Preface and evaluation of the life of one of the greatest contemporary missionaries of the Orthodox Church.
See Full PDF See Full PDFThe article traces the perspectives and the predicaments of the missionary work of the Orthodox churches today. Two particular problems are brought to the fore: The poorness of mission studies and certain problems in the concept of the " missionary " local church. The article puts emphasis upon the need for sound studies, beyond outdated stereotypes, and upon the task that the voice of the young churches in the Third World is heard by the global Orthodoxy.
Download Free PDF View PDF
Most African Independently Instituted Churches were formed after the Africans rebelled against the missionaries and hence started their African led churches. Such African churches had no clergy to serve them and therefore sort for someone to ordain their clergy. The first among such ordained clergy had much to do if such churches would succeed. The African Orthodox Church of Kenya was founded after the later to be Orthodox Christians left the Scottish missionaries led church in Central Kenya in 1929. The later Bishop George Arthur Gatungu Gathuna is the first clergy of this church, and thus much of what this church became was his doing. The Orthodox practice is set that the founders and major contributors of a church are elevated to a certain level of sainthood if not recognized for their spiritual contribution, and given titles like Apostle or Enlightener of the region they were involved in bringing Christianity or Orthodoxy. Unfortunately, this has not happened to the clergymen that were highly involved in the formation of Orthodoxy in East Africa. This paper seeks to unveil the biography, the spirituality, the missionary endeavors and the mission legacy of Bishop George Gathuna of Kenya as part of the history of the Orthodox Church in Kenya, and at the same time portray why he so much deserves an ecclesial recognition of some sort, having been highly instrumental in the founding and developing of the canonical Orthodox faith in Kenya and yet not been glorified/canonized/recognized by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa.
Download Free PDF View PDF
International Bulletin of Mission Research
Download Free PDF View PDF
The future and success of mission work is fundamentally determined by a proper understanding and implementation of an appropriate vision and strategy to the work. The study is an exploration of the historical-missiological account of Church of Christ‟s mission work in Zimbabwe, focusing specifically on the church‟s vision and strategy at Mashoko Mission from 1956 to 217. This study utilizes approaches such as: phenomenological approach and theological critical approach but it bears a greater inclination to historical-missiological critical approach. Through these approaches and application of an assortment of research tools including drawing information from primary sources; secondary sources; church archives and researcher observation, the study uncovers a number of issues in the missionary vision and strategy of the Church of Christ at Mashoko Mission in relation to some key missiological conceptualizations. The key missiological frameworks delineated are: the concept of missio Dei; contextualization and restoration. The account briefly follows the history of the origins of the Church of Christ up to a time when it landed on the African soil. The research goes on to trace the early history of the Church of Christ in Zimbabwean soil till the establishment of Mashoko Mission station. The account unearth and gives a reflective supposition on the vision and strategy behind the missionary work at Mashoko mission.
Download Free PDF View PDF
