The Shifting Center of Christianity
Daniel J. Egeler, EdD, Vice President of ACSI Global
As I travel around the world, it’s clear that the center of Christianity is shifting or has already shifted. There has been explosive growth in the Christian faith in what is termed the global South—Africa, Asia, and Latin America—and this growth is now beginning to dwarf the bloc of Christians in Europe and North America.
What happens in Africa, Asia, and Latin America will now have a growing influence on what Christianity will be like worldwide. It is not difficult to predict that Christians will more and more take their cues from the parts of the world where Christianity is on the rise, where the churches are becoming movers and shapers in society rather than declining, and where critical and compelling, life-and-death struggles abound. This is where the main stage for Christianity is today, where the average Christians live and give witness.
With the realization that the center of Christianity has already shifted to the global South and that this tectonic shift will only accelerate in the next decade, it is quite obvious that this shift will also impact the global Christian schooling movement, with the center of Christian schooling following the overall shift of Christianity to the global South. In many ways, this is the “second wave” of missions. God has blessed the church-planting efforts of the global North so that the “daughter” has now grown taller than the mother. Now, the church in the global South wants to train up their children in “the way they should go” and to “teach the nations” through Christian schooling. This secondary (and unplanned) movement will also surpass the movement of the global North.
Will those within the worldwide Christian schooling movement stand on the sidelines and wave while the parade of nations passes by, or will we step into the parade and share our resources and wisdom of experience with those just beginning their journey? ACSI has made a commitment to step into this parade, and we are aggressively identifying, equipping, and empowering top Christian school leadership in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. It is critically important to have ACSI leadership that is representative of the people that they serve as they understand the culture and language and have the expertise to strengthen Christian schooling movements that are relevant to their cultural contexts.
Read More:
Stuart Salazar—Latin America
Janet Nason—Asia, Philippines, and Indonesia
Alan Brown—Europe
Raymond Le Clair—The CIS and the Baltic States
Samson Makhado—South Africa
Mike Epp—International Schools—Europe, CIS, and Africa