Missiology has always been inspired by soteriology, that is, Christian views of salvation. However, little is known about the actual soteriological beliefs of missionary practitioners. This article is an explorative qualitative study of soteriological beliefs among Dutch Protestant ministers who work in pioneer settings (N=20) and established churches (N=40). Our research shows that, contrary to what might be expected, these two groups (termed ‘pioneers’ and ‘pastors’) are very much alike with regard to their soteriological beliefs. The majority are convinced of the uniqueness of Jesus, and the connection of salvation with God and/or Jesus – even if this salvation is often expressed in immanent terms. Only two differences have been found between pastors and pioneers. Pioneers experience more challenges in communicating the uniqueness of Christianity and they are more likely to have traditional views of ‘eternal lostness’.
The Lectorate Theology of the CHE focusses on the interpretation and communication of ‘salvation’ within new faith communities. The goal of the Lectorate is to find new ways for contextualizing the Gospel in our secular society, through investigating theologies and processes of sense-making in emerging faith communities. One of the current research projects is ‘Heeft meedoen zin?’ (‘Does it make sense to participate?’), a practical-theological research in six faith communities in the Netherlands. In each community six carefully selected participants were interviewed. In this project we try to find an answer to the following questions: What do participants of pioneering faith communities experience of (the) good life when they get involved? In what ways is participation meaningful to them? What lessons can we learn from their experiences for mission in the West? To map the answers of participants, we developed a holistic research model with eight dimensions of meaning. This ‘Compass of Meaning’ is based on a holistic interpretation of salvation, as well as on modern perspectives in social sciences and healthcare. In this short paper we introduce this model and its backgrounds. In our presentation at the Conference, we will share the first results of our research. We invite you to reflect critically on the validity of our model and to help us interpret the first results.
Het tijdschrift Handelingen kent de rubriek ‘literatuuroverzichten’. Daarin wordt voor verschillende disciplines een overzicht gegeven van verschenen publicaties. Sake Stoppels schrijft al jaren de literatuuroverzichten op het terrein van gemeenteopbouw. In dit overzicht over de periode 2020-2023 bespreekt hij publicaties op het gebied van missionair kerk-zijn.
