Missions in Contested Places/Spaces: The SPG, Slavery, and Codrington College, Barbados

Mentioning the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, a seminary, and slavery in the same breath seems incongruous. Nonetheless, within the account of Codrington College, Barbados, the Anglican Communion’s first theological college, we find these three inextricably linked. Using a historical-analytical approach, this paper reveals the troubling missionizing principles which advanced oppressive colonial structures, while failing to fully develop the personhood, agency, and full emancipation of the oppressed. We reassess the ways that particular top-down framings of Christianity and missions were used to enslave/oppress Afro-Barbadians, even under the guise of emancipation. Advocating instead for a framework centering emancipation from below, we outline the ways in which this historical account provides insight for contemporary missional hermeneutics/praxis that seeks to uproot racial and economic inequalities, thus pursuing liberation for all.

Nigerian Pentecostal Diasporic Missions and Intergenerational Conflicts: Case Studies from Amsterdam and London

Since the 1960s, African-led Pentecostal churches have flourished in the UK and Europe, often identifying the evangelisation of White indigenous populations as a key missiological aspiration. This desire has not yet been realised, although by numbers and social engagement, African Pentecostals are making their presence known and returning conversations on religion to the public sphere in Europe. This article, based on case studies in London and Amsterdam, departs from established scholarship on ‘reverse missions’ by arguing that intergenerational conflicts within Nigerian-initiated Pentecostal churches in Europe are a significant obstacle hindering their missional aims. This qualitative study focuses on second- and subsequent-generation Nigerian migrants and their perceptions of the missiological and religious activities of the first generation, exploring intergenerational conflicts relating to leadership; indigenous beliefs/practices; gender/cultural norms, and missiological approaches. It argues that addressing these points of conflict will be an important tool for the missional success of African Pentecostals in Europe.

The Prophetic Lens: A Missiological Function of Film for Black Social Movement from Martin Luther King, Jr. to the Camera Phone

Through technological advances and its democratization, the camera is found to have dual functionality. It is both a prophetic and a missiological tool used to awaken the collective conscience of a nation apathetic towards the Black experience and to offer a counter-narrative reorienting the US to becoming a more racially just society. This paper considers definitions of gospel, missions, and the prophetic, outlining a framework for how the camera functions in all three. It briefly explores the use of the camera from Martin Luther King, Jr., during the Civil Rights Movement, to the contemporary citizen with a camera phone, all capturing anti-Black violence. As we will see, like the parables of Jesus were to his kingdom message, the content of the camera has proven vital to acquiring justice by exposing the realities of racial injustice, confronting the status quo, and energising viewers to take positive action.