Saving the Overlooked Continent

Livestream Recharge Lezing 'Missie Europa. Naoorlogse Amerikaanse pogingen om West-Europa tebekeren', dinsdag 13 oktober 2020, 19:30 tot 21:00 uur How AmericanProtestant missionaries created a new worldwide religious networkAmong a wide spectrum of American Protestants, thehorrors of World War II triggered grave concern for Europe s religious future. They promptly mobilised resources to revive Europe s Christian foundation. Saving the Overlooked Continent reconstructsthis surprising redirection of Western missions. For the first time, Europebecame the recipient of America s missionary enterprise. The American missionary impulse matched the military, economic, and politicalprograms of the U.S., all of which positioned the United States to becomeEurope s dominant partner and point of cultural reference. One result was theimportation of the internal conflicts that vexed American Protestants theological tensions between modernists and traditionalists, and organisationalcompetition between established churches and independent parachurchassociations. Europe was offered a new slate of options that sparked civic andecclesiastical responses. But behind thesecontending religious networks lay a considerable overlap of goals and meansbased on a shared missionary trajectory. By the mid-1960s, most Protestant Americanagencies admitted that the expectation of a religious revival had been toooptimistic despite their initiatives having led to an integration of Europe inthe global evangelical network. The agencies reconsidered their assumptions andredefined their strategies. The initial opposition between inclusive andexclusive approaches abated, and the path opened to a sustained cooperationamong once-fierce opponents.This publication is GPRC-labeled (Guaranteed Peer-Reviewed Content).