Larry W. Caldwell, Marty Shaw, Jr., and Enoch Wan, eds. New Frontiers in Missiology: Exploring Innovation, Global Shifts, and the Future of Mission. Littleton, CO: William Carey Publishing. 228 pp. 2025.

Published by the Evangelical Missiological Society (EMS), New Frontiers in Missiology: Exploring Innovation, Global Shifts, and the Future of Mission is a publication dedicated to exploring new shifts and innovations for the future of mission. The Evangelical Missiological Society is an organization of professionals committed to supporting the Great Commission with scholarly resources. This book adds to current missiological discussion by exploring emerging challenges and possibilities in global mission, such as AI, gaming as a mission field, interplanetary mission, urbanization, and animistic practices in Islam that are certain to shape the future of missiology. The editors divide the book into three parts, each containing twelve chapters written by sixteen contributors.

Part One is dedicated to foundational issues and includes a discussion on the shift of Christianity from the Global North to the Global South while introducing two new paradigms for approaching mission. The first is the concept of “missional imagination,” introduced as a means of innovation for God’s kingdom purposes. The second paradigm, “apostolic imagination,” is proposed to clarify the church’s confusion about its purpose, identity, and mission language. Part Two of the book, “The Future is Now,” proposes new “frontiers” in mission, such as Artificial Intelligence, online gaming, and interplanetary missions. Finally, Part Three identifies areas for equipping future missionaries and missiologists, including animistic practices within Islam, mobilizing Generation Z, urbanization, and more.

I appreciate the EMS for identifying future challenges to mission with optimism and eagerness. The two articles on Artificial Intelligence are noteworthy, as this technology is rapidly being forced on us. The fulfillment of the Great Commission is the underlying principle of this journal, as stated in the EMS’s mission statement. Thus, every new “frontier” is a potential space for making disciples; the assumption is that we should take every opportunity for evangelization. If this is not a guiding principle of a reader’s missiology, this fundamental commitment will color the reading of this book, operating as the basic concern throughout.

Much of the language is entrepreneurial and business-laden. For example, the article “The Final Frontier of Mission” discusses the ambitions of billionaires Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos for space tourism and that “evangelicals should eagerly seek opportunities to follow their neighbors into space to bear witness to Christ there” (108). Although the article briefly raises critiques of the ethics and concerns of interplanetary travel, such as climate change, the weaponization of space, etc., these concerns are brushed aside as secular, progressive thought (98). The fundamental rationale is that “if we are sending sinners into space… we should send missionaries to proclaim the gospel to this new frontier.” (98). In the article “Gaming as a New Frontier in Missiology,” the online gaming world is proposed as a potential missiological space for engaging gamers from around the world—for the sake of the Great Commission. The authors, while writing about the time and money gamers invest in games, say, “While some may view countless hours spent in virtual worlds as frivolous, Christians can recognize this dedication as a form of passion and commitment” (87). Later, a way Christians can engage with gamers online is through social media and influencer outreach. The authors recommend that churches dedicate their resources to these things (91–92). They note how this content is created to “capture the attention” of their audiences (92). The authors give no consideration to how the virtual world is forming us or to whether mission should engage in technology that is increasingly stealing our attention and disconnecting us.

The authors seek to address these global and technological shifts creatively; however, for Christians, theologians, and missiologists, foundational questions remain. How do these technologies form us spiritually? What does it mean to be human? What are the purposes of these technologies? Do they bring life? Or do they disembody, foster addiction, and isolate? The authors miss the larger questions of how to approach these issues as people who live life with God. The means do not always justify the ends, and mission is just as much about the kind of people we are becoming as it is about someone else becoming a disciple of Christ. How we do mission matters just as much, if not more, than the results. The two articles on AI maintain a healthy skepticism of this new technology, noting the ways our calling “defies mere efficiency” (68). The church must be an alternative, embodied community in a world that I believe will soon be weary of the virtual and the ways it dehumanizes us.

Two articles that bring awareness to the challenge of mission in today’s world are “The Urbanization of the Mission Frontier” and “St. Paul Hiebert’s or Ours? New Frontiers in Missionary Anthropology and the Advancement of the Great Commission.” Both articles note a global shift toward urbanization and highlight how old missional paradigms need to be updated with current anthropological insights. Many cross-cultural workers are no longer working in mono-ethnic environments and find themselves swimming in a sea of diversity and globalization as a result of diaspora. Working in such an environment, I recognize that my mission training centered on serving mono-ethnic groups. Of course, theory is never perfect in practice, but I had to think creatively about my work when interacting with multiple cultures and linguistic groups. I do not think old mission paradigms are outdated, but we need to think theologically and creatively in a diverse, highly globalized world. For those serving in urban environments, New Frontiers in Missiology helpfully identifies areas such as those mentioned in this book that the church will face in the future. May God make us a people that listen to his voice to respond thoughtfully and faithfully.