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World Christianity
Wikipedia |
In a seminal paper entitled, "
From Christendom to World Christianity: Missions and the Demographic Transformation of the Church," Prof. Andrew Walls points out that the history of the church has been marked by a series of major demographic shifts. We began in the eastern Mediterranean. Then we moved west and north to Europe. Then we expand that base to include North America, Australia, and New Zealand. Now, we are moving again, this time to the south. A recent news article, "
United Methodist Church Continues to Decline in America, but Gains in Africa," provides further evidence that the shift is in full swing. The title says it all. While the UMC lost another 72,000 members in 2011, Methodist churches in Africa continue to grow at the pace of over 200,000 mew members per year. I have noted before that there are now more Anglicans in Nigeria than in the United Kingdom (
source). Walls point is that it has been the western missionary movement that laid the groundwork for this shift. My point here is that we are left behind to deal with the back end of the shift, the declining and aging end.
