Dear friends and colleagues,
Gospel, church and witness have always been an inseparable triad in Christian thought and discipleship practice. They are being revisited today in diverse ways. New ways of being church are emerging as followers of Christ round the world seek to be faithful in new contexts and new generations. Longstanding practices and structures that have characterised the global Christian community face challenges by new ones.
In the traditionally Christian West, Christian institutions find it difficult to engage new generations and to offer relevant paths for discipleship. Former mission fields in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East are producing new ways of being church and of bearing witness to the gospel. Majority world Christians are increasingly distinct in practice from Western models.
The new expressions of the church do not differ from the old ones in that, by biblical definition, they are missional, as many of them are in actual practice. They are agents of God’s mission in the world. As MC Associates, these kinds of changes, constitute a call to reflection and to action: we have work to do.
It is with great anticipation that we look forward to greeting you face-to-face in Turkey in May this year for our Global Consultation with the theme: Gospel – Church – Witness.
We have work to do together!
Bertil
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