Class reflection

In today's class, we addressed some of the questions and thoughts the stemmed from the Missiology lecture last week. On the topic of how diversity is fostered in these "Fresh Expression" church movements, we learned that the small gatherings that form out of similar interests (surfers, youth, pub churches) are still connected to the larger body of the Anglican church. And justice is at the heart of the church plants. So there may not appear to be diversity, but the entire larger network has great diversity.
Our lecture then dealt with the movement of Catholicism around the world. The Portuguese sent voyagers south into West Africa, where they established themselves and the church, taking the natives as slaves. The faith was always viewed as the white person's religion and was imposed on them. However, time has healed wounds, and Africa now accounts for 10-15% of the worldwide Catholic population. In Asia, several sincere leaders, such as Francis Xavier and Matteo Ricci, brought Catholicism to the people. And in Latin America, of course, is the largest population of Catholics. The Catholic church does not seem to be in decline in any part of the developing world, largely due to charismatic movements that are rising in these areas.