Forging a Multinational Global Missionary Force

by David Charles Birner
June 1st, 2010
The pace of twenty-first century global change, along with shifting social, economic, and cultural paradigms are shaking and challenging unspoken organizational presuppositions of a one hundred seventy-year-old Lutheran denominational mission agency. This dissertation argues that certain God-given characteristics are embedded in scattered communities of German immigrant origin, which contain a core ideology and missiological principles that can serve as the catalyst to form a coalition of multinational Lutheran churches. The research reveals common threads of shared heritage that continue to resonate in Lutheran communities after nearly two centuries, despite differing cultural identities. Furthermore, the process of discovering a common core identity can prepare these communities and their mission practitioners to embrace uncertainty and change together in ways that enable them to respond to mission challenges and opportunities on a global scale.

This document presents a blended historical and contemporary global context and explores a scripturally-based theological framework of reassurance for Christian communities of the future. The practical application of research and inquiry methodology emphasizes an integrated, collaborative process by which transformational leaders might create an environment to nurture the birth of a multinational global missionary force for the twenty-first century.