For the past two years Israel Olofinjana has been involved in a book project with two other editors (Usha Reifsnider and David Wise). The book is called Polyphonic God: Explorations of Intercultural Theology, Churches and Justice. The book launch is on the 7th of August 7pm UK time online. For details of how to register please use this link. You can read the original article and buy the book here.
Israel Olofinjana considers the terminology we use when we talk about the work of the Church and related organisations.
One of the recent dynamics in the UK I have been reflecting on in the last few months is the separation of the emergence of the intercultural church movement from the mission movement and racial justice advocates. This reflection was prompted by attending different gatherings and consultations related to mission, intercultural church and racial justice. Let me give examples of what I am trying to articulate.
I spoke at a conference organized by Churches Together in England (CTE) in collaboration with Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI) and Society for Ecumenical Studies. This brought together around 80 people from different denominations that would locate their church traditions within the evangelical and ecumenical spaces. There were Catholics, Orthodox, Pentecostals and Charismatics attending. The theme was ‘The Gift of my Neighbour: Learning from Diaspora Communities’ and the thrust of the conference was addressing justice issues from African and Caribbean experiences. It considered racial and climate justice concerns from a theological and ecclesiological perspective. Although it must be mentioned that this conference coincided with another, an Intercultural Festival organized by Intercultural Churches in Coventry, as I looked around the room, I wished we had people from mission organizations in the room and would also have hoped for more people from the intercultural church movement.
Before this particular conference, I had attended two very different yet connected gatherings. The first was in Oxford with senior mission and church leaders in the UK meeting with a delegation of senior church and mission leaders from South Korea to strategize about how we can collaborate in mission. The second was an Intercultural Leadership Forum hosted at London City Mission (LCM). This involved yet more different church and organizational leaders with some form of expertise around intercultural church, discussing why the intercultural church conversation is usually separate from the racial justice discussions.
My reflection from these gatherings has led me to wonder why the mission movement is separate from the intercultural church conversation as well as the racial justice discussions. Is there something fundamentally wrong in our missiology? Could it be that our understanding of mission is still largely dichotomized and not fully integrated properly?
Before I begin to suggest a solution and a way forward, what are some of the reasons for this artificial separation of mission, intercultural church and racial justice? These are not exhaustive, but a few to highlight the issues at hand.
First is, perhaps, our understanding of mission. I think that, somehow, in some expressions of the UK church, we have reduced the notion of mission to either evangelism or something we do overseas. In both scenarios, we do not centre racial justice concerns or the need for an intercultural church. Surely, God’s mission is intercultural, with his character of justice imprinted on the DNA of mission? While some mission organizations and agencies have adapted their mission methods to integrate intercultural mission through a cross-cultural lens and some racial justice, nevertheless intercultural church and racial justice remains on the fringe of strategy of many mission organizations and agencies.
Second is that the emerging intercultural church movement in the UK has developed among churches and church networks rather than within mission agencies and organizations. Therefore, mission organizations and agencies are finding themselves playing catch-up to these developing conversations. I suspect that the shift in mission, from many churches supporting mission organizations doing mission overseas to churches doing mission on their doorstep, has resulted in many churches grappling with the reality of multicultural Britain. The consequence being that mission organizations, still with a predominance of mission focus overseas, have not wrestled with this development and therefore not prepared for it adequately. Again, as mentioned above, some mission organizations have adjusted to this shift better than others.
Lastly, and this is perhaps a theological and a hermeneutical issue, I have observed that most of the activists engaging in racial justice concerns are drawn from the liberal or progressive end of the UK church, while those involved in the intercultural church movement and mission organizations are drawn mostly from within the evangelical stream. The effect of this is that you could almost predict who will attend certain gatherings and conferences depending on who is organizing and what themes are being discussed. There are few people and organizations that cross over and intersect all three, but those that do, do so tirelessly at their own expense.
So how do we move forward in integrating mission, intercultural church and racial justice? First, by creating spaces to have conversation on the issues concerned. Part of the intent of the Intercultural Leadership Forum we hosted at London City Mission was to have honest conversation around why the emerging intercultural church movement is separate from the racial justice advocates in our churches. It was a fruitful discussion but it is only the beginning: we need more.
Second is the need for mission organizations and agencies to work more closely with the church. While I am aware of efforts of many within mission organizations to try and close the gap between church and mission world, it is now of paramount importance for more mission organizations if they are going to be relevant in these emerging intercultural church conversations.
Lastly is the need for the UK church to develop a theology that intersects all three areas, drawing on different voices. This is why this new book, Polyphonic God: Exploring Intercultural Theology, Churches and Justice, edited by me, Usha Reifsnider and David Wise, is a crucial addition to the conversation. It brings together the emerging intercultural church movement with racial justice concerns and activists by advocating for intercultural justice in our churches and society. It also achieves this by including different voices as contributors to the book, drawing on intercultural, interdenominational and intergenerational voices. I hope it bears fruit.
–
Israel Olofinjana is Director of the One People Commission of the Evangelical Alliance.
He is the co-editor, with Usha Reifsnider and David Wise, of Polyphonic God, which is published this month and can be pre-ordered here (with 20% off all pre-orders in July 2025)
