Holy Spirit and Ecumenical Division

Abstract

"Christianity is experiencing a considerable paradigm shift. The Church is growing at a rate unprecedented in two thousand years of Christian history. While many articulate the decline of Christian faith in the West, the Church is rapidly increasing throughout the world. This increase has changed the geographic center of Christianity from the North to South. “The Christian church has experienced a larger geographical redistribution in the last fifty years than in any comparable period in its history, with the exception of the very earliest years of church history.” 1 “This geographic and cultural shift has resulted in a plethora of new forms and expressions of Christian faith.” 2 Never in the Church’s history has Christianity been expressed through such a staggering array of idioms, languages, and cultures. "