Missions and Expansion

Christianity was born in Palestine and today counts 2.4 billion faithful on all continents -- approximately 33% of the world population. This expansion is the result of two millennia of mission, often linked to European colonial expansion, which raises crucial questions of inculturation and theology of mission.

Historical Waves of Expansion

Missio Dei: A Paradigm Shift

The concept of Missio Dei (Mission of God) was developed at the Willingen Conference (IMC, 1952): mission is not primarily the activity of the Church, but of God himself -- Father, Son, and Spirit -- in his purpose of universal salvation. The Church participates in God's mission, it does not own it. This paradigm shift has transformed Protestant missionary theology: from conquest to witness, from civilization to inculturation.

The Swiss missions — specific focus

Switzerland, birthplace of Calvinism and Pietism, developed a missionary movement of remarkable intensity. Two centres dominate: French-speaking Switzerland (Reformed, francophone) with the Mission Romande of Lausanne, and German-speaking Switzerland with the Basel Mission.

The Mission Romande (Lausanne, founded 1875)

The Mission Romande (also Swiss Mission to South Africa, today part of DM-Échange et Mission) was founded in 1875 in Lausanne by Ernest Creux (1845–1929) and Paul Berthoud (1847–1930). Main field: Southern Africa, more precisely the Tsonga country (today southern Mozambique and Limpopo). Missionaries established the first stations in Valdezia (1875), Elim (1877), Antioka (1881), Lourenço Marques / Maputo (1887). They translated the Bible into Tsonga (Xitsonga, completed 1907 by Henri-Alexandre Junod).

Major figure: Henri-Alexandre Junod (1863–1934), Neuchâtel pastor, pioneer anthropologist, author of The Life of a South African Tribe (1912, 2 vols.), a landmark ethnographic study cited by Malinowski and Mauss.

The Basel Mission (founded 1815)

The Basel Mission (today Mission 21) was founded in 1815 by Württemberg and Basel Pietists. Main fields: Ghana / Gold Coast (from 1828, founding of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, translations into Twi, Ga, Ewe), South India / Karnataka (from 1834), Cameroon (from 1886), China (1846–1949).

Albert Schweitzer — theologian, physician, missionary

Although not the product of a classical missionary society, Albert Schweitzer (1875–1965) is one of the most emblematic missionary figures of the 20th century, and the only Protestant missionary to receive the Nobel Peace Prize (1952).

Born in Kaysersberg (Upper Alsace), Schweitzer was at once:

• Theologian — author of major works: Von Reimarus zu Wrede (1906, translated as The Quest of the Historical Jesus, 1910), the founding work of the "first quest" for the historical Jesus, defending consistent eschatology; The Mysticism of Paul the Apostle (1930);
• Musician and organist — author of a reference biography of J. S. Bach (1905), international concert performer, editor of Bach's organ works with Charles-Marie Widor;
• Philosopher — designer of the ethics of "Reverence for Life" (Ehrfurcht vor dem Leben), set out in Culture and Ethics (1923) — a universal ethic of solidarity with all living beings;
• Physician and missionary — founding and directing the Lambaréné Hospital (Gabon) in 1913, where he served until his death in 1965; developing a holistic missionary model combining medical care, training of African caregivers, non-confessional preaching, and defence of local languages.

Schweitzer was an independent missionary, formally a member of the Paris Evangelical Missionary Society from 1912 after Lutheran ordination in Alsace-Lorraine (1898). His missionary theology rests on three principles: refusal of aggressive proselytism; absolute priority of the incarnate Gospel through medical service; "my duty is not to judge, but to help".

Honours: Goethe Prize (Frankfurt 1928), Nobel Peace Prize 1952, doctorates honoris causa from Chicago, Edinburgh, Oxford, Tübingen. The Lambaréné hospital continues to operate as the Albert Schweitzer International Foundation.