Category: Reimagining Missions
REIMAGINING AI: A DISCUSSION FORUM PRIMER
In the contemporary missions landscape, the global Church finds itself at a historic crossroads, where the rapid advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is fundamentally altering how we perceive and perform our sacred mandates. The conversation has shifted decisively from whether the Church should engage with these technologies to how it can do so faithfully. Pope Leo XIV’s Encyclical has received much publicity, but Protestants have drawn similar conclusions for some time. Here is an introduction.
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REIMAGINING AFRICAN INITIATIVES: MANI 2026
The Movement for African National Initiatives (MANI) gathered its continental family in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, from 9–13 March 2026 for a historic consultation—the first ever held in Francophone Africa, 25 years after MANI’s founding declaration in Jerusalem. The consultation’s theme, “Present and Future Realities, Challenges, and Prospects of the African Church,” framed a week of worship, discernment, and strategic conversation about Africa’s growing role in global mission. This is Jan Wessels’ perspective.
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REIMAGINING PASTORAL TRAINING: FORUM UPDATE
Alongside the expansion of the Church in the Majority World lies a crisis so urgent and spiritually consequential that it threatens to undermine the very foundations of its growth. This crisis is the overwhelming lack of accessible, affordable, and contextually grounded training for those called to shepherd these burgeoning congregations. This brief follow-up report presents findings from talks presented at the 2026 Online Forum concerning this topic as well as breakout room notes and subsequent submissions.
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REIMAGINING PASTORAL TRAINING: THE 90% CRISIS
Alongside the expansion of the Church in the Majority World lies a crisis so urgent and spiritually consequential that it threatens to undermine the very foundations of its growth. This crisis is the overwhelming lack of accessible, affordable, and contextually grounded training for those called to shepherd these burgeoning congregations. This essay presents pre-reading for an online forum where we will explore the issues further. A follow-up essay presenting findings from the forum will follow.
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LEADER’S MISSIONS FORECAST 2026
Mission Commission Co-Leader, Jamie Mātenga presents a missions forecast warning against toxic utilitarianism as a threat to global stability, a narrow-minded view of national wellbeing, and a multi-faceted problem for those of us seeking to fulfil the purposes of God internationally. While positive Kingdom growth is evident, the demise of philanthropy, trauma of tribalism, lack of theological education, and impact of migration frame a future of missions that will be significantly intertwined with the rise of AI.
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REIMAGINING MISSIONS: THE CHURCH AS A MOVEMENT
In early 2025, a team of nine scholars and practitioners drafted the statement, “Reactivating the Church as a Movement”. Feedback from within the Motus Dei Network sharpened the language, clarified terms, and strengthened its biblical and cross-cultural grounding. With additional input from a symposium in May, the statement was is finished in September and now published. This essay is an introduction to the statement with links to find it.
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REIMAGINING MISSIONS: MAJORITY WORLD MISSIOLOGY
A personal reflection based on participating, observing, and listening to different voices at the Majority World Christian Leaders Conversation conference held in Dubai, 8 – 12 September, 2025 under the theme, “Rethinking Christian Faith and Mission: A Majority World Conversation”. The conference addressed four themes: Identity, Holy Spirit, Mission, and Disicpleship, and in this essay Dr Israel Olofinjana presents some of his thinking from the discussions around each theme.
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REIMAGINING MISSIONS: LEADING FROM BELOW
We are excited to announce the release of our elder, Dr William D. (Bill) Taylor’s latest book: “Leading From Below: Lessons from the Crucible of Global Mission“. Known as “Uncle Bill” to some of us, this new book reveals insights learned from six decades of cross-cultural ministry and decades of WEAMC development. To introduce the volume to you, this essay features excerpts from Bill’s introduction and the entire afterword from MC Executive Director (now Co-Leader), Dr. Jamie (Jay) Mātenga.
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REIMAGINING MISSIONS: OVERCOMING SELF FOCUS
Church Planting Movements (CPMs) continue to be critiqued even as they continue to grow and flourish. More often than not, the critique is the result of contextual bias. Here, Dave Coles presents a corrective response to a Sept. 2024 Lausanne Global Analysis article by Dr David Williams.
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REIMAGINING MISSIONS: PARADIGMS PATHS & PARTNERSHIPS
In an era of great change in the global missions community the experience of one large group can be instructive as we seek to navigate well into the future. In this essay Kirk Franklin (PhD) shares the case study of what became the Wycliffe Global Alliance and what we can all learn from their journey.
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REIMAGINING MISSIONS: SE AFRICAN RESILIENCE IN CRISIS
MC Deputy Leader, Adriaan Adams led a 72-day research trip across Southeast Africa to better understand contextual approaches and responses to crises. In this post we reveal key findings and practical steps to help church and organisational leaders build more resilient communities for God’s glory.
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REIMAGINING MISSIONS: EVERYONE TO EVERYWHERE
A group of missions leaders from the Majority World met immediately following Lausanne 4 under the banner of a new movement with the acronym COALA. This essay is MC Executive Director Jay Mātenga’s presentation to that forum, calling for a rethink on the concept of “polycentric missions”.
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