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Abstract

As a result of the modern ecumenical movement, the majority of Christian traditions today recognize—at least to some degree—that an intrinsic link exists in the gospel between the church’s visible unity and its effective witness (John 17:21). But in recent decades, the field of mission theology has largely fallen silent on matters of Christian unity and disunity. This address examines this notable circumstance while surfacing older, twentieth-century missiological voices for whom unity and mission were more strongly linked. What those older voices correctly discerned in their day is just as true in ours: fostering greater Christian unity is integral to mission. Therefore, to serve God’s mission fully, mission theology needs to recover a more explicitly ecumenical vision and commitment. Acting on that commitment will require, in turn, a more ecclesial view of mission and a more robustly ecclesiological missiology. In the practice of mission, moreover, it will require renewed Christian hope in the prospects of ecumenism as well as a greater emphasis on grassroots initiatives.

Keywords

mission theology Christian unity ecumenism ecclesiology Vatican II Lausanne Movement Lesslie Newbigin Pope Francis

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Reclaiming Christian unity in the theology of mission

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