From Haiti mission teams to companion churches in Kenya, congregations everywhere are breaking through walls of difference and engaging in mission that transforms lives around the world, around the corner, and in the pews. And they're not waiting for a national church body to lead the movement.
In this stimulating work, Titus Presler has listened closely to church leaders and activists within and beyond the Anglican fold, and then mined his own rich experience as a scholar, priest and leader in global mission efforts. The result is a book that equips congregations with theological background for building mutual relationships across borders of difference, even as it explores fresh models and practical tools for joining and participating in God's mission.
Titus Presler, ThD, is a missiologist focusing on mission theology, gospel-culture interactions and church mission practice. With focused experience in Zimbabwe and India, he has taught mission at Seminary of the Southwest, where he was president, and General Seminary, where he was academic dean. He was a researcher with the Global Anglicanism Project and is a consultant for the Anglican Indaba Project. He has taught at Harvard Divinity School, Episcopal Divinity School, and Gaul Theological College in Harare. Currently pastoring the Church of St. Simon the Cyrenian in New Rochelle, N.Y., he has pastored urban congregations engaged in local, regional and churchwide mission.
“The West still has a long way to go to keep pace with Christianity’s contemporary expansion and expression in the post-Western world. The religion with which the West has long been familiar has taken a surprisingly fresh, invigorating turn in our age, with evidence of it now virtually on our doorsteps in the United States and elsewhere. A theologian of the church, Titus Presler has plotted with apt anecdote and testimony the contours of this fact, expressed in terms of what he calls the seven marks of the mission companion. His book is an exploration of what God does as an essential way of understanding who God is. I welcome the book as a valuable contribution to the intercultural dynamics of the churches’ contemporary encounter with society and culture in their unity and difference.” – Lamin Sanneh, Professor of World Christianity and History, Yale University “If God’s mission begins with difference and ends with reconciliation, this book provides a roadmap for the journey. Presler links theological insights with stories of mission workers from around the globe, creatively engaging issues for Christian mission in our interconnected world and issuing a call to cooperation and reconciliation”. – Frances S. Adeney, Professor of Evangelism and Global Mission at Louisville Presbyterian Seminary “Titus Presler gives us thoughtful, incisive language and helps us to articulate, embrace and celebrate “ministry in the dimension of difference.” In this culturally fluid time, his book contributes to the vocabulary and courage we need to participate fully and joyfully in God’s reconciling work.” – Bishop John Schleicher, North/West Lower Michigan Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America “A powerful and persuasive book, packed with good things. It begins by showing us what has been happening to the Church while our back was turned. It goes on to unpack the biblical realities about our present mission and purpose. It concludes with a glorious vision of the City of God that calls us adoration and to action. Not to be missed.” – Andrew F. Walls, University of Edinburgh, Liverpool Hope University and Akrofi-Christaller Cente, Ghana “Titus Presler, noted mission scholar and gifted communicator, shows us mission work at its best in this immensely fresh and truly inspiring comprehensive analysis of the new contours of the global realities of God’s mission. Going Global with God takes us on a fascinating journey around the world, and through history to the present day, giving us the privilege of listening in on divinely connected relationships. This broad and insightful perspective opens our eyes, enlarges our vision, enriches our understanding, stimulates our compassion and entices us into involvement in God’s global mosaic of mission in the 21st century. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in participating in God’s global work. Timely!” – Paul-Gordon Chandler, Episcopal priest, interfaith advocate and mission partner of the Episcopal Church serving in the Middle East, plus author of Pilgrims of Christ on the Muslim Road: Exploring a New Path Between Two Faiths. "In this wide-ranging and challenging book, Titus Presler describes the changing shape of mission activity in a less institutionalised and more differentiated world. His emphases on being sent by God, on seeking reconciliation across the differences, and on mission as companionship and pilgrimage, are vital if we are to avoid reinventing the more colonial aspects of mission but in a new guise." –Bishop Michael Doe, General Secretary of the USPG "This book will help two kinds of readers: those who ask quizzically, 'Does the Church still do mission?', and those still reeling from a missionary encounter who ask, 'What was that all about?'" –Richard J. Jones, Professor Emeritus of Mission World Religions, Virginia Theological Seminary
