The Contextualization of Movement Missiology to Individualist Urban Contexts in the West

Abstract

This thesis examines how movement missiology, an approach to Christian mission that has developed in majority world contexts and borne remarkable fruit, can be contextualized to the Western cultural setting. Secondary research from a variety of intersecting subjects in cultural studies, theology, and missiology is employed to this end. This thesis finds that the church in Western culture is in a period of missional decline as large amounts of disaffiliation are occuring at the same time as dwindling success is achieved in the areas of evangelism, discipleship, and church planting. Current obstacles to successful adoption of the movement missiology approach as a solution to this problem are studied, such as the strong and complex influence of urbanization and individualism on the West. The thesis concludes that the adoption of movement missiology in the West is advisable, although practitioners should seek methodological flexibility to account for complexity in the Western context.