Editorial 7.1

Sometimes remarkable things happen even to journal editors!Without even trying, a kind of informal Special Issue from Africa has emerged from recent submissions to the journal.Thus, all eight articles in this first Issue of 2026 are written by Africans, from West and South Africa, and taken together they represent wisdom, critical theological insight, and challenge not only to and for Africa, but much further afield as well.While we might only lament the lack of any female authors, there is a breadth of contribution from Catholic, mainstream Protestant, and Pentecostal traditions addressing a wide range of issues pertinent to the future of the local and universal Church in every place.Thus, we have critiques and theological reflection on "reverse mission", African informal saving schemes, burial and cemetery practices, missionary passion and suffering, local, parish-based ecclesiology and mission, plus the importance of grounding all this in the Eucharist.The first two articles (and the last two) in this issue are providentially paired together, and I invite readers to study them alongside each other.Thus, we begin with critiques of the term "reverse mission" from two quite different denominational and theological perspectives, the Catholic and the Pentecostal.Both agree on the inadequacy of "reverse mission" as a term to describe what happens when Christians migrate from the global South and take their place in the churches and societies of the North.Such critiques are not that new in some circles, however, what is fresh here are Catholic and Pentecostal theological reflections on the question.Januarius Asongu, who is based for his work in both Cameroon and Sierra Leone, notes the kairos moment we find ourselves in, as mission and missionaries flow around the world in "missionary reciprocity".Evidence from the USA, Ireland, Germany, and Italy backs up the argument for a "polycentric Catholic Communion" characterized by a maturation in the worldwide Christian faith.Solomon Kgatle, from South Africa (and our Editorial Board), reframes reverse mission as "multidirectional mission", and thereby offers a nuanced lens for understanding global flows of Christianity, particularly in Pentecostal and diaspora contexts.The use of concrete examples (from the Redeemed Christian Church of God, the Church of Pentecost, and the Apostolic Faith Mission) makes his framework tangible to readers of Ecclesial Futures coming from both the academy and the grass-roots of churches.The article also challenges