Toward a Paracletic Koinonia: Promoting the Transformative Relational Aspects of Fellowship on the Indian Mission Field of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod

Abstract

The two-fold purpose of this missiological study is first, to engage in scriptural/theological study on paracletic koinonia based on a reflective ethnographic description of Christ Evangelical Lutheran Ministries (CELM), which is the Indian mission field of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS), and second, to derive missiological implications for the sake of promoting transformative relational aspects of fellowship between the WELS and its partner church in India.

I recently served as a WELS missionary to India for six years, during which time I experienced the challenges of working in true partnership with the national church that had become increasingly dependent on the financial subsidy they received from WELS. Meanwhile, Covid-19 restrictions and Indian government interference hampered my ability to be physically present on the mission field I was called to serve. I began to wonder what fellowship might look like if missionaries could no longer walk side-by-side with our partners in India. I also questioned whether the relationship that existed between the two church bodies and their representatives faithfully followed the pattern established for koinonia in the New Testament.

In this study, then, I provide a reflective ethnographic description of Christ Evangelical Lutheran Ministries in India and its relationship to the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. I then used the historical-grammatical-exegetical hermeneutic approach for a theological reflection on the theme of koinonia throughout the New Testament, and particular in the letters of Paul. Finally, I derived missiological implications from that theological reflection for the relationship between WELS and CELM as they continue to partner in the work of the gospel in India.