Abstract
Encountering the History of Missions: From the Early Church to Today is the latest addition to the Encountering Mission Series edited by Scott Moreau. While Terry and Gallagher have not produced the detailed works of a LaTourette or Schnabel, they have provided an excellent compendium of mission history. The extensive reference list indicates the breadth of research included in a history book that is very readable and well organized.
While Encountering the History of Missions highlights the methodologies used in different eras and geographic locations, it does not ignore the authors of those methodologies. The luminaries of the last two thousand years of mission history are noted along with lesser lights that also played pivotal roles in expanding the Kingdom. Of note is that from era to era, the methodologies are very similar even as they are couched within the diverse cultural and social environments in which they unfold. While the positive results of the methodologies are revealed, the authors do not shy away from reviewing methodologies that had negative impacts on the expansion of the church.
In the main, personalities are highlighted, but the latter third of the book shifts from focusing on people to events and entities that helped shape missions in the last half of the twentieth century and on into the start of the twenty-first century. One disappointment in this section of the book is the five short paragraphs dedicated to the SVM, an event that saw the shift from Europe being the major seedbed of missionaries to North America taking up that mantle.
With very few exceptions, much of the statistics used in the book are at least ten years old. It would have been more helpful for a book published in 2017 to have updated those statistics to more current data readily available through a quick search of pertinent internet sites.
Nevertheless, Encountering the History of Missions would well serve those interested in church history and especially history of mission professors seeking more recent scholarship. Sidebars in each segment are helpful in promoting group reflection and discussion. The chapters on encountering Celtic missions and encountering Moravian missions are worth the price of the book! The book’s other 16 chapters likewise offer an excellent and concise history of missions and should be on the shelves of every serious missions professor or church historian.