Scott Sunquist. Understanding Christian Mission: Participation in Suffering and Glory. Baker Academic, 2013.
One of the most important and
exciting changes in theological education today is the growth and proliferation
of the field of missiology. Missiology is one of those technical, academic
words that simply means “the study of mission.” When I attended Pittsburgh
Theological Seminary long ago in the 1980s I never had a course, nor do I
believe one was offered, focusing of world mission and global Christianity.
This actually is surprising given the heritage of the Presbyterian Church and
our massive contributions to what was called foreign mission. The Presbyterians
were a driving force during the heyday of the missionary movement in the era
between the Civil War and the First World War. I am convinced that the future
viability of our Presbyterian Church (USA) is closely tied to our ability to
create close partnerships with churches all around the world. The study today
of Christian mission is an important bright spot in the Church. Today it is
very common for our theological seminaries to have full professors in world
mission and global Christianity.
Long after I left Pittsburgh
Seminary a full professorship in world mission was created and Scott Sunquist,
a PC(USA) Teaching Elder, joined the faculty. Sunquist recently moved to one of the
premier academic positions in the field of mission studies. He is now the Dean
of the School of Intercultural Studies
