Lausanne Global Analysis 10, 1 (January 2021)

The latest issue of Lausanne Global Analysis, from The Lausanne Movement, is available online from here, including pdfs of individual articles as below.

Kirst Rievan

Uncovering Discrimination in Missions: Toward a ‘Third Culture’ of Oneness in Christ

As global church and mission leaders, we want to see diversity in our teams. But we also know how difficult it is to create teams where differences are not only tolerated, but warmly embraced. Kirst Rievan addresses the complex issue of unintentional discrimination in Christian organizations against staff and partners of different ethnicities, providing methods, the solution of a ‘third culture’, and penetrating questions for reflection.

Daewon Moon

Pentecostalism in African Christianity: The Formation and Scope of a Distinctive Spirituality

One particular church that is aware of the global nature of Christianity and what it means to be multicultural is the African Pentecostal church. Daewon Moon, Academic Dean at International Leadership University in Burundi, invites us to recognize ‘the remarkable emergence of Pentecostal churches in Africa’, celebrating its ‘experiential and spontaneous nature’.

Gladys Mwiti

Building Hope and Resilience in the COVID-19 Storm: Lament, Communities of Care, and the New Normal

It’s been almost a year since the outbreak of COVID-19, and many of us are feeling ‘Corona fatigue.’ Gladys Mwiti, Consulting Clinical Psychologist and Trauma Specialist, sensitively addresses some of the psychosocial impact of the pandemic and how holistic care for others and ourselves helps us build resilience and hope in the midst of the pandemic.

Ted Lankester

Faith, Health, and Collaborative Love: Pandemic Partnership for Health Professionals and the Church

All of us are wondering, what are the long-term impacts of COVID-19? Ted Lankester, President and Senior Clinician of Thrive Worldwide, considers this question in especially in the realm of global health and development. What would it look like for health professionals to partner with the church?

Theos Report on Faith and Belief in Universities

A new report from Theos has just been published:

Simon Perfect, Ben Ryan and Kristin Aune, Faith and Belief on Campus: Division and Cohesion. Exploring student faith and belief societies (London: Theos, 2019).

Here are some paragraphs from the Theos website:

‘Universities are a symbolic battleground in today’s debates about our shared values. They are accused on the one hand of restricting freedom of speech, and on the other of being hotbeds of extremism. Polling conducted by YouGov for Theos in January 2019 found that over half (52%) of British adults think freedom of speech is under threat in UK universities, and a sizable minority (29%) think “Islamic extremism” is common in them. As the places where our future leaders develop their values, how universities accommodate debate and diversity is a critically important issue for the health of our society.

‘This report considers these difficult matters through the eyes of students who attend faith and belief societies on campus. It finds that tensions and controversies over religion or belief issues do sometimes arise on campus, but these are exceptions to the norm of peaceful campus relations between different groups.

‘Faith and belief societies play hugely important roles on campus in building community, supporting students pastorally and spiritually, and driving social action. However, they often face challenges which limit the contribution they can make to campus life, including their capacity to build bridges across different groups. While they are strong sources of “bonding social capital”, building bonds among their own members, they are less effective at being sources of “bridging social capital” between groups. They need better resources and support from universities and students’ unions in order to meet their potential of being key sources of cohesion on campus.’

A summary of the report and its recommendations can be found here.

A pdf of the full report is available here.