Mission Specialists Examine Missionary Task

     ST. PAUL, Minn. (ELCA) -- About 140 mission specialists from around the world gathered here at Luther Seminary for an ecumenical Congress on the World Mission of the Church, June 23-27, to re-examine the Christian missionary obligation and particularly the mission responsibility of the North American Christian community.
     The Rev. Roland Miller, congress organizer, said, "It is God's desire that everyone be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth." Miller is visiting professor of missions at Luther Seminary.  Preaching at the opening worship service Miller called upon participants to pray for all people.  "To pray for everyone is to not deny the gospel for anyone.  God loves everyone and so should we."  Miller called this an absolutely radical and daring notion.
     "Rekindle your spirits, revive your hearts.  Set aside your doldrums. Lift up your eyes.  Jesus Christ wants you to share again in his mission," Miller said, claiming that the problems Christians face today are no worse than at any time in history.  "When we view problems as challenges then the life of the church is a thrilling life," he concluded.
     The Rev. H. George Anderson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, described the congress as "a most remarkable gathering, a matchless opportunity."   It brought together mission specialists, theologians and scholars from many traditions, including Lutheran, Presbyterian, Methodist, Mennonite and American Baptist.
     "New constellations developed all across the denominational spectrum," said Miller.  "An effort to come up with new thinking requires that you put people together who have not been together before.  You rarely get new thinking with people who customarily meet together."
     The Rev. David L. Tiede, president of Luther Seminary, called the congress "a prayer for the restoration of the church."  Luther sponsored the ecumenical gathering.     The Rev. Bonnie L. Jensen, executive director of the ELCA's Division for Global Mission, noted, "This congress is just one example of close cooperation between mission agencies of the church and theological institutions."
     The participants were selected as mission-minded, courageous specialists willing to explore new ideas and bring creativity to the task, according to Miller.  While they were drawn from various denominational backgrounds, there was no attempt to provide full world coverage.  "This wasn't a representative meeting.  We were not looking for a representative from every church," he said.  "We were trying to get a think tank of good minds together."
     "I think there was a senior aspect to the congress," Miller admitted. "We have to recognize that the nature of the thinking we were doing required experience.  Naturally we wound up with more gray hair than we'd like in a forward thinking congress."
     A message from the congress, "The Desire of God:  The Message of the Congress on the World Mission of the Church:  St. Paul '98," was issued at the event's conclusion.
     Prior to the congress, participants reviewed a status paper and a vision paper addressing the topic of their particular colloquium.  At the congress participants met privately in eleven specialized colloquia, addressing either geographical concerns or particular issues such as "an evangelical missionary theology for a pluralistic age" and "information technology and the communication of the gospel."
     The colloquium addressing mission structures and organizations needed for mission into the next century concluded that "mission structures for the 21st century need a greater inter-connectedness and agility; they need to involve a greater number of people in decision making and in carrying these decisions out; they need to eliminate the false separation between 'overseas' and 'domestic' mission, and ensure fairer access to resources."
     Belletech Deressa, director for development, Division for Global Mission, ELCA, participated in the colloquium addressing Christian service and contemporary mission.  "We defined service as the passionate involvement in the reconciling and healing love of God for all people everywhere amidst all forms of brokenness and suffering," she said.
     Deressa noted a shift in global mission thinking that includes mission in our own neighborhoods, saying, "We need to be a global church."
     At the same time, cautioned Carol Birkland, "North American solutions don't always fit the global problems.  The North American church needs a radical rethinking of service work in the context of global mission." Birkland, secretary for evaluation and documentation, Department for World Service, Lutheran World Federation, Geneva, also took part in the service colloquium.
     The service colloquium concluded that "witness to the gospel of the kingdom of God is through our lives, deeds, words and worship.  Our deeds give credibility to our words, and our words give clarity to our deeds."
     The colloquium addressing information technology and the communication of the gospel wrestled with sociological and spiritual dimensions of new technology, "for those who are technologically poor are spiritually rich," according to Jonathan Frerichs, communication director, Lutheran World Relief, New York.  Fearing that too much reliance is placed on new technologies as the answer to evangelism efforts, Frerichs observed, "God made us to communicate.  God didn't wait until now to send God's son. God didn't wait for Bill Gates, or for Gutenberg for that matter.  The way is clear, God's love is sufficient."
     Each colloquium will produce an "idea package" out of their discussions.  These will be transmitted to mission executives of mainline denominations and heads of mission societies and para-church groups.
     Miller expressed a hope that "congress participants from different geographical areas will organize similar events in their contexts; it seemed obvious that there was quite an interest in doing that."
     Financial support for the event came from more than 100 individual donors and nearly 50 congregations, primarily in Minnesota and other parts of the Upper Midwest.  Aid Association for Lutherans, Lutheran Brotherhood, the ELCA and The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod also provided financial support.

[*Linda Post Bushkofsky, Bloomington, Minn., is associate synod executive
for communication and interpretation in the Synod of Lakes and Prairies,
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)]

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