In May 2009, thirty-five theologians from Asia, Africa, and Europe met in Wuppertal, Germany, for a consultation on mission theology organized by the United Evangelical Mission: Communion of 35 Churches in Three Continents. The aim was to participate in the one-hundredth anniversary of the Edinburgh conference through a study process and to reflect on the challenges for mission in the twenty-first century. The papers in this book are drawn from those delivered at the Wuppertal consultation. In some cases, short responses by one or two consultation participants were added to highlight the discussions that followed.
The conference organizers had decided not to invite renowned experts but to have an open-invitation call for papers so practicing mission experts not yet well known would have an opportunity to share their expertise. They decided not to predetermine a theme or motto for the consultation but to allow various themes on mission to emerge from the papers themselves and thus to allow wide-ranging discussion. Indeed the papers were varied; each drew strong reactions, lively and even controversial debates. The conference delegates were able to discover common concerns transcending very different contexts. Nevertheless, the varied voices collected in this anthology have much in common: even where they are most theoretical, it is obvious that all contributors come from missionary practice and bring their contextual experiences.
