Lutheran Mission Matters Call for Papers
May 2024

"The Church's Mission? The Mission's Church?"

The editorial committee of Lutheran Mission Matters (LMM), formerly Missio Apostolica, invites you to submit an article for the Spring 2024 issue on the chosen theme, “The Church’s Mission? The Mission’s Church?”

One might think after 2000 years of participation in and pious reflection upon the Mission of God (missio Dei) we, the members of our Lord’s Church, would fully understand the relationship between the mission and the church. Yet questions still abound:  What is the Mission Dei?  What is the church’s role in it?  Is it God’s mission, the church’s mission or both?

On the question of how “church” and “mission” are connected, Christopher Wright has said, “It is not so much the case that God has a mission for his church in the world, as that God has a church for his mission in the world. Mission was not made for the church; the church was made for mission – God’s mission.” Both church and mission belong to God, and yet a variety of missional paradigms or models have developed that can differ quite substantially from each other.  Should “mission” remain distinct and independent of the “church,” as the structure of many para-church mission organizations suggests? Or should the church exercise ownership and control over “mission” activities? And if “mission” is necessarily within the responsibility of the “church,” should the locus of that responsibility be local and congregational or denominational and institutional, or with some other structure of the church? What about more or less ad hoc associations of churches such as mission societies, which may or may not be defined along denominational lines? Who has authority to send and oversee mission workers? Clearly, significant questions remain even if we agree that “mission” and “church” belong together. What can Lutheran Christians say to such questions? Divergent conceptions of the relationship between church and mission can be seen throughout the church’s history, and are not easily identified with denominational or confessional membership.

This discussion may not remain theoretical, because intrinsic to missions is action—the sending of God’s Son, Jesus, and through Him, His Church, into the world.  Our conversation, therefore, requires a “what does this mean” in terms of the practical working out of God’s mission in the everyday life of His people.  When and where does God’s mission take place?  How and by whom does it proceed into the world? To what extent is “mission” a shared vocation of all the baptized, and to what extent are the activities of “mission” entrusted uniquely to those regularly called to public ministry (i.e., to ordained clergy)?

Lutheran Mission Matters invites you to share your thoughts and insights regarding such questions. We are especially hoping to receive substantive contributions from parish pastors and other mission practitioners. Articles are generally about 3,000 words in length; shorter or longer articles, however, will be considered. LMM is a peer-reviewed journal, published twice yearly by the Lutheran Society for Missiology (LSfM).  LSfM was founded almost 30 years ago with the purpose of providing a Lutheran perspective in the theological and practical working out of Christ’s mission to and in the world.  Our publication is indexed in the ATLA Religion Database on the EBSCO platform, along with the full text of the articles.  LMM articles are also available under the “Our Journals” tab on the Society’s web page at www.lsfm.global

Send your ideas and questions to the editor of the journal, Dr. Victor Raj (rajv@csl.edu), with a copy to the editorial assistant at LSFMdesk@gmail.com  If you wish to submit a manuscript, please consult our submission guideline found at the back of the journal or on this page.

Please let us know soon of your willingness to be part of this publishing effort.

In Christ’s mission to the world, and on behalf of the Editorial Committee,

Rev. Dr. Victor Raj

Editor of Lutheran Mission Matters.