The Centre for Church and Mission in the West (CCMW) brings together experts in the disciplines of practical theology, church polity and missiology who have a shared interest in the sustainable innovation of the church and its mission in the secularizing parts of the world. While drawing on a wide range of theological research traditions, the CCMW concentrates on the study and innovation of Christian practices, inside and outside the church. Working in an ecumenical spirit, the CCMW operates in the Reformed tradition with a view to renewing this tradition for the improvement of church practices, institutional policies and the mission of the Christian church in the West.
The Centre is based at and facilitated by the Theological University Utrecht (TU/U). Its members conform to the research-mission of the TU/U in order to direct their research at “God in the reality of his revelation”. From this broad approach, the CCMW wants to direct theological research to enrich the understanding of and practice within church and society in the context of the West. Its current research programme (2018-2023) is titled ‘Salvation in the 21st Century’.
The CCMW is one of the three spearheads of research in Utrecht (next to Centres for Neo-Calvinism and for Biblical Studies & Systematic Theology). All three Centres represent both crucial dimensions of the Reformed tradition in which the TU/U stands, and the historical strongholds of this particular University. In these areas the research from the TU/U can make a unique contribution to the wider field of Theology and Religious Studies. Rather than trying to be all things to all people, the TU/U has decided to concentrate its research in these three Centres and build mass around them by attracting interested partners from outside the TU/U – both institutions and individual scholars.
Director is Prof. dr. Stefan Paas (missiology). Vice-director is Prof. dr. Hans Schaeffer (practical theology). Expansion of the CCMW’s support base, both in partnerships and funding, is part of its policy. It is the CCMW’s ambition to develop into a major hub of (international) research into church and mission in the West.
For information about the programme, possible involvement in our research, and publications, please write to Prof. dr. Stefan Paas (spaas@tukampen.nl) or to Prof. dr. Hans Schaeffer (jhfschaeffer@tukampen.nl).
Information about memberships and partnerships can be requested at the director of the CCMW, Prof. dr. Stefan Paas (spaas@tukampen.nl).
Current partners:
