Writing in the November 2014 edition of the International Review of Mission (the WCC journal on mission) Prof. Dimitra Koukoura says, “Christ’s commandment for the evangelization of the nations, which also clearly applies to re-evangelization, reveals two aims: catechesis and baptism (Matt. 18:19). The first is the departure of the faithful from the community to meet the nations and pass on the good news: Christ God “has led us from death to life and from earth to heaven. The second is the voluntary entrance into the church of anyone who will believe in the life-giving truth.” Professor Koukoura has been a delegate at both the 2013 and 2014 LOI Consultations.
Professor Koukoura’s article, “Evangelism in ‘Christian’ Societies: An Orthodox Homiletic Approach” appears in the November 2014 edition of the IMR which takes up the theme of ‘Evangelism as Discipleship’. Guest editor Kyriaki Avtzi writes, “Evangelism and discipleship are intrinsically related, being at the heart of God’s mission and of the missional identity of every local church. Evangelism is itself the invitation to discipleship” and later, “The idea of ‘evangelism as discipleship’ points to and impels the rediscovery of God’s mission for the fullness of life. For evangelism to be transformative, it needs to embrace all the dimensions of our existence.”
The volume also includes interesting articles by Kenneth Ross (one of the key leaders of the Edinburgh 2010 process), Byung Joon Churg (reflecting on the growth and decline of the Korean Protestant Church), Judith Roberts (looking at how discipleship relates to marginalisation) and Brother Jasper of Taizé (on transmitting the message of the gospel to youth). There are also articles by other leading Roman Catholic (Stephen Bevans) and Orthodox (Kondothra George) scholars. Prof. Kondothra M George’s article develops an interesting Eucharistic Missiology which draws on historical precedent as well as his own context of South India.