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Trends in Global Christianity

Trends in Global Christianity. What’s Happening in God’s World? Dr. John A. Bernbaum National Presbyterian Church July 20, 2014. Revolutionary Changes in World Religions. Since Emperor Constantine converted the Roman Empire to Christianity (325 AD), it has been perceived as a western religion.

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Trends in Global Christianity

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  1. Trends in Global Christianity What’s Happening in God’s World?Dr. John A. BernbaumNational Presbyterian ChurchJuly 20, 2014

  2. Revolutionary Changes in World Religions • Since Emperor Constantine converted the Roman Empire to Christianity (325 AD), it has been perceived as a western religion. • Although it is rooted in the Middle East and flourished in North Africa for centuries, Christianity has been linked for 17 centuries to the culture and peoples of the North Atlantic. • Those days are now over!

  3. The Big Picture – World Religions • There are 2.18 billion Christians of all ages around the world – nearly 1/3 of the estimated global population of 6.9 billion. • The church of Jesus Christ is the largest organization or institution in the world! • What’s new is the global spread of the Christian faith. It is no longer a “Western gospel.”

  4. Our Religious World • 1970 – nearly 82% of the world’s population was religious; by 2010, this had grown to around 88% with a projected increase to 90% by 2020. • The 20th century saw a great shift of Christianity to the Global South. In 1970, 41.3% of all Christians were from Africa, Asia or Latin America; by 2020, this figure is expected to be 64.7%.

  5. What’s Going On? • Philip Jenkins: By 2050, only one in every five Christians will be a non-Hispanic white and a typical Christian will be a woman living in a village in Nigeria or in a Brazilian slum.” • Lamin Sanneh: “the magnitude of worldwide Christianity is like a tidal wave.” • Worldwide Christianity is flourishing wonderfully among the poor and persecuted, while it atrophies among the rich and secure.

  6. Roman Catholicism

  7. Pope FrancisThe first non-European Pope in 1200 years!

  8. Key Insights • Our world is increasingly and profoundly religious. • Christianity is on the move globally – a dynamic and energetic worldwide movement. • While declining in the rich, materialistic West, Christianity is exploding among the poor and persecuted in the Global South.

  9. Future Demographics • By 2050, six nations could each have 100 million Christians or more (US, Brazil, Mexico, Philippines, Nigeria and Zaire/Congo). • Gone from this list are Britain, France and Italy. • Christianity is making deep inroads into regions once dominated by Hinduism, Buddhism, and Chinese traditional faiths. The exception: Muslim countries.

  10. Christianity and Islam • Christianity is a dynamic, energetic movement worldwide and it is being embedded in difference cultures all over the planet. • Unlike Islam, it is not rooted in a specific location (Mecca and Medina). • Unlike Islam, it is not connected to a single language.

  11. Christianity & Islam • In 1800, Christians and Muslims together accounted for 33% of the world’s population. • By 1900, this figure had increased to 47%; by 2000, to 53%. • Scholars project it will total 58% by 2025 and 66% by 2100, if trend lines continue. • Insight: These two religions will comprise 2/3s of the world’s population by 2100. Can we live together in peace?

  12. Dynamic Christian Growth Worldwide – Seoul, South Korea

  13. Dynamic Christian Growth Worldwide – Latin America

  14. What are the Primary Drivers? • Scholars agree that the full translation of the Bible into 450 languages and parts of the Bible into 2,500 tongues means that millions of the world’s Christians read and study their own Bibles. • “The astonishing ability of Christian faith to embed its truth in the life of widely diverse and endlessly changing cultures is the key to its growth, durability and vitality. . . .”

  15. Second Key Driver: The Pentecostal Movement • Called “Renewalists” by scholars – Pentecostals, Charismatics and Independent Charismatics. • In 1970, Renewalists numbered 62.7 million and are expected to grow to 709.8 million by 2020. • They expanded by an average of 4% a year between 1970 and 2010.

  16. The Pentecostal Movement • This is the most significant movement of the 20th century – more significant that Communism or Fascism in terms of how it is changing our world! (Philip Jenkins) • AFRICA: 1970 – 18.8 M; 2020 – 226.2 M. • LATIN AMERICA: 1970 – 12.8 M; 2020 – 203.1M. • ASIA: 1970 – 9.3 M; 2020 – 165.6 M.

  17. Pentecostals in Brazil

  18. Pentecostals in Latin America

  19. Potential North/South Conflicts • Northern churches, rooted in hundreds of years of tradition and battling the forces of secularization and materialism, may not like the spiritual enthusiasm and energy of the southern churches with their new worship styles. • Churches in the global south are very conservative and oppose the sexual values being pushed on them by Christians in the North.

  20. Believing the Bible in the Global South • They love the Old Testament and identify with the struggles of the Jews. • Agricultural context. • Poor vs. rich. • Oppression of political rulers. • Reality of plagues and famines. • Power of healings and miracles.

  21. Missionaries Sent & Received • In 2010, Christians sent out 400,000 international missionaries. • While missionaries are dramatically declining in number from the Global North, they are increasingly coming from the South to the North. Three of the top ten sending countries are Brazil, South Korea and India. • Audiences: their diaspora and native populations.

  22. Impact on the United States • Changes in the 1965 immigration laws have transformed America – have you noticed? • For example, there are 250,000 Ethiopians living in Washington, D.C.; 35 different Ethiopian churches of which 5 are Ethiopian Coptic Orthodox Christian. • In New York city, there are 150 African immigrant congregations.

  23. Impact of Immigration to the US • In the Twin Cities, home to Scandinavian and German descendants, there are 67 congregations of Asian immigrants and 73 congregations of African immigrants. • 17.3 million Asian Americans now live in the USA (5.6% of the population); by 2050 the Census estimates this group will grow to 40 million.

  24. Impact of Immigration to the US • Hispanics now total 50 million people in the US. • 70% of the Hispanic population in the US are Catholic – which means 35% of the US Catholic community are now Hispanic. • About 23% of the Latinos are Protestant (9.5 million). • By 2050, they could number 106 million.

  25. Hispanic Impact on the RCC

  26. Hispanic Worship in Chicago

  27. Worldwide Dynamics • In today’s world, immigration will be a major factor in our future. • The poor and disadvantaged will seek refuge in the North and they have created a major, non-Western missionary movement. • Insight: As the West becomes post-Christian, non-Western Christianity is coming to the West!

  28. What About Presbyterians? • PCUSA’s decline from 2.5 million in 2000 to 1.76 million by the end of 2013. Bad news! • There are 75 million Presbyterians (Reformed) in our world – so the Reformed tradition is one of the largest branches of Protestantism. • 3.8 million Presbyterians in Nigeria. • 9-10 million Presbyterians in South Korea. • Presbyterians in the US are no longer the leaders!

  29. So What Have We Learned? • Our world is increasingly and profoundly religious. • Christianity is on the move globally – a dynamic and energetic worldwide movement. • While declining in the rich, materialistic West, Christianity is exploding among the poor and persecuted in the Global South.

  30. So What Have We Learned? • The two key drivers behind the global expansion of Christianity are Bible translations and the growth of the Pentecostal movement. • Christianity and Islam will comprise 2/3s of the world’s population by 2100. Can we live together in peace? • As the West becomes post-Christian, non-Western Christianity is coming to the West!

  31. What’s Our Response? So What? • Let’s deepen our understanding of developments in global Christianity. • We need to get engaged personally – not just intellectually – through our missions program and our missions partners. • Found a good model at Saddleback Church.- their PEACE Plan.

  32. Rick Warren’s Five Global Goliaths • Spiritual Emptiness • Egocentric Leadership • Extreme Poverty • Pandemic Diseases • Illiteracy and Lack of Education

  33. Saddleback Church’s PEACE Plan • P – Promote Reconciliation • E – Equip Servant Leaders • A – Assist the Poor • C – Care for the Sick • E – Educate the Next Generation

  34. NPC’s Global Network • Today (July 20) – Greg & Chris Callison – “Strengthening the Kurdish Church in Iraq.” • July 27 – Moldova Ministries – “Partnering with the Moldovan Church in discipleship ministries.” • August 3 – Angela Bednarczyk – “Serving Senegalese deaf children.” • August 17 – Stuart & Cathie Showalter – “Equipping Kaansa speakers through Scripture translation.”

  35. Resources for Further Study • Wesley Granberg-Michaelson, From Times Square to Timbuktu (2013). • Philip Jenkins, The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity (2002). • Philip Jenkins, The New Faces of Christianity: Believing the Bible in the Global South (2006). • Mark A. Noll, The New Shape of World Christianity (2009).

  36. DISCUSSION • Let’s talk!

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