Church Mission Society (CMS) CEO Andy Roberts has called for a “radical realignment” of global mission, with greater shared leadership and a renewed focus on discipleship and overlooked communities.

Andy Roberts who was speaking to mark his first year in the role, said the world urgently needs the good news of Jesus Christ, but that Christian mission must move beyond traditional Western-led models.

He called for Western organisations to share power, listen to others and recognise that leadership does not always need to come from the West: “At a time when the UK and the wider world is beset by unrest, fractured communities, economic volatility and climate change, the world desperately needs the good news of Jesus”, he said.

Roberts said the “mission map” is changing and increasingly taking place in multiple directions, with Christians from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East helping shape the global Church: “Today a missionary might be an African serving in Europe, a Middle Eastern Christian reaching fellow Arabic speakers in Britain, an Asian Christian following migration networks across continents”.

Making clear that CMS remains committed to “the edges” – people affected by conflict, Indigenous communities, migrants and pioneers creating Christian communities beyond traditional church settings – Roberts said they are often under-resourced and overlooked, but “this is where God is on the move and where again and again, I see surprising signs of life.”

Roberts also highlighted the need for deeper discipleship, warning that Christianity can become an identity or Sunday activity without transforming everyday life.

“Deep discipleship changes how we use money, how we exercise power, how we treat people who are different from us, how we respond to injustice and what we are willing to give our lives to,” he said.

Roberts conluded that the challenge is to remain committed to making disciples while rethinking who leads and how mission is carried out: "Jesus has always been rather good at disturbing those assumptions. I suspect he isn't finished with ours yet”.