Missiology

by Deborah Strong

Missiology comes from the Latin verb mitto, meaning to send, and the Greek word logos, meaning study. From this, we derive the meaning of missiology as a “study of mission.” Missiology is the academic study of missions, mission, and missio Dei. Missions is the specific work of the church, agencies and missionaries in reaching people for Christ by crossing cultural boundaries. Mission refers to everything the church is doing that points toward the kingdom of God.1 Missio Dei is Latin for “the sending of God.” Its central idea is that God is the one who initiates and sustains mission. Mission is a God-centered enterprise in which the church is privileged to participate. The church is God’s partner in His agenda. Mssio Dei is a comprehensive term encompassing everything God does in relation to the kingdom and everything the church is sent to do on earth.2

A study of missiology prepares missionaries to partner with God’s purposes for evangelism, church planting, discipleship, leadership in churches, missions and parachurch ministries in cross-cultural contexts, whether on the mission fields of North America or the most unreached regions of the world. RCM’s missiology training program provides skills which lead to competence and confidence in situations in which the gospel message is presented cross-culturally. RCM seeks to impart to students a vision for multiplying leadership by training indigenous leaders to plant churches and lead their own evangelism movements, holistic ministries of compassion, and community development projects.

1 Carlos F. Cardoza-Orlandi, Mission: An Essential Guide (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2002), 31-48.
2 A. Scott Moreau, Gary R. Corwin, and Gary B. McGee, Introducing World Missions: A Biblical, Historical, and Practical Survey (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2004), 73.

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