Dr.
Wilfred Bellamy
ARP Synod Coordinator Addresses Erskine Seminary Missions Conference
Erskine Theological Seminary welcomed Dr. Wilfred Bellamy, coordinator for the ARP General Synod, as keynote speaker of the 2003 Missions Conference held Oct. 1 in Bowie Chapel. He challenged his audience to give up some misconceptions about missionary work, saying the idea of missions "automatically emerges in the life of the believer."
"The idea of missions is fundamental," said Bellamy. "Do you think you have to cross the ocean to become a proclaimer of truth?"
Bellamy, who spent 14 years as a missionary in Nigeria and founded the Fobur Bible School there, took as his general theme "Missions in Transition," speaking about "Missions in Focus" during the morning session and "Missions in Style" in the afternoon.
"If missions are not in transition, they're dying," said Bellamy. "The missionary movement of the church stands as an example of flexibility and mobility."
Bellamy said attention to missionary methods must not overshadow the purpose of missions. "We have been wooed into the methods and ways and means of the game," said Bellamy. "Therefore we have lost the impetus of the mandate."
In the second half of the 20th century, Bellamy asserted, the focus of missiology, the study of the church's mission, has been methodological rather than theological. "For nearly 50 years, we've been drawn into believing that if we get the method right, we'll get the job done," he said. "If we could call the church back to its theological roots, I believe the methodology would fall into place."
The 2003 Missions Conference is co-sponsored by Erskine Seminary and World Witness, the Board of Foreign Missions of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church.
Other speakers included the Rev. H. Neely Gaston, Vice President of Erskine Seminary, who welcomed students, speakers and guests; Dr. Douglas Culver, Professor of Old Testament at Erskine Seminary, who introduced Bellamy and offered a devotional; John Mariner of World Witness, who introduced two testimony speakers, Ali Mitchell and James Herring, who also serve with World Witness; and missionary Frank van Dalen, who participated with Bellamy, Culver and Herring in a concluding panel discussion moderated by Mariner.
In his devotional, Culver said the New Testament understanding of missions is based on the assumption that every Christian is a missionary, and if this is understood, "We'll remember that missionaries are models for what we are." Following his devotional, Culver introduced Bellamy, saying he had first heard the Englishman's Yorkshire-accented voice years ago in a church in Florida, but did not meet him until some time later.
"I found him not merely affable, but wise," said Culver, recalling Bellamy's "constant friendship and encouragement when I was reaching up to touch bottom."
Bellamy, a native of Yorkshire, England, has worked in the corporate world and holds a Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior. In addition to his years of service in Nigeria, he served as pastor of Thomson ARP Church, Thomson, Ga., and on the Board of World Witness before being named coordinator for the ARP General Synod in June 2002.
Mitchell, who works in Columbia, spoke about his experience with relational evangelism among Muslims. "We find that visiting the mosque is a good way to meet Muslims," he said, adding that it is important to befriend Muslim people and "find ways to be there at the tender moments of their lives."
Herring, a 1990 graduate of Erskine Seminary who has served as a missionary in Europe, said it took him many years to finish seminary and become a missionary, and during his struggles he had nearly given up. "John Mariner caught me in what I thought might be the last minutes of my life as an ARP," he said, alluding to his search for a missionary assignment.
