Thinking Indigenously: Applying an Old Missiological Principle in the New Europe
Indigeneity was an important principle at the genesis of the Protestant Missionary Movement: the idea that the gospel of Jesus Christ could and should indwell every culture and be expressed in forms that were meaningful to the peoples that received it.
Facing the challenge of communicating the Christian gospel to a largely secularised and multi-religious Europe, is it not time to frame the challenge of reaching Europeans as a missionary task, and to draw on the principles of indigeneity in doing so?
This article will explore the contested meaning of indigeneity and review its historical importance as a principle in Christian mission. It will then consider the implications of applying indigenous principles to mission in today’s Europe where native Europeans and Christians from the Majority World are working together to reach all those who call Europe home.
Indigenous: A Brief History of a Definition
The word indigenous— taken from the Latin indigena, meaning “native” or “sprung from the land”—has been used in English since at least 1588, when a diplomat referred to Samoyed peoples in Siberia as “Indigenæ, or people bred upon that very soyle.” The word was used not just for the people but for the flora and fauna as well.[1]
Europe’s native or indigenous peoples, often classified as Germanic, Romance, Slavic, Celtic, and others, are those who migrated and first settled in the westernmost part of the Eurasian landmass over many previous millennia. Whether we call them old-stock Europeans, autochthonous Europeans, or use any other phrase, these peoples have particular ethnicities and a cultural, linguistic, and historical background that distinguishes them from people from other parts of the world.
Most Europeans don’t like to think of themselves as indigenous. During the age of European Colonialism, words like indigenous and native became firmly associated with the new peoples and cultures that the European colonisers encountered and these were seen as primitive, pagan, and uncivilised. Even postcolonial critiques define indigenous peoples as the “disadvantaged descendants of the peoples that inhabited a territory prior to colonisation or the formation of the existing state”.[2]
Ultimately, this definition became the dominant one such that a United Nations Factsheet could declare: “It is estimated that there are more than 370 million indigenous people spread across 70 countries worldwide. Practicing unique traditions, they retain social, cultural, economic and political characteristics that are distinct from those of the dominant societies in which they live.”[3]
Yet Europeans also have unique local traditions and characteristics that distinguish them from each other and from the rest of the world. Every nation, city, town, and village has a precious cultural heritage and, as life is increasingly globalised, these local cultural realities are felt to be more important not less.
“Europeans also have unique local traditions and characteristics that distinguish them from each other and from the rest of the world. ”
So how might indigenous Europeans and the millions of Majority World Christians who have come here in recent decades, best reach today’s Europeans? Before we answer that question, it is worth reminding ourselves of the importance of the concept of indigeneity for Christian mission.
Mission and Indigeneity
In mission studies, the concept of indigeneity goes all the way back to the 19th century when Henry Venn argued that the new churches that emerged from Protestant missionary endeavours needed to be self-governing, self-supporting, and self-propagating. These principles of indigeneity were tremendously influential and were developed further by John Nevius, Hudson Taylor, and Roland Allen. Latterly, a fourth dimension of indigeneity was added - that of self-theologising – for a true inculturation of the gospel also requires the development of indigenous theologies.[4]
However, this is the story “from above” and it ignores the true protagonists, the legion of nameless local indigenous pioneers who wrestled with the daily challenge of communicating the gospel and establishing Christian communities at the frontiers of mission. It was the General Secretary of the Church Mission Society, Henry Venn who popularised the principles of indigeneity, but it was the local Nigerian bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther who turned the principles into practice as he led the Niger Mission and served as “Bishop of the countries of Western Africa beyond the Queen’s dominions.”.[5]
Throughout the last two centuries, in Africa, in Latin America, and in Asia, the same phenomenon can be observed over and over again: “the work of the missionaries who originally carried the message is only the catalyst for the local activity of its reception, dissemination, and transformation in a new cultural and social context.”[6]
“the work of the missionaries who originally carried the message is only the catalyst for the local activity of its reception, dissemination, and transformation in a new cultural and social context.”
Andrew Walls, the Scottish theologian and mission historian, noted that throughout the history of the church two principles were in operation, what he called the Indigenising Principle and the Pilgrim Principle. In the former, he observed that the Christian faith has the ability to indwell every culture, to be expressed in a way that enables a believer to follow Christ whilst still remaining a member of society. Alongside this ability to “feel at home” in every culture, the pilgrim principle “whispers to him that he has no abiding city and warns him that to be faithful to Christ will put him out of step with his society; for that society never existed, in east or west, ancient time or modern, which could absorb the word of God painlessly into its system.”[7]
Another insight on indigeneity can be drawn from the writings of Lamin Sanneh, the Senegalese historian of Christianity in Africa. Sanneh differentiated between two modes of mission which he called diffusion and translation. Whereas diffusion involves the imposition of the originating culture, translation takes the message and adapts it to a new cultural and linguistic context such that its core message is received into the conceptual framework of a local culture. Against those who blame Christianity for the destruction of indigenous cultures around the world, Sanneh argues that in reality, "translation" has made Christianity a preserver, rather than a destroyer of indigenous languages and cultures. In its encounter with a new culture, the Christian faith is "vernacularised" so as to become understandable to the indigenous culture. [8]
As we conclude this review of the importance of indigeneity for Christian mission it is worth putting it in historical context. In 1910, about two-thirds of the world’s Christians lived in Europe. Fewer than one in ten lived in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Oceania, what we today call the Majority World. In 2025, the Majority World is home to 69% of all the Christians in the world and this is projected to reach 78% by 2050.[9]
There are places where Western theologies have been adopted uncritically, yet as the centre of Christianity has shifted from the West to the Majority World, contextual theologies have emerged to enrich global theological reflection. The vitality of Majority World Christianity is indisputable proof that Christianity has been effectively “translated” or indigenised wherever it has taken root.
“The vitality of Majority World Christianity is indisputable proof that Christianity has been effectively “translated” or indigenised wherever it has taken root. ”
Thinking Indigenously about Mission in Europe
Europe used to be a continent of emigration but over the last fifty years migrant flows have reversed. Poverty, war, and persecution have pushed people out of their countries of origin and peace, prosperity, flagging birthrates, and an ageing population have pulled millions of migrants into Europe. The number of international migrants residing in Europe has risen from 64 million in 2005 to 87 million in 2020 overtaking Asia and making it the largest destination for international migrants globally.[10]
As the 2024 Pew Research Centre research report on The Religious Composition of the World’s Migrants revealed, “Most of the world’s 131 million Christian migrants live in Europe (37%).”[11] That statistic alone, that there are almost 50 million Christian migrants in Europe, explains the extraordinary number of diaspora churches and intercultural churches in Europe today.
However, this fundamental change in the demographics of Europe overlays another reality: the religious context of Europe’s indigenous population, which is both secular and multi-religious, as Evert van de Poll observes:
“The near future is one in which religious and non-religious will live side by side. Both are here to stay, so they have to work together in society. The present situation is characterised by a plurality of worldviews, and by the renegotiation of the place of religion in the public sphere.” [12]
So how might indigenous thinking help us to communicate the gospel of Jesus Christ in the New Europe?
a. Thinking Indigenously: A Challenge for Every Age
Firstly, it is worth reminding ourselves that Christians have been wrestling with the challenge of communicating Christ to the peoples of Europe since the first century. Whether as a persecuted minority before Constantine, as part of sanctioned Roman missions to the “barbarians”, or through indigenous European missionaries during the Age of Saints, the origin story of the church in Europe is a story of the “translation” of the Christian gospel into Europe’s indigenous cultures. This edition of Vista includes a number of articles which describe ways in which native Europeans are working to reach their own peoples, and many of these articles make reference to the saints who pioneered indigenous mission in their respective countries.
“The origin story of the church in Europe is a story of the “translation” of the Christian gospel into Europe’s indigenous cultures”
More than twenty-five years have passed since Lesslie Newbigin, after returning from India and discovering the new spiritual context in Britain, called for a “missionary encounter with western culture”. [13] Since then, many native Europeans have wrestled with what that means in practice, whether through conventional church planting or more experimental missional initiatives. Yet the heart of Newbigin’s challenge was to adopt a missionary posture with respect to our culture: in essence, to apply indigenous thinking as we communicate the gospel to our culture, nation, and local context. Thinking indigenously is as vital for mission in Europe today as it always has been.
b. Thinking Indigenously: A Challenge for Diaspora Churches
Secondly, diaspora churches from the Majority World also face the challenge of indigenisation. The presence of thousands of Majority World churches in Europe isn’t having anything like the impact it should because so many of the church leaders are not able or willing to accommodate their churches to the culture and context.
African, Asian, and Latin American indigenous Christianity now finds itself planted in a different soil. As one Chinese church leader put it to me recently: ‘The Chinese diaspora churches are like beautiful flowers that have been planted in European soil, but they have forgotten to remove the pot.’
“Majority World Christians are today missionaries to the countries which once sent missionaries to them.”
Reverse mission is a contested phrase, but at the very least it expresses something of how mission has changed direction: Majority World Christians are today missionaries to the countries which once sent missionaries to them. However, if they are to reach indigenous Europeans, Majority World Christians in Europe will have to exercise the same indigenous principles that were once necessary for the gospel to take root in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. They too must learn to think indigenously, not least because second and third generation migrants often have more cultural affinity with their host culture than with the culture of their parents and grandparents. The impact of the diaspora churches on the re-evangelisation of Europe will largely be a function of how successful they are in making this transition from African, Asian, and Latin American churches to hybrid intercultural churches where Europeans and Majority World Christians both feel at home.
c. Thinking Indigenously: The Power of Language
Third, we cannot ignore how power dynamics impact indigenous mission. Again, this is nothing new. We might look back to the early centuries where indigenous European churches and missions were often in conflict with the all-powerful Roman church. Or we might reflect on the colonial period where Europeans often frustrated the efforts of indigenous missionaries, such as the aforementioned Samuel Ajayi Crowther whose successful Niger Mission was dismantled around him and returned to European leadership and control. However, for the sake of space, I will limit my comments to one particular issue: the power of language.
English has become the dominant global language of our age, yet Europe has more than 30 national languages and between 200 and 300 minority languages. Sadly, the translation of theological and missiological reflection is largely in one direction, from English into these other languages. Thinking indigenously requires us to foster local theological and missiological reflection and to find ways to bring that thinking into the Anglosphere so that it can be shared with others.
Linguistic dominance is also impacting Christian worship. English language songs, often imported from North America, are rapidly translated into other European languages pushing out indigenous worship music. This doesn’t only happen in English. When my wife and I went to Spain in 1994 as missionary church planters, many churches sang local Christian worship songs which had been written in a flamenco style which really connected with people in the rural towns of Andalucia where we were working. Sadly, over the last 25 years, many churches have abandoned Spanish indigenous music in favour of Latin American songs and increasingly North American songs translated into Latin American Spanish.
“English language songs, often imported from North America, are rapidly translated into other European languages pushing out indigenous worship music.”
Thinking indigenously requires us to resist these linguistic power dynamics and to preserve local music written in the indigenous language and musical style.
d. Thinking Indigenously: The limits of Interculturality
The demographics of migration mean that, even when we put diaspora churches aside, many European churches in our urban centres are increasingly intercultural. This is a very positive development. At a time when populist nationalism[14] is fostering anti-migrant rhetoric in many European countries, intercultural churches are a sign of the Kingdom where “us” and “other” come together to worship the risen Saviour: “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28)
The church is intercultural by definition. However, intercultural churches will not reach everyone, not least because in many rural parts of Europe, the population is still more than 90% indigenous European. In such contexts, an intercultural church will still be seen by many as “a church for foreigners”.
We are right to celebrate the intercultural nature of the church, but thinking indigenously requires us also to plant churches that connect with indigenous Europeans and conserve indigenous European culture. Can we prove Lamin Sanneh right: that Christianity can be a preserver, rather than a destroyer of indigenous languages and cultures, even in Europe?
Indigenous European churches, intercultural churches, and diaspora churches from the Majority World must find spaces for fellowship and mutual learning and ways to express our shared identity in Christ. For our cultural diversity reflects something of God’s creative majesty, in all its technicolour multilingual and multicultural glory.
“Whether we are indigenous missionaries or foreign missionaries to Europe, or Majority World Christians in Europe, the task of reaching today’s Europeans is a cross-cultural one”
An Old Principle for the New Europe
Someone who is indigenous to a particular place has a special connection to the location and community. They understand the culture, the values, and the shared convictions of the people who live in that place. As a result, the proclamation and demonstration of the gospel will more easily take on local forms. The challenge for all of us who seek to share the gospel there, whether we are indigenous Europeans who have come from another place, or whether we have come from further afield, is to take that challenge seriously and to think indigenously.
The principles of indigenous mission were developed in the Colonial Age. They are an old way of thinking. Yet, as this article has sought to illustrate, we should not be too quick to dismiss them. Whether we are indigenous missionaries or foreign missionaries to Europe, or Majority World Christians in Europe, the task of reaching today’s Europeans is a cross-cultural one. Thinking indigenously is essential for all of us.
Jim Memory is Co-Regional Director of the Lausanne Movement in Europe and lecturer in European Mission at All Nations Christian College (UK)
Endnotes
[1] Singh (2023), “It’s time to rethink the idea of the “indigenous”” in The New Yorker, 20th Feb 2023, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/02/27/its-time-to-rethink-the-idea-of-the-indigenous, Accessed 12/6/25
[2] Sarivaara, et al (2013), “Who is Indigenous? Definitions of Indigeneity” in European Scientific Journal, Volume 1, pp.369ff., https://eujournal.org/index.php/esj/article/view/2317/2190 , Accessed 12/6/25
[3] United Nations (2015), UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues Factsheet, https://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/5session_factsheet1.pdf, Accessed 12/6/25
[4] Bosch (1991), Transforming Mission, Orbis: Maryknoll, pp.452-457
[5] Walls (1992), The Legacy of Samuel Ajayi Crowther, International Bulletin for Missionary Research, Vol.16. No.1, https://doi.org/10.1177/239693939201600104, Accessed 20/6/25
[6] Kim and Kim (2016), Christianity as a World Religion: An Introduction 2nd Ed., Bloomsbury: London, p.12
[7] Walls (1996 ), “The Gospel as Prisoner and Liberator of Culture” in The Transmission of Christan Faith, Orbis: Maryknoll, p.19
[8] Sanneh (2009), Translating the Message: The Missionary Impact on Culture: 42, American Society of Missiology, Orbis: Maryknoll
[9] Zurlo, G. A., Johnson, T. M., & Crossing, P. F. (2025). World Christianity 2025: Regional Perspectives. International Bulletin of Mission Research, 49(1), 62-74 https://doi.org/10.1177/23969393241283291, Accessed 12/6/25
[10] Lausanne (2024), State of the Great Commission Report: Europe Regional Report, https://lausanne.org/report/europe, Accessed 12/6/2025
[11] Pew (2024), The Religious Composition of the World’s Migrants, 19th August 2024, https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2024/08/19/the-religious-composition-of-the-worlds-migrants/, Accessed 13/6/25
[12] Van de Poll (2019), “Secular and Multi-Religious: Welcome to the SMR Society”, Vista Journal, Vol.32, Jan 2019, https://vistajournal.online/latest-articles/secular-and-multi-religious-welcome-to-the-smr-society, Accessed 18/6/25
[13] Newbigin (1985), “Can the West be Converted?” in Princeton Seminary Bulletin, 6 (1), pp.25-37, https://newbiginresources.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/85cwbc.pdf, Accessed 20/6/25
[14] Vista has dealt extensively with populist nationalism in previous editions, see Vista 1 (2010), Vista 22 (2015) and Vista 45 (2024) https://vistajournal.online/