Portland Seminary

As an American, and a missionary of various shades among my own Native American peoples for 30 years, I have observed as much about Western (White) culture in North American missions as I have among the many Indigenous tribal cultures. This article is meant to provide an opportunity for a self-critique of Western missionary culture, particularly concerning some of the roots of colonial and neo-colonial practices of mission in the United States. In other words, I want to provide an opportunity for us to learn how those who have been the recipients of North American mission the longest may understand Western missionary culture. The most blatant contrast of Western missionary culture compared to Indigenous cultures is hierarchy as the structural norm. Hierarchical structures do not intuitively generate equality. Such structures require power to be used over the other in order to retain power and maintain homeostasis. By diminishing notions of dignity in the (subaltern) other, whether t...

THE HARMONY WAY:" INTEGRATING INDIGENOUS VALVES WITHIN NATIVE NORTH AMERICAN THEOLOGY AND MISSION by Randy Stephen Woodley Given that Western models of mission have failed among Native Americans and that colonial practices have devastated native communities, this research sought a better way of pursuing Christian mission among Native Americans by asking two questions: (1) Do Native American have a generally shared set of values that could guide the construction of new models for mission in North American Native communities, and, if so, to what degree are these values shared among Native American communities? and, (2). What resources (particularly values) are available within the Native American communities themselves for developing appropriate models of mission and could such resources be developed into authentic, integral mission models? I began the project with a three-pronged framework from a biblical/theological construction of shalom, a contextually based anthropologically...

S abbath is a biblical concept long misunderstood and misconstrued. From Sabbath police still operating in the spirit of New England Puritans who punished violators of blue laws, to Christians who ignore Sabbath or reduce its observance to going to church on Sunday, people are confused about the true spirit of Sabbath. Yet our Scriptures stress the importance of Sabbath and offer instruction about its meaning and guidance for its observance. From this source, from nature itself, and from Sabbath parallels in the tradition of Indigenous North American peoples, we can learn vital perspectives and practices crucial for the restoration of our health and the well-being of all creation. Biblical Sabbath Some Old Testament scholars see the Sabbath commandment as the hinge on which the other nine commandments swing. According to Walter Brueggemann, the first three of the Ten Commandments differentiate God (YHWH) from the gods of Egypt, and the society God intends for Israel from an Egyptian culture of never-ending work. The final six commandments explain what true rest in God looks like. Brueggemann points to the stark contrast between biblical Sabbath and the production-driven ratrace culture of ancient Egypt and also of our time and place. The fourth commandment looks back to the first three commandments and the God who rests (Exod. 20:3-7). At the same time, the Sabbath commandment looks forward to the last six commandments that concern the neighbor (vv. 12-17); they provide for rest alongside the From Scripture, from nature, and from Sabbath parallels in the tradition of Indigenous North American peoples, we can learn perspectives and practices crucial for the restoration of our health and the wellbeing of all creation.

The fourth-century battle over the interpretation of a single developed trinitarian theology laid the groundwork for numerous binary trajectories, with some resulting in Christian imperialism. Western Christianity's early preoccupation with divine ontology, coupled with the military might of the Christian empire and the West's inability to hold the mystery of God in tension, has beleaguered Christians and other monotheists for centuries. An Indigenous understanding of the divine shalom community may offer different choices that are perhaps closer to the constructed understandings of Trinity held by early followers of the Christ. In their various perceptions, early Jewish Christians recognized and acknowledged a place in their worldview for a trinitarian construct without the trappings of extrinsic categorization or the bur1 . Shalom, as used in Scripture, is a very broad theological construct. I am using it according to Walter Brueggemann's model, which he describes as f...