Transformative Rethinking

CONTENTS

Introduction
Chongpongmeren Jamir 1

I. THE INTERNATIONAL MISSIONARY COUNCIL
AND INDIAN CHRISTIANITY

Historical Survey of Shifts in Mission Cooperation in India:
Past and Present
Arvind Kumar 9

The Indian Christian Predicament: Mapping the Reception of the
Christian Unity and Mission Cooperation in India’s Contextual
Realities and Beyond
Kaholi Zhimomi 23

The Enhancement the IMC Tambaram 1938 Furnished Towards India’s Independence
Ajay Chakraborty 35

II. UNITY, COOPERATION AND DIALOGUE

Proposal for “Informal Dialogue”: Christian Witness in the Context
of Hindu-Majority India
John Arun Kumar 49

Church and Social Justice: Consensus with the Holy Spirit
E.D. Solomon 61

Cooperation and Unity among the Mission Churches in Mizoram
H. Lalrinthanga 75

Ecumenical Continuity of Missions: The Working Principles and
Objectives of the International Missionary Council and the
Lairam Isua Krista Baptist Kohhran
Zadingluaia Chinzah 85

Relationship of Churches in the Mission Fields in Northeast India:
Prospects and Challenges
Lalfakawma Ralte 97

III. MISSION THEOLOGY AND THEOLOGICAL FORMATION

From Ad Gentes to New Evangelization:
Roman Catholic Missionary Trajectories
Francis Thonippara 107

Decolonial Reading of the Context of Mission in Northeast India
Taimaya Ragui 117

Whither Theological Formation in India?
Chongpongmeren Jamir 133

Notes on Contributors 147

ABOUT THE EDITORS:
Chongpongmeren Jamir is a Postdoctoral Fellow in Church History at the Inez and Julius Polin Institute, Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland. He has served as faculty at the South Asia Institute of Advanced Christian Studies (SAIACS), Bangalore, India.

H. Lalrinthanga is an ordained minister of the Mizoram Presbyterian Church serving as a Professor of History of Christianity and the Dean of Postgraduate Studies at the Aizawl Theological College (ATC), Aizawl, India.

The current trend of politics and faith in India has left churches in the region grappling with issues of religious freedom, communal harmony and socio-political domination. The studies in this book show both the resilience of Indian Christians and the need for a critical rethinking of mission theology and practice in the region. Drawing on the rich tradition of rethinking Christianity in India, the studies are fresh attempts to engage in a metanoia, a transformative reflection on who we are and our task in Christian mission.
The series of books arises from a study process that marked the centenary of the International Missionary Council (IMC), founded in 1921 at Lake Mohonk, USA. It has its origin in the Commission on World Mission and Evangelism of the World Council of Churches, which wanted to celebrate the work of its historical predecessor IMC (1921-1961).