Revitalizing missions on the cusp of change: Complex Systems Science mazeways for mission theory amid twenty-first century realities.

摘要

As the scales of knowledge and the networks connecting the human global system exponentially increase, so have the factors which initiate and mediate the change process. In our twenty-first century context, compared to previous epochs, the speed, breadth, and nature of change is perceived as continuous, systemic, and complex. As a consequence, the quantity of the corresponding data and the means to analyze them are such that traditional scientific approaches can no longer adequately represent increasingly complex and diverse realities. Subsequently, researchers across the sciences, both hard and soft, and even the arts, are increasingly adapting Complex System Science-framed approaches to collect, process, and analyze data in order to visualize and more accurately represent these new realities.;A review of three primary mission journals of two missiology societies and one study center, from 2010 -- 2014, found that, while two-thirds of the articles attempt to accommodate the unprecedented growth in complexity and tenor of change, only one of the 284 articles directly utilize a Complex System Science-framed approach. Hence, this dissertation argues that the field of missiology, as operatively represented by the contributors and readers of these journals, must also adapt Complex Systems Science metaphors, models, and methods in order to remain relevant and valid in the study of twenty-first century realities.;To highlight the benefits of the adaptation to a Complex Systems Science-framed approach, a case study of multicultural, multilingual, and multicongregational churches of the Chinese diaspora in North America is used to compare the normative, traditional model of Christian revitalization developed by A.F.C. Wallace with a proposed Complex Systems Science-framed Cusp of Change model. The comparative study reveals the more robust, integrative, and comprehensive nature of the Cusp of Change model to represent the realities of Christian revitalization in the twenty-first century context of systemic, continuous, and complex change. The comparative study also finds that the Cusp of Change model is more compatible with the biblical and missiological definitions, observations, and praxis of Christian revitalization as revealed by the contemporary consultations of the Center for the Study of World Christian Revitalization Movements held from 2011 - 2013.;If the comparative findings are extrapolated across the field of missiology, the dissertation suggests that, similar to the experiences of missiology's hard and soft science siblings, the application Complex Systems Science-framed approaches not only provides a new means to collect, process, and analyze data from complex contexts, and to more accurately visualize and represent twenty-first century realities, the paradigm shift to Complex Systems Science can also yield new insights to both old, emerging, and new research in comparison to traditional approaches. The dissertation concludes with recommendations for implementing Complex Systems Science-framed metaphors, models, and methods to missiology, and suggests further areas of study in missiological practice, history and theology of missions, as well as ecclesiology, where the integration of this new science may prove beneficial. As missiology has served as the pathfinder for the Church across geographic and cultural boundaries in previous contexts, Complex System Science can aid missiologists to find appropriate contextual navigate the twenty-first century realities of globally networked, continuous, and complex change.