Living Mission Interculturally

Faith, Culture, and the Renewal of Praxis

Anthony J. Gittins (Autor)

Buch | Softcover

264 Seiten

2015
Liturgical Press (Verlag)
978-0-8146-8318-7 (ISBN)

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Our globalized world increasingly brings together people of many different cultures, though not always harmoniously. In recent decades, multinational companies have sought more efficient strategies for authentic intercultural collaboration. But in today's multicultural world-church, faith communities too—from local parishes to international religious communities—are faced with the challenge of intercultural living. The social sciences have developed some constructive approaches, but people of faith also need to build their endeavors on a sound biblical and theological foundation. Living Mission Interculturally integrates sociology/anthropology with practical theology, reminds us that good will alone is not enough to effect change, and points to a way of intercultural living underpinned by faith, virtue, and a range of new and appropriate skills.

Anthony J. Gittins (1943-2023) was an ordained member of the Spiritan missionary Congregation who served for a decade in Sierra Leone, West Africa. He taught theology and anthropology for thirty years in London and Chicago and was the author of numerous books on culture and theology, mission, spirituality, and discipleship. Gerald A. Arbuckle, SM, is codirector of Refounding and Pastoral Development, a research ministry, in Sydney, Australia. An award-winning author, he is internationally known for his expertise in helping church leaders minister effectively in a postmodern world. In 2011 he presented the Martin D’Arcy, SJ, Lectures at Oxford University. His many books include Healthcare Ministry; Violence, Society, and the Church; Laughing with God; Culture, Inculturation, and Theologians; and Catholic Identity or Identities?, all from Liturgical Press.

Contents
Foreword ix
Gerald A. Arbuckle, SM, PhD
Introduction xiii
Chapter 1
Called to Conversion 1
The Changing Face of International Religious Communities 1
Definitions and Usage 3
Ten Theses about Intercultural Living 4
Three Guidelines 6
The Call to Conversion: What, Who, Where, When? 11
Suggested Follow-Up 14
Chapter 2
From Monocultural to Intercultural 15
Defining and Clarifying Terms 15
Characteristics of Intercultural Communities 24
Changing Contours, Insights, and Needs 29
Suggested Follow-Up 31
Chapter 3
Culture: “The (Hu)man-Made Part of the Environment” 32
Approaching “Culture” 32
Culture as “The (Hu)man-Made Part of the Environment” 35
Suggested Follow-Up 45
Chapter 4
Culture: Life, Meaning, Skin, Reality 46
Introduction 46
Culture as “The Form of Social life” 47
Culture as “A Meaning-Making System” 50
Culture as “Social Skin” 54
Culture as “An Enduring Social Reality” 55
The Need to Clarify Terminology 56
Suggested Follow-Up 61
Chapter 5
Culture, Faith, and Intercultural Living 62
Lived Spirituality 62
Cultural Variables and the Shaping of Faith 63
Cultural Understandings of Past, Present, and Future 74
Living our Faith and Spirituality Interculturally 76
Two Examples: Oscar Romero and Jesus 77
Suggested Follow-Up 79
Chapter 6
Social Profiles and Social Interaction 80
A Caution and a Word of Encouragement 80
Characterizing Social Types 81
“High-Context” (Sociocentric) and “Low-Context” (Egocentric) Communication Styles 92
Interpreting, Applying, and Living with Communication Styles 94
Suggested Follow-Up 96
Chapter 7
Developing Intercultural Competence 98
“Models of” and “Models for” 98
From Ethnocentrism to Ethnorelativism 100
The Ethnocentric Stages of Development 101
The Ethnorelative Stages of Development 108
Coda 113
Suggested Follow-Up 114
Chapter 8
Mission, Margins, and Intercultural Living 115
Review and Preview 115
Margins and Marginality 117
Marginality as Burden or Opportunity 121
Liminality as a “Rite of Passage” 123
Margins: Problems and Possibilities 124
Jesus: Marginal by Choice and by Example 126
The Missionary Potential of Marginal People 127
Suggested Follow-Up 130
Chapter 9
Psychological Responses to Intercultural Living 131
The Need for Mutual Adjustments 131
A Schematic Diagram of Psychological Adjustment 133
From Theory to Practice: Authentic Intercultural Living 142
Suggested Follow-Up 146
Chapter 10
Cultural Responses to Intercultural Living 147
The Grip of Culture 147
The Dignity of Difference 148
From Paradise to Brokenness: “The Cultural Flaw” 151
Insiders and Outsiders, Participants and Nonparticipants 153
The Jesus Solution: Removing the Barrier 158
Suggested Follow-Up 161
Chapter 11
Community, Communitas, and Living Fully 162
The Point of It All 162
Community and Institutionalization 165
Communitas: “Community with a Task” 168
Normative Community: Institutionalization of Charism 169
Mechanical Community 171
How Much Communitas-Energy Is Needed? 172
Communitas, Liminality, and Creativity 174
Fanning the Flame 176
Suggested Follow-Up 177
Chapter 12
From Invitation to Radical Welcome 178
Realizing Intercultural Community 178
Three Types or Styles of Community 180
Suggested Follow-Up 186
APPENDICES
Appendix I: “Cultural Baggage” 187
Appendix II: Skills and Virtues for Intercultural Living 194
Appendix III: Intergenerational Living 204
Appendix IV: Preferential Option for “The Other” 210
Appendix V: Power and Authority 215
Notes 222
Bibliography 240
Index 250

Vorwort	Gerald A. Arbuckle
Verlagsort	Collegeville, MN
Sprache	englisch
Maße	152 x 229 mm
Gewicht	374 g
Themenwelt	Religion / Theologie ► Christentum ► Kirchengeschichte
	Religion / Theologie ► Christentum ► Moraltheologie / Sozialethik
	Sozialwissenschaften ► Ethnologie
	Sozialwissenschaften ► Soziologie
ISBN-10	0-8146-8318-5 / 0814683185
ISBN-13	978-0-8146-8318-7 / 9780814683187
Zustand	Neuware