Missionary or missional? A study in terminology

Abstract

The author attempts to get clarity on the two related terms, missionary and missional, as the former is being replaced more and more in academic writing by the latter term. He finds that there is no clear etymological difference in the terms, as both derive from the root word mission. Writers using the term missional clearly state that they understand mission mainly as missio Dei, which is a well-established term. The difference implied therefore must lie in contextual factors, as missional is used specifically to describe the missio Dei in the North Atlantic. It had its origins in work done by the Gospel and Our Culture Network, and was inspired by the writings of Newbigin and Bosch. The author identifies certain problem areas with the term missional which will have to be considered if the term is used to describe mission in Africa.