Includes bibliographical references and index.

The dynamics of ritual and ceremony: transforming traditional rites to their intended purpose / R. Daniel Shaw -- Theological ideals, cross-cultural realities: syncretism and hybridity in Christian culture crossings / William R. Burrows -- A folk-Costa Rican festival of reconciliation: El Baile de la Yeg©ơita / Osias Segura-Guzman -- The Simbu pig-kill festival and the Eucharist: a paradigm for building Christian community in the highlands of Papua New Guinea / Gabriel Kuman -- Jamaican Maroons seeking to confront the Kromante spirit: Manni, a 'elp wi need / Emmanuel Obaro Obasare -- The Korean ancestral rite: cultural significance and implications for Christian faith / Paul Mantae Kim -- Sacred feet, waewae tapu: pathway to cultural reconciliation in New Zealand / Bradford Haami -- Pagan rituals and Orthodox beliefs: hybridity, prayer, and worship in the Armenian Orthodox Church / Petros G. Malakyan -- Appendix: A modern friendship in ancient Armenian Orthodoxy: East Midwest / Dan Hopkins -- Indigenous Igbo worship in Nigerian churches: reconfiguration of worship and spiritual encounters / Chinaka S. DomNwachukwu -- A creative death ritual: receptor-oriented sense-making in Japan / Yoshiyuki Billy Nishioka -- Household spirituality in a messianic Jewish context: Shabbat as a ritual of renewal / Stuart Dauermann -- The smudge ceremony: inspiring faith in indigenous North Americans / Cheryl Bear -- Ancestors as a bridge for understanding Jesus: a case study of Sentanian biblical theologizing / Joshua Kurung Daimoi -- A house for God to live in: Indian manifestations that reflect Old Testament expressions / John Sanjeevakumar Gupta.

A necessary task of missionaries in recent decades has been to help local Christians "inculturate" or "contextualize" their faith, although the criteria for doing so often came from outside the context in which new believers developed their understanding of Christianity. Highlighting the voices of non-Western scholars, this work recognizes the importance of ritual and ceremony in the life of communities that seek to worship God in ways that reflect culturally appropriate responses to Scripture. The contributors -- some of missiology's leading lights -- discuss rituals, beliefs, and practices of diverse peoples, supporting the conclusion that orthodox Christianity is hybrid Christianity.