POLYCENTRIC MISSION

In 2016, I attended the Lausanne Movement’s Young Leaders Conference. Two speakers addressed us on the “state of global Christianity.” In the middle of their presentation, they showed us a world map that I won’t soon forget: arrows pointing from everywhere to everywhere. That map illustrated a reality I was becoming increasingly aware of: Today, mission means going from everywhere to everywhere!

The missiologist Alan Yeh defines polycentric mission very precisely: “Polycentric simply means ‘many centres’, and this describes God’s global mission very well. […] From the very beginning, Christian DNA contained neither a geographical centre, nor an ethnic majority, nor a linguistic monopoly, nor a sacred language.”¹

As Swiss people who are familiar with federalism, I believe we intuitively understand what this means: power should not be concentrated in one single place; rather, everyone should have a voice. However, in large mission organisations, things often look very different.

¹ Allen Yeh, “What is Polycentric Mission?” [online], URL: https://missionexus.org/emq/section/articles-section-emq/what-is-polycentric-mission/, accessed 22 June 2026.

Our God is a missionary God. In everything He does and says, He reveals Himself. He calls us to follow Him; He gives us the strength to forgive, to be reconciled, and to tell others about this power of grace, which He generously bestows upon those who acknowledge Him as Lord and Saviour. And one of the most important tools He uses for mission is the Bible.

This story tells of people who set out from one place to another (Abraham, the people of Israel, the Apostles, etc.), often in the shadow of great empires, to be a blessing and to proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God. And of missionaries who must rethink their understanding of biblical revelation in the light of God’s (often surprising!) workings in the world.

Mission historians point out that Christianity is the only religion whose most important book was written in a language that its founder did not speak. The Christian faith is translated, embraced, reimagined, and takes on new forms every time it encounters new realities. And today, these realities are often devoid of economic or social power and are frequently shaped by oral culture. There are many Christians who do not belong to any educational or missionary institution and who feel called to their fellow human beings or to distant lands, driven by the Holy Spirit to bear witness in word and deed wherever they happen to be. Even when wars and other crises force them to flee. To put it briefly: The history and present reality of the Church and mission prove that neither power nor money is needed to be aware of one’s mission in the world.

For those of us living in the West, this is, on the one hand, a time to reflect on the mission stories we tell ourselves, as well as on the mission models we may have internalized and that we need to question (young people, for example, are strongly influenced by the accusation of “colonialism” leveled against mission organizations). On the other hand, this is also a time to simply note, with wonder and gratitude, that God is not yet finished with mission. That He continues to awaken callings so that brothers and sisters may come to stand by our side, ensuring that the Gospel continues to be proclaimed and lived out in a West that no longer sends out many missionaries. To put it another way: Today, it is the global church that sends out the most missionaries. That is where the “new centers” are located, even if the “decision-making and financial centers” are often still in the West.

2 The term “Majority World” refers to the regions where the majority of the world’s population and of Christians live today, such as Africa, Asia, Latin America, and parts of the Pacific region.

3 Allen Yeh, “What is Polycentric Mission?” [online], URL: https://missionexus.org/emq/section/articles-section-emq/what-is-polycentric-mission/, accessed June 22, 2026.

For the rest of us missionaries, it is crucial to ensure, whenever possible, that polycentric mission is also a polyphony (a harmony of many voices). That more and more voices may speak out on what mission means today, and that mission reports deal not only with what missionaries do, but also with what God does for and through the people to whom the missionaries have been sent. May our testimonies and reports honor the work of the Holy Spirit in places we might spontaneously regard as “peripheral.” Polycentric mission is subversive: it recognizes neither the imperial logics of yesterday nor those of today, whether financial or political in nature. It remains the story of a kingdom that grows like a mustard seed but will one day culminate in the extraordinary diversity described in Revelation 7. Why shouldn’t we prepare for this now and invite others to join us in this wonder?

The “polycentric mission” movement, “From Everywhere to Everywhere,” is transforming the way God’s mission takes place today and how we participate in it. For the SMG, polycentric mission is a matter close to our hearts: We believe that God’s global church needs one another in all its diversity. For example, post-Christian Europe can benefit from the passion and dynamism of mission movements from the “Majority World.” We humbly acknowledge that some of our missionaries and partner organizations are already part of this trend. Together, we make Christ visible worldwide—as proclaimed at “Lausanne 4”: “Let us proclaim and embody Christ together.”