Tag: William Greathouse

 I.  Introducing the “Global South”

Take a minute and think about the “typical Christian.” Where do they live? How old are they? Are they male or female? If you’re like many Westerners, you probably thought of a middle-aged white man living in Nashville, Tennessee or London, England. According to the missions website, “The Traveling Team” (www.thetravelingteam.org), that description would have been accurate in 1907, but in 2007, just one hundred years later, the portrait has drastically changed. The “typical Christian” is now black, African, female, and around the age of 28!

Philip Jenkins in The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity, traces this shift in Christianity’s center of gravity to what he calls the “Global South.” If current trends continue, Christian churches found in Western countries like the United States, France, Italy and the United Kingdom will see further decline, in part due to low birth rates and strong secular trends.   At the same time, a rising tide of conversions to Christ and higher birthrates on three continents – Africa, Asia and Latin/South America – means that Christianity will continue the explosive growth that began in the 20^th century. By 2025, Jenkins estimates that there will be 2.6 billion Christians in the world. Of this figure, 66% will be living in the Global South. Likewise, by 2050, for every two Muslims worldwide, there will be three Christians (Jenkins, 2-3, 6).

Continue reading “The Global South: Christianity’s Cutting Edge” →