THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION BY EXTENSION

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CHAPTER  THREE HISTORICAL  OVERVIEW  OF  CONTEXTUALIZATION

In this chapter I will be looking  at the issue ofcontextualization: its historical background, the forms of contextualization, and the three dimensions of contextualization as they apply to theological education.

International Missionary Council

In 1938, at the Tarnbaram meeting of the International Missionary Council (IMC) held in Madras, India, 471 persons, representing approximately seventy different countries, met to discuss world evangelism. ¹ As a result of their discussions, the delegates  concluded  four  things:    (1)   world  evangelism  has  to  be the  task  of  the  whole  Church  universal;   (2)   world  evangelism  must be  concerned  with  the  total  needs  of  man;   (3)   world  evangelism must  promote  mass  conversions  over  individual  conversions;   and (4)   in  order  for  world  evangelism  to  be  accomplished,Christians need to be trained to do the work of evangelism. ²
The IMC concluded that evangelism needed to be the  task of the whole Church universal. The delegates felt that the corporate witness of the church is « a powerful factor in determining the measure of response men make to the message of the Gospel. » ³ In other words, evangelism could no longer be seen as missionaries going and evangelizing Africans or Asians who had not yet heard about Jesus Christ. The delegates from Africa and Asia were asserting themselves, saying that they also needed to be involved in the evangelization of their own people and the world. One must not misunderstand what they were saying. They were not saying that the younger churches no longer needed missionary assistance. Rather, the urgency of the task requires ooling of resources and cooperation in world partnership.’ They wrote,every part of the Christian enterprise must be saturated with and controlled by the conscious evangelistic purpose, and this should be true of the whole range of the churches’ practical activities. ⁵
The delegates at Madras also concluded that evangelism needed to be concerned with what was termed, »Larger Evangelism ». currently this type of evangelism is called , p.192.
« holistic•evangelism.It is  evangelism that is concerned  with the total needs of humans. The IMC believed that a demonstration of social concern was necessary to prove the relevancy of Christianity.
A third thing that the IMC concluded was that  group conversions were preferable to in di vi dual conversions. ⁷ Upon doing historical research, the IMC delegates recognised that individualism was not a characteristic of the early church or the church of the Middle Ages. In fact, individual conversions actually seemed to be a hindrance to the mass movements seen in the history of the early church.’ The observation they made was that individual converts were usually separated from their people, communities, and cultures, causing Christianity to be perceived by others as being alien. The IMC delegates felt that, in order for people to· accept the Gospel, the Church needed to make certain that it did not appear « alien by unnatural expressions of language, worship, organization, or building.
The fourth thing that the delegates recognised was that, in order for the younger churches to participate in the task of evangelism, there would be a need for training programmes that would prepare Christians for this work. As they looked at the theological training programmes already in place, the conference delegates concluded that most of  them had not been very effective or adequate in training younger  church leaders to do evangelism within their own   contexts.                The consensus was that there needed to be renewal within theological education.
This call for renewal  was made with dramatic clarity in one of  the reports that was drawn up:
Almost all the younger churches are dissatisfied with the present system of training for the ministry and with its results. In many reports received from different parts of the world, it is stated that there are ministers of a poor standard of education, who are unable to win the respect of the laity and to lead the churches, that some are out of touch with the realities of life and the needs of their people and are not distinguished by zeal for Christian service in the community. ¹⁰
Also in section VIII of another report entitled, « The Indigenous Ministry of the Church, Both    Ordained and Lay, » the conference  made a plea that  more careful  attention  needed to  be given to the  task of evaluating present forms of  theological education aimed  at preparing people for the ministry. ¹¹
In writing this report, we have used all the material submitted to us, but we are conscious that it has been prepared on the basis of very inadequate information. We think that the time has come for a much more thorough investigation and survey of this field than has as yet been carried out.
We, therefore, instruct the Committee of the International Missionary Council to take action in this matter, in consultation with the churches, and that a commission be appointed as soon as possible, to arrange for the preparation of detailed studies of the situation, where these have not already been made, to visit the main centers of theological education and to Change, A BGC Monograph (Wheaton, Illinois: Billy Graham Center, Wheaton College, 1990), p. 9.
work out a policy and program for the training of the ministry in younger churches.u After the meeting at Madras, the members of the Council once again came together and began making detailed studies of the situation, where these had not already been made, visited main centres of theological education, and began formulating a policy and programme for the training of the ministry in the younger churches. ¹³ The information gathered from their research was compiled into a three-part report entitled « Survey of the Training of the Ministry in Africa. » In years to follow, other findings were also published. ¹⁴

TheTheological Education Fund

In 1958 the Council was once again called into session in Ghana. During this meeting the Theological Education Fund (TEF) was initiated. ¹⁵ Over the next few years the Theological Education Fund (TEF) passed through three distinct « mandate » periods, which have now been identified as the « advance » mandate period, the « rethink » mandate period, and the « reform » mandate period. ¹⁶

The First  Mandate Period

The first mandate period, identified by the concept « advance », extended from 1958 to 1964. The concern during this period was for a « better trained and better educated ministry to meet the new day; its undisguised thrust was towards the raising of the level of scholarship and striving for academic excellence » in the younger churches. ¹⁷
During this time the TEF tried to promote academic excellence in theological education through three different, yet related, programmes. The first programme gave 27 selected theological schools in Africa, Asia, and Latin America $10,000 each. According to James Bergquist the money was given to schools « which offered the greatest possibility for qualitative growth in the future.  » ¹⁸ The second programme provided monetary funds to almost 300 theological schools in the Third World for the purpose of developing their libraries. The third programme gave monetary funds for the purpose of financing the writing, translating, and publishing of 25 theological textbooks in different vernaculars . ¹⁹

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION TO THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF CONTEXTUALIZATION
1.1 Disciples Must Reach Out
1.2 The Problem
1.3 The Decision to Use Theological Education by
1.4 Statement of the Problem
1.5 Hypothesis
1.6 The Research Question
1.7 Delimitations
1.8 The Design of This Study
CHAPTER TWO: THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION BY EXTENSION
2.1 Why TEE was Begun
2.2 What TEE Isi
2.3 The Split-Rail Fence Model
2.4 From Idea to Reality in Guatemala
2.5 Theological Education in Africa
2.6 TEE in Africa
2.7 TEE in Southern Africa
2.8 TEE and the Southern Africa Region of The Wesleyan Church
2.9 Summary
CHAPTER THREE: HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF CONTEXTUALIZATION
3.1 International Missionary Council
3.2 The Theological Education Fund
3.3 From Indigenization to Contextualization
3.4 Different Concepts of Contextualization
3.5 The Wesleyan Church and Contextualization
3.6 Twofold Objective of Contextualization
3.7 Theological Education and Contextualization
3.8 Contextualization as Liberation
3.9 Contextualization of Structure
3.10 Contextualization of Method
3. 11 Summary
CHAPTER FOUR: TEE AND CONTEXTUALIZATION
4.1 TEE and the Contextualization of Social-Political Involvement
4.2 TEE and the Contextualization of Structure
4.3 TEE and the Contextualization of Method
4.4 Summary
CHAPTER FIVE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 
5.1 Rationale behind the Comparative Approach
5.2 Subject Selection
5.3 Instrumentation and Analysis
5.4 Data Collection
5.5 Sununary
CHAPTER SIX: RESEARCH FINDINGS, STATISTICAL ANALYSIS, AND EVALUATION
6.1 Perceived Needs of TEE Students
6.2 TEE’s Ministry to Perceived Needs in southern Africa
6.3 TEE Questionnaire Responses from TEE Students
6.4 Statements Dealing with Contextualization as Liberation
6.5 Statements Dealing with the Contextualization of Structure
6.7 summary
CHAPTER SEVEN: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE TEE
PROGRAMME OF THE WESLEYAN CHURCH IN SOUTHERN AFRICA
7.1 The Content of Contextualization – Liberation
7.2 The Contextualization of Structure – Ministry for All
7.3 The Contextualization of Methodology – Conscientization
7.4 Recommendations
7.5 Recommendation for a New Model
7.6 Recommendations
7.7 summary
CHAPTER EIGHT: SUMMARY OF RESEARCH PROJECT 
APPENDICES
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A PRACTICAL-THEOLOGICAL EVALUATION OF THE CONTEXTUALIZATION OF THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION BY EXTENSION IN SOUTHERN AFRICA A WESLEYAN PERSPECTIVE