Costas Consultation on Global Mission, 1990-2012

For the past quarter century the Boston Theological Institute has maintained an annual mission consultation honoring the name of Orlando E. Costas, former Academic Dean at Andover Newton Theological School.

These consultations have brought together scholars, students and mission-minded people from different walks of life. A glance at the keynote speakers and the topics of these consultations show the relevance of Costas’ mission principles as noted in the brief article about Costas (found below). The following consultations have been held:

• 1990-1991 Mission scholar Robert Schreiter at Catholic Theological Union in
 Chicago, conducted this consultation entitled Reconciliation, Mission and  Ministry In A Changing Social Order.

• 1991-1992 Mission scholar Christopher Duraisingh at Episcopal Divinity School conducted this consultation on Gospel and Culture.

• 1992-1993 Lamin Sanneh at Yale University conducted this consultation on
 the African Church.

• 1993-1994 Mission scholar Andrew Ross at the University of Edinburgh conducted this consultation on the History of the African Church.

• 1994-1995 Mission scholar Bishop Francisco Claver, S.J. from Malabalay in
 Philippines, conducted this consultation on Human Rights Agenda.

• 1995-1996 Mission scholars Elisabeth Lowe, Franklin and Gene Woo and
 Jean-Paul Wiest conducted this consultation on the Church in China.

• 1996-1997 Andrew Walls at the University of Edinburgh conducted this consultation on What, Whence, Whither? Understanding Mission Studies
 at the End of the 20th Century. At this consultation the first International Mission  and Ecumenism Certificate program was inaugurated.

• 1997-1998 Mission scholars Joan Campbell, Albert Pennybacker, J. Bryan Hehir and Kent Hill conducted this consultation on Religious Persecution.

• 1998-1999 In collaboration with the Andover Newton Theological School, mission scholars Vinay Samuel, Mary Motte and Eldin Villafañe conducted
 this tenth anniversary commemoration consultation on Costas. legacy.

• 1999-2000 Mission scholars Dana Robert, Bonnie Sue Lewis, Catherine B. Allen, Margaret Eletta Guider, OSF, Frances S. Adeney conducted this consultation on Missions and Gender.

• 2000-2001 Mission scholars Andy Crouch and Manda Bohannon conducted this consultation on Global Mission: Mission, Development and Justice.

• 2001-2002 Faculty and Friends of the Boston Theological Institute conducted this consultation on the coming church! the neXt-generation and global Christianity.

• 2002-2003 Mission scholars Calvin DeWitt, Marthinus Daneel and Roger Gottlieb conducted this consultation on EarthKeeping as a Dimension of Christian Mission: The Missiology and Spirituality of Earthkeeping.

• 2003-2004 Diana Aubourg, Iamni-Sheila Newsome-Camara, M. Shawn Copeland, David Daniels, Casely Essamuah, David Goatley, Glenn Mason, Oscar Pratt, Liz Walker, Alberta Ware, and Dennis Wiley conducted this consultation on The Lord Will Make a Way Somehow: Africa in the Global Witness of the Black Church.

• 2004-2005 Darrell L. Guder, Daniel Jeyaraj, and John B. Kauta. This consultation
 focused on this question: Is North America a Mission Field? What Does the  World Church Say?

• 2005-2006 Sathianathan Clarke, Susan Abraham, John Webster, Frederick Downs, Todd Johnson, Daniel Jeyaraj, and Rodney Petersen on the theme Castes, Tribes and Conversions: Christian Identities in India Today.

• 2006-2007 Philo Kim, Jung-Woon Suh, S. Steve Kang, Moonjang Lee, Hee An Choi, and Yim Hee-Mo on the theme Mission and Reconciliation in the Korean Church.

• 2007-2008 “The Violences of Global Commodification: Technology and Mission Proclamation, Social Justice and Global Engagement”; with Albert Borgmann; held at the Photonics Center, Boston University.

• 2008-2009 “Mission and Multiple Religious Identity”; with Joseph Montville and faculty from BTI schools; held at Episcopal Divinity School.

• 2009-2010 The “’Atlas of Global Christianity’”: The Road to Edinburgh 2010”; held at the Photonics Center, Boston University. Discussion and celebratory reception of this book edited by Kenneth R. Ross and Todd M. Johnson.

• 2010-2011 “Mission at the Borders: Encountering Migration in World Cinema”; with Suzanne Snyder, Ruth Bersin, and students held at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology.

• 2011-2012 “American Culture and the Missionary Enterprise: Acknowledging the 200th Anniversary  of the Judson Mission and the American Board  of Commissioners for Foreign Missions”; Various speakers: Todd Johnson, Margaret Bendroth, Clifford Putney, Garth Rosell, Allen Yeh, Mark Heim, Nimi Wariboko, Richard Pierard and student panels at Andover Newton Theological School and (as organized by GCTS) at Tabernacle Church, Salem. Held at Tabernacle Church, Salem, and at Andover Newton Theological School

These consultations have provided appropriate forums for scholars, students and others to reflect on Costas’ vision of the Whole world for the whole Gospel, especially in post-modern and post-Christian societies in the west, and other societies in non-western parts of the world. Particular attention has been given to those who remain “outside the gate,” “in Galilee” and “in the shantytown.”

Originally, Costas used these three images to explain the experiences of the mestizaje (desperate people) in the peripheries. Their experience stems not necessarily from their “personal sin,” but above all from the structural sin that causes “hunger, shortage of housing, [.] unemployment, poverty, los desaparecidos (the disappeared), torture, child abuse, wars, invasions, military threats, dictatorships, spiritual alienation, and so on.” Hence, Costas insisted that holistic salvation that is intensely personal has inescapable social relevance. It opposes all dehumanizing forces, and seeks to enhance the quality life for all people. The annual Costas Consultations, sponsored by the Boston Theological Institute, keep on reminding Christians to explore the Costas. multifaceted missiological insights and praxis.

Orlando Enrique Costas

Orlando Enrique Costas (June 15, 1942 . Nov. 5, 1987)5 was a well known Hispanic theologian. In 1957 he experienced the transforming power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and was ever since committed to preach the various aspects of this power. He served the churches across doctrinal, national, and cultural boundaries: he ministered to the Congregationalists, the Methodists, the Disciples of Christ, and the Baptists. He was convinced that denominational institutions have indeed their values and identities that should be used to communicate the message of Jesus Christ to wider communities. His Puerto Rican origin, training and work in several seminaries in the United States, his experience of the United States taking control of the Dominican Republic in 1965.19666 strengthened his commitment to work as a bridge-builder between peoples of various cultures.

Costas focused his work among those who were at the margins of society suffering oppression, neglect and exploitation. He believed that those Christians who derive their energy from biblical, theological, historical, and practical reflections are effective ministers. During the 1970s he lived intensely .as witness or participant in the flourishing of liberation theologies, the foundation and development of the Latin American Theological Fraternity, the launching and growth of the Lausanne movement, the development of the church growth movement, and the return of evangelism to the agenda of both the World Council of Churches and the Roman Catholic Church. (Escobar, 51 f.). He challenged the way mission-sending organizations in the west and the mission-receiving agencies in the Southern Hemisphere perceived each other. In his opinion, they should not view themselves as givers and receivers, but as equal partners participating in God’s mission.

Costas’ work in Amsterdam, Birmingham and Costa Rica enabled him to emphasize the fact that the whole Gospel should be preached to the whole world. He studied the cultures, institutions and structures of several societies, and tried to see how the Gospel of Jesus Christ could be presented to the people of these cultures in an authentic way. His work at the Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary (1980.1984) in Pennsylvania and at the Andover Newton Theological School in Massachusetts as the Adoniram Judson Chair of Missiology (1984.1987), and his outstanding book entitled Christ Outside the Gate (1982) contributed to new patterns of missiological thinking.

Plutarco Bonilla has identified other influential aspects of Costas. missiological thinking: missiology should be done .from the ground of commitment to the church; it made sense because it started with commitment to Jesus Christ; it was grounded in the human reality in which the church was immersed; it was carried on within the frame of ecumenicity; and it was done from a stance of commitment to those to whom Jesus Christ himself was committed. (as quoted in Escobar, 54). A brief survey of the bibliographical details pertaining to extensive writings by and on Costas, as provided by Elizabeth Conde-Frazier in this work, shows the breadth and width of Costas. interest and influence. His legacy continues to challenge mission thinkers and practioners alike.

See the extended material in The Antioch Agenda. Essays on the Restorative Church in Honor of Orlando E. Costas, Daniel Jeyaraj, Robert Pazmiño and Rodney L. Petersen, eds. (Delhi: ISPCK, 2007).