Forum Theme

In the late 20th century, an increasing number of people, especially from the Majority World, started to reclaim and reimagine the concept of “mission”, seeking to be faithful to the witness of the early Church and the Biblical text. These people recognized that the colonial and missionary histories of North America and Europe had often reduced and relegated the concept of “mission” to the kind of verbal evangelism done by a small segment of the Church, crossing borders typically from the “Global North” to the “Global South.” This limited missionary imagination impeded a holistic understanding and witness of the gospel (i.e., Integral Mission), which involves the whole Church, embodying God’s kingdom in word and deed in every aspect of life on earth, as she dwells in and expands to and from all corners of the earth.

“Mission as transformation” emerged as a generative concept, reminding Christ-followers that they are sent into the world to live as Jesus did, transforming their contexts to reflect God’s purposes. These were the foundations of INFEMIT. Over time, this missionary vision has grown and nourished people and faith communities across the world, as it has also gained many “enemies” among those who insist on the primacy of gospel proclamation over its embodied witness. At the same time, questions have emerged among the younger generations, as the realities of our contexts and our languages shift. Are “mission” and “transformation” still useful ideas? And what kind of imagination is needed to shape our understanding and practice amidst the issues we now face?

For INFEMIT’s next Stott-Bediako Forum, we will reflect on this history and these emerging questions as we consider “Transformation’s” contemporary relevance. We seek to revisit these ideas, not to rehash and justify a term, but with an imaginative approach, to see what creative visions are needed to generate faithful gospel witness in our world today. We invite you to join us as we reflect and respond together to Transformation Revisited: Mission and Gospel Imagination.

Some topics that we will be exploring in relation to this theme are:

Gospel Imagination

Transformation and Mission Revisited

God’s Future: A Fresh Eschatology in Missiological Perspective

Culture-making and Mission

Contemporary Responses to Missiological Challenges

Society Transformation in the Biblical Story

Art as Language of Imagination

Contribute to the Forum

We welcome proposals for contributions to this Stott-Bediako Forum! We invite artists, theologians, and practitioners; young and senior leaders; and people from any region of the world to submit their proposals for consideration. (Participants unable to attend the forum in Colombia can still offer contributions for online conversation after the main event).

At the core of INFEMIT’s identity is a commitment that theology is the practice of the whole Church; it takes on diverse forms and intertwines reflection and practice. We encourage creative submissions to the forum, which might include narrative, poetry, liturgy, multimedia, and visual arts, as well as articles.

Contributions should clearly connect to the general forum theme and one or more of the topics mentioned above. Please also keep in mind that you will likely need to prepare two things: your contribution and the presentation that accompanies it (you may not simply read your paper). For further instructions and to submit a proposal, go to the following form.

Proposals are due by April 10th.