(Kwiverr Missiology Series #3)
INTRODUCTION
While we’ve been passionately convincing the uninitiated that Missiology is an actual, formal interdisciplinary subject that studies the theology, history, culture and strategy of mission—and have traced its long history over the last 2,000 years—Fuller Theological Seminary is commemorating 60 years of teaching and developing Missiology as an academic discipline. This week (Oct 15-17, 2025) has been a feast of missiological topics with missional discussants from all over the world. But first, let’s begin from the beginning.
THE GENESIS OF MISSIOLOGY AT FULLER
As a disclaimer, I am an alumnus of Fuller (M.A. Global Leadership 2019) and a current Doctor of Global Leadership (DGL) candidate, only about half-way through a programme I should’ve completed by this year. One of the key reasons I chose Fuller a decade ago was because of its dire commitment to the mission of God, no matter what subject one studied there: theology, psychology, leadership, you name it.
And no wonder, for missiology as an academic discipline began at Fuller way back in 1965 under the auspices of the then School of World Mission (SWM), and continued from 2003 in the renamed School of Intercultural Studies (SIS). In 2021, the latest christening was done: School of Mission and Theology (SMT). Irrespective of what name its nestling home has carried, missiology has been taught and researched within the hallowed walls of Fuller—brick and mortar plus online—for over six decades unabated.
At 67 years, Donald McGavran became founding Dean of Fuller SWM in 1965, moving his fledgling Institute for Church Growth (founded in 1961) there, and hired Ralph Winter to teach at the SWM also the year after. McGavran would also found the Church Growth Movement and Winter birth the William Carey Library, co-found the American Missiological Society, launch the Perspectives Study Program, and introduce the concept of “unreached people groups” at the first Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization (Lausanne 1) in 1974. Together, the dynamic duo—with other key missiologists like Charles Kraft, Peter Wagner and Arthur Glasser—established Fuller as a leading center for missiological study in the twentieth century, with McGavran focusing on the theory of church growth and Winter developing practical initiatives and broadening the scope of missionary understanding.
METAMORPHOSIS OF MISSIOLOGY AT FULLER
As one can imagine, 60 years is too long a stretch in time for the discipline of missiology to not have undergone various transformations and developments in response to meta trends globally, local and global church dynamics as well as idiosyncrasies of succeeding generations of faculty and students.
According to Fuller itself, “We have moved from a nearly exclusive focus on mission methods to a multidisciplinary approach that engages and integrates various social sciences with history and theology. We study both local and global expressions of mission by churches and agencies from a vast array of peoples and in diverse contexts throughout Christian history and today.” [1]
BACK TO THIS WEEK
So! Our 60th Missiology Lectures this October have been under the theme “Missiology in a New Generation.” The idea behind this working conference is to celebrate and assess missiology at Fuller critically and appreciatively. The menu has been rich, with various spicy, savory and sweet topics like Church Growth, Bible and Mission, Bible and Mission, Integral Mission and Urban Transformation.
Four scholars who know Fuller well and were invited to to “offer critical feedback and insights about what they see as the new horizons for missiology” so that “these perspectives will then be discussed by and with our faculty, students, alumni, and trustees, as we discern what parts of the legacy of SWM/SIS will be most relevant to SMT in the coming years, and which new topics, approaches, and disciplines hold promise for missiological inquiry in the next decades.” [2]
Although the four scholars include a Ghanaian pastor of the Church of Pentecost, Dr. Christian Tsekpoe, who was once a research faculty at Fuller Seminary where he undertook his postdoctoral research fellowship, my favourite of the four is my Lausanne Movement mentor and chair of Kwiverr’s Global Advisory Community, Dr. Dave Bennett.
BOUQUET FOR BENNET
I started working closely with Dr. Dave Bennet, Global Associate Director for the Lausanne Movement, about a decade ago when as a Lausanne global catalyst for International Student Ministries, Dave was my supervisor—also for all the other catalysts representing approximately 30 issue networks. [3] In fact, we first met in Singapore while I was being pursued and persuaded to take on the role. David has since become a trusted guide and advisor. Although I ended the Lausanne role after nine years to focus on my international director responsibility at Kwiverr, I still get to meet Dr. Bennett one-on-one on the last Tuesday of every month for accountability and support since I am secondment to the Lausanne Movement by International Student Ministries Canada (ISMC). Even in the busiest seasons when he was conference director of the fourth Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization (Lausanne 4), Dave did not waver in his commitment.
Dave is a three-time Fuller alumnus, obtaining an MDiv, DMin and PhD in Intercultural Studies from Fuller, after his initial BS from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (yes, the famous MIT). Effectively the deputy to the Lausanne CEO, Dr. Bennett oversees leaders of six departments of the network. Dr. Bennett has engaged in teaching, preaching, and research in Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America, with particular focus on India. He has written three books on biblical principles of leadership, including Metaphors of Ministry: Biblical Images for Leaders and Followers (Wipf and Stock, 2004).
Dave is a longtime board member of First Fruit, Inc., since 1990, and Kwiverr has been a fortunate beneficiary of a couple of grants from this evangelical foundation. He has also been on the board of A3 (formerly Asian Access) since 2000 and at the time of writing this piece had just flown out after his Fuller lecture in California en route to Hong Kong for board meetings. Dave and his wife, Phyllis (an academic in her own right), reside in Washougal, Washington, and recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with their two sons and daughters-in-law and eight grandchildren.
CONCLUSION
Dave opened this week’s 60th Anniversary Fuller Missiology Lectures with the first plenary on October 15, 2025 after the Seminary’s first Black president, Dr. David Emmanuel Goatley, led chapel. One other secret reason Dr. Bennett is my favourite of the four missiology speakers this week is that he made special mention of yours truly and cited Africa to the Rest in his presentation. Who knows? Perhaps Kwiverr and its arrows are the stuff “Missiology in a New Generation” is made of.
REFERENCES
[1] Fuller Seminary. 2025. “The 2025 Missiology Lectures.” https://fuller.edu/missiology/
[2] Ibid
[3] Lausanne Movement. “Issue Networks.” https://lausanne.org/issue-networks
