Christianity sees growing numbers, shift in direction
Change may expand understanding

By Bethany McCormack
Staff Reporter

With the number of Christians in third-world countries increasing rapidly, Christianity is changing. This change can broaden our understanding of religion in America, said Jack Hill, assistant professor of religion and social ethics.

“There’s going to be a greater opportunity for learning from how Christianity is practiced in other contexts to rejuvenate our understanding of Christianity in America,” he said. “It may spark another religious awakening in the 21st century.”

According to a recent article in Newsweek, the center of Christianity has shifted from the Western nations of Europe and North America to nations of the South and East. Today 60 percent of Christians are citizens of Africa, Asia and Latin America, making Christianity a truly global religion, according to the article.

Molly Stone a sophomore English and Spanish major, said it is important to realize that Christianity is for all people.

“Christianity isn’t a Western thing,” Stone said. “God has a heart for all people, all nations. It didn’t start out as a Caucasian religion.”

According to an article in the Dallas Morning News, Christianity is expanding rapidly in two-thirds of the world (Africa, Asia, and South America) and will increase even more rapidly during the next 40 or 50 years because of the fast-growing populations in those areas.

Hill said the extraordinary growth of churches in these countries is important because mainline churches in the United States have seen a slight decrease in membership.

Tiffany Wolf, a freshman interior design major, grew up in a missionary family in the Philippines, and she said she thinks the decrease in church attendance in the United States reflects the lifestyle of Americans.

“I think in America everyone is too busy for God and religion,” Wolf said. “It’s so materialistic here that there is no need for God. In poorer countries it’s not like that.”

Stone, who did mission work in Mexico last summer, said she thinks Christians can learn a lot from the faiths of people in other countries.

“It’s important as Christians to see God working in other cultures, because God isn’t just working here,” she said. He’s working all over the world.”

Hill said one effect of the growth of Christianity in these countries is enculturation. This incorporates Christianity with the culture of the people of the region.

“In South Africa, one sees the rise of African Initiated Churches, which are a mixture of traditional African religious forms of dancing, singing, healing rituals and missionary Christian beliefs and worship practices,” he said.

Hill said it’s important for students to understand religion and life from different perspectives to become global citizens.

Bethany McCormack
b.s.mccormack@student.tcu.edu