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The church in Africa, like its counterparts elsewhere in the world, is called to fulfil the mission of God as expressed in the call 'Missio Dei' and influentially remains with the integrity of the mission of Christ (Missio Christos), which is liberative and practical. For Christ was not only concerned with the spiritual needs of the people, but also with their material well-being. The following question therefore arises: how can the church in Africa, in general, and in Zimbabwe, in particular, actively do God's mission and remain with integrity in the midst of the reality of suffering. Furthermore, how can the church for mission and reconstruction be understood in a post-colonial Zimbabwe given the contextual realities of political crises, corruption, poverty, moral decadence, defined or censored truth, leadership crises and no freedom of expression? This article argues that, although the church is faced with these arduous realities, it remains called by God to do God's mission. While in post-colonial Zimbabwe the socio-political, socioeconomic and socio-religious situation might seem hopeless, the church has remained vibrant and alive for reconstruction theology. The transformation of society is possible given the authority and mission mandate of the church. This article argues that the church is a key player in reconstruction theology and in the transformation of society. For transformation to be possible, the church should witness to the gospel of Christ without fear of being labelled, castrated and persecuted. The article asserts that the spirit of the Bible should be revived in a time of reconstruction in Zimbabwe. The assumption in this article is that Zimbabwe is ready for reconstruction discourse. For this to happen, the researchers argue that the church as a critical relevant player in reconstruction needs to 'be church' in its missional mandates. Integrity is essential if a church wants to be relevantly missional and reconstructive. Integrity means that the church has to embrace the risks and ...

God's word. Ruling god's world God's way : dominion in Psalm 8 / Edward R Brown ; The biblical basis for creation care / Jonathan A Moo ; Ecological hope in crisis? / Richard Bauckham ; Environmental missions : an introduction / Lowell Bliss ; Creation care and the great commission / Craig Sorley ; how does creation care belong within an evangelical understanding of mission? / Dave Bookless ; Creation care ; a brief overview of Christian involvement / R J (Sam) Berry -- God's world. Global warming, climate change, and sustainability ; challenges to scientists, policymakers, and Christians / John Houghton ; Poverty and climate change / Dorothy Boorse ; Is the weather going crazy? Impacts of climate change in the Cusco region of Peru / Juliana Morillo Horne ; Population and ecological sustainability / John P. McKeown ; Unnatural disasters / Robert S White ; Biodiversity loss : a Christian concern? / Martin J Hodson ; Creation care of the other 71% / Meric Srokosz and Robert D Sluka ; Planetary boundaries and the green economy / Paul Cook -- God's work. Holistic environmental stewardship in East Africa / Serah Wambua ; The church and sustainable cities in East Asia / David Gould ; Creation care as a ministry of reconciliation : a framework for environmental missions / Susan D Emmerich -- Conclusion. Towards a robust theology of the environment / Ken Gnanakan -- Case studies: Improvisational drama, Australian church youth, and climate change: an educational tool for bringing about positive changes / Sally Saw ; THe work of A Rocha Ghana / Seth Appiah-Kubi ; Caring for creation Down Under: friends of A Rocha Australia / Mich Pope ; Drought and flooding in Bangladesh /James Pender ; ECHO, a community development and agriculture organization / Stan Doerr ; Can the desert be green? Asian Journeys' Green Desert Project in Inner Mongolia ; Restoring a mountains, reconciling communities: A Rocha in Aotearoa New Zealand / Andrew Shepherd ; Evolving church action on deforestation in Argentina / Andrew Leake ; A case study from Uganda / Sara Kaweesa ; A Rocha living waterways / Dave Bookless -- Appendix: living out our care for creation

There is a saying that life is a pilgrimage. This journey is also echoed through Vatican II's statement that "The pilgrim Church is missionary by her very nature, since it is from the mission of the Son and the mission of the Holy Spirit that she draws her origin, in accordance with the decree of God the Father."1 As such, a pilgrimage is an expressive act of desire to engage spirituality on a practical level, and "a journey to a special or holy place as a way of making an impact on one's life with the revelation of God associated with that place."2 Our faith does not consist of an ideological or utopian world that exists only in our heads, but is instead an expression of practical, ethical action that explores the signs of the times amidst the realities of postmodernism3 and post secularism. The Korean Catholic Church has been on a difficult road to meet and experience God. In 1784, Lee Seung Hun was baptized in China, taking the name of Peter, and with that the Korean Church began. Even after four great persecutions, the Korean Church never gave up her efforts to practice the faith. It is no exaggeration to say that the Korean church of today owes its existence to the many unnamed martyrs, of whom many were lay. Since 2011, the Bishops' Conference has designated 111 holy sites throughout the country and conferred blessings on those who pilgrimed to these holy sites. This led to a certain pilgrimage 'boom'. The Bishop of the Missionary of the Episcopal Church and the Bishop of the Holy Land pilgrimage (Chairman Kim Sun-tae) presented a blessing to the organizers who pilgrimed to all 111 of the Holy Places listed in the "Catholic Church Pilgrimage in Korea" on December 12. On this day, 433 believers received blessings. As a result, a total of 2,664 persons received the blessing. A total of 1,215 people was awarded the blessing year in 2017.4 In this way, it can be seen that this ministerial approach to pilgrimage in the Korean Catholic is yielding good fruit. The Catholic Church in Korea is researching how to integrate theology and spirituality of pilgrimage into mission, pursuing the unity of theory and practice.5 Pilgrimage is an embodied ritual, so the theology and spirituality of pilgrimage must also come out of a concrete practice. In the pilgrimage we undertake, the external pilgrimage to the holy place and the inner pilgrimage are not separate, but are rather complementary. The Korean Catholic Church is actively developing and revitalizing the ritual of outward and inward pilgrimage. The Korean Catholic Church has practiced pilgrimage as a part of the faith life of the church community, even as it is seen as an option, not a requirement. This work will argue that the Korean Catholic Church should link pilgrimage with a variety of programs within this context. In particular, it should develop a pilgrimage program for young people to help them locate themselves within Korean church history and also within their communities in the long history of God's providence. In this sense, the goal of pilgrimage is not to abolish the relevance of church's political, historical, or doctrinal contexts, but to restore its identity as a pilgrim community and to strengthen its evangelical mission as a community of churches. In other words, the theology and spirituality of pilgrimage will provide dynamism to the Korean church. This dynamic community can only be called an evangelical community when it truly is God's salt, leaven, and light in the world. In order to approach the crisis and opportunity of today's postmodern church situation in a missionary and communicative manner, I will study pilgrimage to these sacred sites and present this unique pilgrim spirituality as a paradigmatic transformation of the new mission and method of evangelization. The purpose of this dissertation is to consider pilgrimage, which is one of the various popular devotional acts, as an important phenomenon of the new evangelization. Hence, I will explore not only some Catholic studies from other parts of the world, but also the unique spiritual pilgrimage spirituality and its corresponding mission dimension that have been created through the spiritual phenomenon of Asian pilgrimages active in Catholic churches in East Asia. This dissertation has four main objectives which underscore its significance to the field of missiology: (a) to examine what pilgrimage is from historical, biblical, and church viewpoints, and to provide its relevance for mission today; (b) to reestablish the relationship between pilgrimage and tourism as this form of popular devotion has unfolded throughout human history; (c) To help the reader understand the unique pilgrim spirituality of the Korean Catholic Church; and (d) as a local church in the world church, to better orient the future direction of this ministry and spirituality, not only in Korea but also in other parts of a world church. In this work, the first chapter looks at the definition of pilgrimage sites and the meaning of the place where the pilgrimage is taking place, approaching this from historical, biblical, and ecclesial perspectives. First, I deal with the history of pilgrimage to the shrines of the Korean Catholic Church. Second, I present pilgrimage to these holy lands through the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments' The Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy-Principles and Guidelines. Third, I describe how it is that, from historical and biblical points, pilgrimages are deeply related to the human journey which has to do with salvation, engaging memory, penitence, liturgy and sacraments, and popular devotion. Lastly, I demonstrate how it is that pilgrimage is related to mission, one embodies by an intrinsic desire to live a life of faith. The second chapter is more forced specifically at pilgrim spirituality in conjunction with the definition of pilgrimage in the early Church, the Middle Ages, and the Second Vatican Council. Furthermore, I examine pilgrimage, in light of pilgrimage spirituality, tourism, and theology, highlighting the theological restructuring act which enables the reader to re-illuminate Christian testimony and life. In the third chapter I explain how the establishment of pilgrimage to the sacred places of by the Korean Catholic Church has produced legacy of faith that has been handed down through the faith of the martyrs and the myriad of ancestors of a faith witnessed by worship and service to God. Based on these spiritual aspects, I describe how these sacred places have grown through pilgrimage, a pilgrimage often focused around persecution and martyrdom. Furthermore, I explore the activities of the Suwon Diocese for the promotion of pilgrimage. In particular, for example, guide books which assist the pilgrim in walking to these sacred places in the precincts, Didimgil, make the pilgrimage more enriching. A treatment of modern parish movements to promote the veneration of these saints and martyrs accents their continuing relevance and connection with the grassroots. This chapter is not without its description of more concrete ways of doing pilgrimage, such as that done physically walking, one done with a leader, and the creation of resources to assist pilgrims in furthering their relationship with a God who invites us to participate in mission. Some of my major learnings round out the work.

Paper presented to the Study Commission on Church Organization, Consultation of Nature and Mission of Mennonite Church, Pittsburgh, Pa., April 10-11, 1967 (text with four "exhibits" attached).

With 1.2 billion members, the Catholic Church is the world's largest organization and perhaps its most controversial. The Church's obstinacy on matters like clerical celibacy, the role of women, birth control, and the child abuse scandal has alienated many Catholics, especially in the West. Yet in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, the Church is highly esteemed for its support of education, health, and social justice. In this deeply informed book, Robert Calderisi unravels the paradoxes of the Catholic Church's role in the developing world over the past 60 years.Has the Catholic Church on balance been a force for good? Calderisi weighs the Church's various missteps and poor decisions against its positive contributions, looking back as far as the Spanish Conquest in Latin America and the arrival of missionaries in Africa and Asia. He also looks forward, highlighting difficult issues that threaten to disrupt the Church's future social role. The author's answer to the question he poses will fascinate Catholic and non-Catholic readers alike, providing a wealth of insights into international affairs, development economics, humanitarian concerns, history, and theology

'Slave Missions and the Black Church in the Antebellum South' by Janet Duitsman Cornelius is reviewed.

Despite several decades of rapid church growth, there is limited information and understanding of the registered or Three-Self church in China. This study examines the understanding of the mission and purpose of the church from the perspective of select Three-Self pastors and church leaders. The literature review is broad in its approach, providing an overview of cultural, historical, religious and political factors that have shaped the formation of the Three-Self church. Outside of China the church is frequently understood and viewed only through the lenses of the Communist era, leading to biased and incomplete perceptions. Primary information in this study comes through interviews with eleven senior pastors within the Three-Self church. In addition, forty Three-Self pastors completed a questionnaire focused on developing an understanding of the mission and vision for the church. The research findings examine how pastors understand the mission and vision of the church and how they view church growth. Further sections address how the church interacts with and is present in today's world and how pastors see the future of the church in their own country and culture. A final section addresses the question of the church's relationship to the government and administrative structures. The research also provides insight into the beliefs and practices of pastors within the Three-Self church, challenging negative perceptions that are sometimes expressed by outsiders focused solely on non-registered groups. Based on these interviews and the responses to the questionnaires, I have suggested six foundational statements that I believe describe the Three-Self church in China today. These statements provide a foundational understanding for those outside of China who would like to interact and partner with believers and the church. Generalizations and outdated stereotypes can obscure the complexity that is the church in China. A more complete understanding of the Three-Self church, its formation and the persons providing leadership, will lead to mutual learning, respect and reciprocity. The church in China is still very young but is already beginning to realize some of its potential. There is great potential for meaningful engagement and partnership that can enrich the church worldwide. Mentor: James Krabill