John Mackay’s Missional Vision

Abstract

Although the language of “missional church” emerges in American missiological discussion at the turn of the twentieth to the twenty-first century, its basic themes and concerns are anticipated in diverse ways by John Mackay, from the 1920s onward. Drawing from the rich but controversial tradition of the modern missionary movement, Mackay broadened and deepened the theological discussion of the church’s mission by positing the centrality of “ecumenics” as the study of Christianity as a global movement. Both his theological work and his practical engagement contribute constructively today to the missional initiatives that are seeking to address the challenges of God’s mission in post-Christian cultures of the West. As a theological educator, his pioneering work continues both to profoundly inform as well as provocatively critique the leadership formation undertaken by contemporary seminaries.