Hope in Times of Crisis

The running theme of crisis across the last few posts might well have aroused suspicions among attentive readers of this blog. Now it is time to come clean – yes, there is a book brewing around the theme of our contemporary crisis. 

Its origins go back to a World Council of Churches study process in which I was part of a steering group along with Marina Ngursangzeli Behera, Michael Biehl and Risto Jukko. Our task was to take account of the centenary of the formation of the International Missionary Council in 1921 (arguably the first step in the process that created the WCC). 

The study process finished with some successful publications in 2022. But the four of us found that we had not finished. We were still wrestling in our minds with the themes that had energised the study process – and especially with the question of how to relate them to the crisis of our own time. This wrestling is now coming to expression in the form of a book – Hope in Times of Crisis: Reimagining Ecumenical Mission. Details to follow!

As the last few posts have suggested, we have been struggling with some overwhelming crises. These do not allow for any easy optimism. The clouds above us are too dark and threatening, and the storms already too devastating in many contexts, to allow for any glib confidence that a positive outcome is on the horizon. 

Where we did find hope, however, is in regard to the retrieval and deployment of the ecumenical mission tradition. We have attempted to review this particular stream of thinking and action in a spirit of metanoia (repentance), recognizing that churches and missions have often been part of the problem. Yet we find that the unprecedented collaboration in the interests of Christian witness that developed during the 20^th century includes strands that hold enduring value and contemporary relevance. 

And we have been inspired by elements of renewal in thinking about mission—cherishing of life, environmental responsibility, action for justice, deepening of spirituality. Taken together, we propose that these open up a fresh vision of human identity and vocation that can be a vital resource in meeting the crisis of our times in hope.