New centre for mission and migration at crucial time
CMS to launch Acts 11 Project: Centre for Global Witness and Human Migration
Photo: Professor Jehu J Hanciles is the keynote speaker at the upcoming Acts 11 launch conference
At a time when the UK is still reeling after violent protests against immigration in cities and towns across the country, Church Mission Society (CMS) is urging Christians to take a different approach and reach out to migrant communities with love and faith.
Dr Harvey Kwiyani, Diaspora Centre leader for CMS, said; “CMS recognises that the world is experiencing an ‘Age of Migration’ where globally one in every 30 of the earth’s population are migrants. However, until now migration has not been an integral part of mission and Christian communities are not equipped to reach out and share their faith with strangers in a world where migration and tensions are on the rise.”
In response to this uncertainty over how to engage with migrants, a new centre for mission that will help educate and equip Christian communities reach out to migrants is to be launched by CMS, as part of its long-term vision to reach people at “the edges” with the Good News of Jesus. Central to this vision is this first-of-a-kind education centre, tasked with helping Christian communities to imagine and embrace hospitable mission in a world where migration is on the rise. The centre will also focus on preparing Christian migrants for effective witness wherever they migrate. The new centre will be named The Acts 11 Centre, reflecting the biblical account of the first believers migrating from Judea.
Dr Harvey Kwiyani, the inspiration behind the new centre, said; “The explosion of migration globally over the last 25 years has prompted a reassessment of how we prepare Christians to engage with migrant communities, as well as how we equip and enable migrant Christians to share their faith.”
Initially, the centre will offer theological and missiological resources, practical seminars, courses and conferences on global witness and human migration. In addition, the centre will help create and curate resources for Christian communities, mission agencies, and academic institutions interested in reaching migrants around the world, and research opportunities and challenges that emerge for followers of Christ in the current context of global migration.
To launch this new initiative CMS is running a ground-breaking conference to examine the missiological and theological issues around migration. Titled Acts 11: Convergence 1, the conference takes place from 26 to 27 September 2024 at CMS’s offices in Oxford. Professor of World Christianity, Dr Jehu J Hanciles, from Emory University in Atlanta will deliver the keynote address.
Dr Kwiyani explained; “Our vision is to gather people and share resources to equip and empower the Body of Christ to effectively bear witness for his name in the age of migration. We are committed to helping Christian communities share the Good News with the migrants who come to their neighbourhoods and to empowering Christian migrants to engage in disciple-making in their new host societies. Migrants are often at the edges of society, but we believe they come bearing God with them.”
More information is available at churchmissionsociety.org/acts11
