Editor's note: The co-editors of this new volume on mission are frequent contributors to United Methodist Insight.
2020 David W. Scott
Dr. David W. Scott. (Photo © Hector Amador)
Following a long tradition of edited volumes about Methodist world mission, The Practice of Mission in Global Methodism: Emerging Trends from Everywhere to Everywhere, co-edited by David W. Scott (UM & Global blogmaster) and Darryl W. Stephens (occasional contributor to UM & Global), has just been published as part of the Routledge Methodist Studies Series.
This book brings together Methodist scholars and reflective practitioners from around the world to consider how emerging practices of mission and evangelism shape contemporary theologies of mission. Engaging contemporary issues including migration, nationalism, climate change, postcolonial contexts, and the growth of the Methodist church in the Global South, this book examines multiple forms of mission, including evangelism, education, health, and ministries of compassion. A global group of contributors (including strong African voices) discusses mission as no longer primarily a Western activity but an enterprise of the entire church throughout the world.
The book contains 19 chapters covering four sections: cultivating global relationships, practicing contextual engagement, educating for missional formation, and discerning the future of mission together. This edited collection builds on papers presented at the Methodist Mission Bicentennial conference held in Atlanta in April 2019 while expanding upon those reflections.
This volume will be of interest to researchers studying missiology, evangelism, global Christianity, and Methodism and to students of Methodism and mission. While this book is quite expensive in hardback form, a paperback version will appear in the fall of next year, and a less expensive e-book version is also available.