In response to S2E5 – “Lesslie Newbigin’s Missionary Ecclesiology with Michael Goheen,” the Rev. Seth Richardson and the Rev. Shawn McCain reflect on their mutual appreciation for Lesslie Newbigin and his influence on the life and work of the Western Church.

In the original episode, Goheen explored his expertise on the life and work of Lesslie Newbigin, specifically focusing on his development of a missional ecclesiology for the West.

In this episode, Seth and Shawn shared the first time each of them heard of Newbigin, the first Newbigin book they ever read, and how it shifted their fundamental thoughts and attitudes toward mission and the Church.

Next, they discussed how syncretism has formed a new religion and how we must respond when the essential nature of the Church has been compromised.

From there, Shawn and Seth talked about how Newbigin’s model helps us with contextualization, and how to navigate the church’s history of enforcing power over others.

Shawn and Seth concluded by reflecting on the nature of mission, and how God’s people do the work of contextualization in obedience to the Spirit.

Resources Mentioned:

• Church and Its Vocation: Lesslie Newbigin’s Missionary Ecclesiology by Michael Goheen (with introduction by N.T. Wright)
• Lesslie Newbigin books mentioned in the podcast: The Gospel and the Pluralist Society and Foolishness to the Greeks. Find them here.
• A couple of works (and their intros) engaging Newbigin’s work:
  • Krish Kandiah’s thesis: “Towards a Theology of Evangelism for Late-modern Cultures: A Critical Dialogue with Lesslie Newbigin’s Doctrine of Revelation,” Find it here.
  • Geoffrey Wainwright’s Lesslie Newbigin: A Theological Life.
• The 2019 Intersection Conference. Learn more and register.

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