Vol. 24 (2010)

How does the church’s call to bear witness to the gospel express itself in places of suffering? This question served as the guiding theme for members of the Academy for Evangelism in Theological Education in October of 2008. And to place ourselves in a context conducive to such a topic, we met in New Orleans, where one of the most devastating disasters in United States history took place just three years prior.

Monuments of Hurricane Katrina’s destruction were still on display—impassable roads, half-destroyed buildings, whole sections of once thriving communities now abandoned. Some areas were worse than others. We took the time to walk through several neighborhoods in the Lower Ninth Ward and were amazed at what we saw, even three and a half years after Katrina. Somebody explained to us that the big orange Xs on the doors of many of the un-restored homes marked places where casualties were found.

One image that I haven’t been able to shake was the inside of a sanctuary where it seemed like a bomb had gone off, mangling all the church furniture and hurling it viscously in all directions. I looked up the sanctuary’s high ceiling and saw chairs hooked onto the crystal light fixtures. We were told that these chairs were deposited there when the water receded. At one point then, this entire, magnificent cathedral was completely underwater. This house of God—a place where people came to worship, to learn the ways and purposes of God, to seek refuge from the storms of life— was submerged in destructive waters. I’m not sure why this scene left such a deep impression on me. Perhaps it symbolized the feeling that I imagined many people had during that time—that God had abandoned them.

So the question we asked about the gospel in places of suffering is a good one. How does one bear witness to the good news among traumatized, hurting people? The articles in this issue address this and other related themes from different angles. While some of the articles represent papers presented at the meeting, others do not.

The lead article, written by Catherine Williams, sets the stage by exploring the connection between the church’s mission and the Eucharist. How can the Table—the place where God regularly calls us to remember the sufferings of Christ on our behalf—be a truly welcoming place for sinners?

The next two articles explore the relationship between evangelism and social concern. Rick Richardson analyzes the delicate balance between the two in the context of college students involved in socially-active campus ministries. John Bowen clarifies the role that evangelization played in the highly lauded contextual and social work of missionary Vincent O’Donovan among the Maasai people in Tanzania. While both articles affirm the integration of word and deed ministries, they issue warnings, caveats, and practical considerations in the working out of the relationship between evangelism and social engagement.

The article by Samantha Schneider takes the theme in another direction by examining the intersection between trauma, theology and narrative theory. Those afflicted with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), asserts Schneider, do not need a narrative imposed upon them, even if that narrative is the Gospel. Instead, they must be given space to discover their own narratives within the larger story of God.

The last full length article, written by yours truly, turns the spotlight on the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies (OCMS) in Oxford, UK, an evangelical theological institution of higher education that was founded on a vision of the whole gospel. This article, presented at the 25th anniversary celebration of OCMS in 2008, offers a perspective of the role that theological education in general and OCMS in particular can play in the holistic missionary movement.

A new feature graces this issue—namely, an interview with an author of a recently published book on evangelism. To kick off Book Talk, the name of the new column, Dan Lebo asks a few questions to Paul Chilcote and Laceye Warner, the editors of an ambitious compilation of key articles on evangelism entitled, The Study of Evangelism: Exploring a Missional Practice of the Church (Eerdmans, 2007).

Long time readers of AETE’s annual journal will notice several other new features in this issue, the most obvious being the new name—Witness. Not to put too much responsibility on a single word, but does it not capture the essence of that to which members of AETE and readers of this journal are wholly committed? We are called to bear witness to the gospel in the world and do it faithfully, sensitively and effectively. The hope, of course, is that this journal will help us reflect more deeply upon this call.

The other new item is the editor. The vacancy of Art McPhee, the former editor, left some rather large shoes to fill. Thanks for your faithfulness and diligence these last few years, Art. I am grateful for the opportunity to serve AETE’s readers in this way.

Please let me know if something in these pages encourages you, raises a question and/or rubs you the wrong way. For what good are journals such as this if they do not generate dialogue and discussion between us?