Christian mission
2.1 The term ”mission“
2.2 The history of Christian mission. A short survey
3 Mission theologies
3.1 Biblical foundation of mission
3.1.1 Old and New Testament in general
3.1.2 The Gospel
3.2 Models of mission theologies
3.2.1 “Plantation or Conversion Model”, “Salvific-historical Model”, “Promise-historical Model”, “Communication Model”
3.2.2 Missio Dei
3.2.3 Further approaches. Konvivenz, Koinonia, contextuality
3.3 Mission theological approaches in connection with mission history
3.3.1 Accomplished mission
3.3.2 Inner Mission and overseas activities
3.3.3 Mission conferences and early impulses for an Ecumenical Movement
3.3.4 Mission activities after World War II
3.3.5 The Ecumenical Movement and the World Council of Churches
3.3.6 Contemporary mission questions
3.4 Excurse: missionary saving boxes reflect different mission understandings
3.5 Mission theologies from the Global South
3.5.1 Africa
3.5.2 Latin America and Asia
3.6 Conclusion
4 Church Partnerships as part of modern Christian mission understanding
4.1 The development of Christian church partnership understanding
4.1.1 Beginning of the 20th century
4.1.2 After World War II
4.1.3 The last three decades of the 20th century
4.2 Theological foundation of the term partnership
4.2.1 The Bible
4.2.2 Hermeneutical approaches
4.3 The transfer of the partnership understanding into the praxis
4.3.1 Global Christian siblinghood
4.3.2 Shared theological reflections
4.3.3 Social and global responsibility
4.3.4 Development as a specific element of Christian partnership
4.3.5 Learning communities and ecumenical learning
4.3.6 Promotion of congregational life
5 Contemporary partnerships with Africa and its mission theological perspectives
5.1 German partnership understanding
5.2 African partnership understandings
5.3 Contemporary protagonists of German-African church partnerships. South Africa and Western Africa as particular examples
5.3.1 Mission Societies. The Bremen Mission as example
5.3.2 Church and congregation partnerships between Germany and South Africa
5.3.3 Church partnerships between Germany and Ghana
5.4 Strengths and weaknesses of German-African partnerships
5.4.1 Strengths
5.4.2 Weaknesses
6 The Church of Lippe. Examples of church partnerships with Africa
6.1 The Church of Lippe and its ecumenical involvements
6.2 Partnership between the congregations of Spork/Wendlinghausen and Hillentrup in Lippe, Germany and Alexandra in Johannesburg, South Africa
6.2.1 The partnership
6.2.2 Analysis
6.3 Partnership between the classes Detmold, Blomberg-Horn and Bösingfeld in Lippe and the church district of Ho in North-Ghana
6.3.1 The partnership
6.3.2 Analysis
6.4 Deduction from the examples
7 Conclusion and prospect
7.1 Mission impossible?
7.2 Mission and partnership possible!
8 Bibliography
9 Appendix
9.1 Interview with Sigrid Dreier
9.2 Partnership agreement
9.3 Interview with Udo Süthoff
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