에클레시아[ecclesia (ἐκκλησία)]의 성경적 개념과 오늘날 현대교회 의 차이를 다루는 교회 문헌의 세 가지 경향을 밝힌 연구에 기초하여, 본 연구는 교회가 성경적 에클레시아와 약간 다른 조직이라는 것을 인정하는 네번째 접근을 취하고 있다. 본 연구에서는 성경적 에클레시아의 형태, 기능, 목적을 탐구하기 위해 신약의 에클레시아를 분석하고 구약의 카할 [qahal ( קה ל )]과 연결한다. 천국과 그 계시에 연결되어 성령의 인도 하에 이 땅에서 사는 것뿐 아니라 예루살렘과 유다의 한계를 넘는 에클레시아의 팽창을 조사한다. 에클레시아에 적용되는 성전, 몸, 신부의 비유뿐만 아니라, 성경적 에클레시아의 단일성과 다양성을 관찰하고 논의한다. 본 연구의 결론은 남한과 북한의 선교적 관계와 아시아의 다른 현대적 접근을 참고하여 논의된다.

This article discusses and evaluates the ministry of an American laywoman missionary Mary Fletcher Scranton and her son William Benton Scranton, who founded the JungDong Hospital, SangDong Hospital, AhHyun Church, SangDong Church, and DongDaemoon Church. The writer first starts with the following questions: “How did they define their identity as a missionary?” The writer answers it in terms of their motive to apply for missionary and their direction for mission. Second, “What was their motive, method, and purpose of mission?” Third, “What was the heritage that they bequeathed to us and what lessons can we learn from?” Answering the above questions, the writer concludes missiological implications based on his research. In particular, he provides evidence supporting that Mary and William Scranton, as apposed to other western missionaries during that time era, did not try religious colonialization and did not intend to ingrain the western civilization into Korean society. In spite of the dangers they faced, they entered into Korea with strong aspirations of missions and in concretely have contributed to building the foundation for the evangelization of Korea by planting local churches and hospitals. The biggest contribution of Mary Scranton's ministry was to challenge the sexual discrimination imposed by Confucianist beliefs, by first starting a new school for women, and thus implanting a spirit that women can work cooperatively with men, not as an inferior, but as a partner, with equal rights. With the love of Christ, William Scranton also did his best to care for the poor and the weak by building new hospitals and pharmacies. In a word, Mary and William Scranton chose Korea to actualize their vision for world mission, and lived a successful life as the Christ’s disciples by understanding the history and culture of Korea and by serving for the poor people in Korea. In spite of their just and healthy motives, method, and purpose for their mission, they, like other western missionaries in that era, lacked to provide the missional church model to Korean Christianity. We cannot learn simply out of their deep dedication and desire to develop the missional church in Korea, enlarging the kingdom of God on earth and adapting to the Korean indigenous culture. This deficit came from their lack of missional theology, being simply lay missionaries, the Scrantons lacked the proper educational background in theology. Despite their deep passions, well intended will, and endless love of Christ, they were not able to grasp the bigger picture of the missional theology, thus falling short in accomplishing God's purpose for the Korean people and the world mission.