1. World Missionary
Conferences
Joshva

2. Places and Years
►Edinburgh (1910), Jerusalem (1928),
Madras (1938), Whitby (1947), Willingen
(1952), Ghana (1958), Mexico (1963),
Bangkok (1972), Melbourne (1980), San
Antonio (1989), and Salvador (1996). The
World Council of Churches assemblies were:
Amsterdam (1948), Evanston (1954), New
Delhi (1961), Uppsala (1968), Nairobi
(1975), Vancouver (1983), Canberra (1991)
and Harare (1998).

3. Five Major Themes Discussed
►Church and Mission,
►Mission and Unity,
►World, Mission and Church,
►The Kingdom of God and Mission,
►Mission and The World of Religions and
Cultures.

4. Issues step by Step in missions
►Separation of Church and Mission
►Ecumenical Results of the Mission

5. Edinburgh 1910
► "the evangelization of the world in this
generation",
► Of the 1400 participants, 17 came from the "third
world". Edinburgh was very carefully prepared in
thematic commissions and, despite quite
"progressive" debates in some of these, the
conference generally reflected a traditional
conservative approach to mission, linking the
proclamation of the "gospel to the heathens" with
the spread of Western civilization.

7. ► Edinburgh gave birth to the International Review
of Missions (whose first issue was published in
1912) and to a Continuation Committee which laid
the foundations for the creation of the
International Missionary Council (IMC) in 1921.
► There had been earlier major mission conferences,
but at Edinburgh, steps were taken towards a
certain institutionalization of cooperation between
Protestant mission councils. Edinburgh can not be
considered "ecumenical" in the present sense of
the word however, since there were no Catholic or
Orthodox delegates present. Of the 1400
participants, 17 came from the "third world".

8. Evangelising the non-Christian
►In discussing the Christian message to non-
Christian religions, the Edinburgh
conference was not concerned with working
out a relationship between Christianity and
other religions and cultures, but rather how
to win the non-Christians to Christ.

9. Edinburgh was a conference of mission
societies not of the church. However, as
Andrew Walls suggests “during its course the
missions became almost a surrogate
church. Delegates were experiencing a sense
of common purpose that they recognized
as belonging to the nature of the church, or
as a foretaste of what the church could
be.” Walls, Andrew F. The Cross-Cultural
Process in Christian History: Studies in the
Transmission and Appropriation of Faith.
Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 2002: 58.

10. ► Vedanayagam S. Azariah4 (1874-1945):
“Through all the ages to come the
► Indian church will rise up in gratitude to attest the
heroism and self-denying
► labours of the missionary body. You have given
your goods to feed the poor. You
► have given your bodies to be burned. We also ask
for love. Give us FRIENDS!”
► "The Problem of Co-Operation Between Foreign
and Native Workers,” World
► Missionary Conference, 1910; The History and
Records of the Conference Together
► with Addresses Delivered at the Evening Meetings,
(vol. 9), (Edinburgh & London:
► Oliphant, Anderson, & Ferrier, 1910): 315.

11. 4.9.2. K. Ibuka: Note the development of an
indigenous confession which addresses
the context of Japan, rather than the simple
transplantation of the Apostles
Creed. “The Problem of Co-Operation Between
Foreign and Native Workers,”
World Missionary Conference, 1910: 294-305.
4.9.3. John R. Mott: “The end of the Conference is
the beginning of the conquest. The
end of the planning is the beginning of the doing.”
“Closing Address,” World
Missionary Conference, 1910: 347.
4.9.4. Mott: Edinburgh was “the first attempt at a
systematic and careful study of the
missionary problems of the world.”

12. Andrew Walls Why Edinburgh is
important
►It differed in composition from the previous
conferences: it proportionally represented
the sending countries. Small non-western
representation
►ii. It was a consultation not intended to
advertise missionary activity or educate
non-missionaries

13. IMC constituted
► Function:
► 6.4.1. To stimulate thinking and investigation on
missionary questions
► 6.4.2. To make the results available for all missionary
societies and missions
► 6.4.3. To help co-ordinate the activities of the national
missionary organizations of the different countries and
of the societies they represent
► 6.4.4. To bring about Christian public opinion in support
of freedom of conscience and religion and of missionary
liberty
► 6.4.5. To help unite the Christian forces of the world in
seeking justice in international and inter-racial relations
► 6.4.6. To be responsible for the publication of the
International Review of Missions and such other
publications as in the judgment of the Council may
contribute to the study of Missionary questions
► 6.4.7. To call a world missionary conference if and when
this should be deemed desirable.5

14. Jerusalem 1928
►At the Jerusalem conference, two major
questions on mission emerged to which no
real consensus was found: the relation
between the Christian message and other
religions, and the theological interpretation
of Christian social and political involvement.
► The communist revolution of 1918 had
made the dream of evangelizing the whole
world within one generation unrealistic.

16. ►The first world war provoked by "Christian"
countries had profoundly challenged the
ideal of the Western civilization as an
embodiment of the gospel.

17. Church to church relationship
► The discussion at Jerusalem centred around the
relationship of such councils or missions to the
„home‟ church on the one hand and to the
indigenous (younger) churches on the other. The
dealings of the missionary societies with the
indigenous churches were through these missions
or councils. At Jerusalem, the younger churches
desired a direct link between them and the
societies and the churches they represented. They
desired a church to church relationship.

18. ► The discussion of the Christian message in
Jerusalem centered on two major issues. First was
the antithesis between those on the one hand
(mainly Continentals) who wanted to stress the
absolute uniqueness of the Gospel revealed in
Jesus Christ, and those on the other hand (some
of the Anglo-American) who had been influenced
by the comparative study of religions and did not
want to overlook the religious values in the non-
Christian religions.
► The other issue had to do with the difference of
opinion over the social responsibility and concern
of the church in the world. These differences
reflected the outlook of the delegates on the
motives, purpose, and goals of mission. In such a
situation the drafting of the message of the
Assembly was not easy.

19. Three Selfs
►According to Henry Venn, Secretary of the
Church Missionary Society in the nineteenth
century, the missionary aim should be to
help the Christian communities in the
mission field to grow into self-supporting,
self-propagating and self-governing
churches. At the end of the process, the
mission passes into a settled Christian
community.

20. Barth and theologians
► In 1918 Karl Barth published his Commentary on
the Epistle to the Romans. He pointed out mission
as an activity of God (1932[1957]). As liberalism
had reflected the optimism and humanism of the
19th century, so neo-orthodoxy23, to no small
degree, arose from the pessimism and the despair
begotten of the terrors of World War I. It
emphasised human sinfulness and the inability,
unaided, to discover God or to extricate oneself
from the horrors brought by one‟s depravity.

21. Tambaram 1938
►The third mission conference (the second
so-called "enlarged meeting" of the IMC)
took place in 1938 in Tambaram, near
Madras, India. In a world context where
peace was increasingly threatened by
fascist-type regimes (Germany, Italy,
Portugal, Spain, Japan), the discussions
focused on the importance and centrality of
the church (in particular the local church) in
mission.

22. ► Representatives from the so-called "younger"
churches were in the majority in Tambaram.
Tambaram also defended the ultimate truth of
the Christian message vis-à-vis other religions,
while advising missionaries to a listening and
dialoguing approach in practice.

23. ► It is the Church and the Church alone which can
carry the responsibility of transmitting the Gospel
from one generation to another, of preserving its
purity and of proclaiming it to all creatures.
► It is the Church and Church alone which can
witness to the reality that man belongs to God in
Christ with a higher right than that of any earthly
institution which may claim his supreme
allegiance. It is within the Church and the Church
alone that the fellowship of God‟s people receive
together the gifts He offers to His children in Word
and Sacrament.

24. ► For Henry Kramer, God‟s revelation in Jesus Christ
as recorded in the Bible is the fundamental
starting point and criterion of all Christian and
theological thinking. It is from this stand point
Kramer speaks about the Christian attitude
towards the non-Christian religions.
► For a Christian "the only standard of reference
can be the new and unmeasurable world which
has been revealed and made real by God in Jesus
Christ and His life and work, and which is
accessible to faith alone ... Christ, as the ultimate
standard of reference, is the crisis of all religions,
of the non-Christian religions and of empirical
Christianity. This implies that the most fruitful and
legitimate way to analyze and evaluate all religions
is to investigate them in the light of the revelation
of Christ".

25. ► Findings -We do not think that God has left
Himself without witness in the world at any time.
Men have been seeking Him all through the ages.
Often this seeking and longing has been
misunderstood. But we see glimpses of God‟s light
in the world of religions, showing that His yearning
after His erring children has not been without
response.
► Yet we believe that all religious insights and
religious experiences have to be fully tested before
God in Christ; and we see that this is true as well
within as outside the Christian Church. Christ is
revolutionary; He brings conversion and
regeneration when we meet Him, from whatever
point we may have started.87

26. Whitby 1947
►The 1947 IMC conference in Whitby,
Canada, was a small one. It reflected on the
fundamental changes in what was
considered a "revolutionary" world after the
shock of the second world war. There was a
need to rebuild not only countries, but also
relations between people who had been in
conflict.

27. ►The task of world evangelism starts today
from the vantage ground of a Church which,
as never before, is really world wide.... It is
working itself out today in a real partnership
between the older and younger churches.
The sense both of a common faith in Christ,
and of a common responsibility for an
immense and unfinished task, have brought
us out of the mists of tension and re-
adjustment to a higher level, from which we
have been able to see our world task in a
new perspective.

28. ►Whitby became famous for its slogan,
"partnership in obedience". The term
"partnership" had been used earlier, but it
received particular emphasis at Whitby.
Delegates abandoned the use of the
language of "Christian" and "non Christian"
countries, opening the way to new paths in
mission theology. They also insisted on the
importance of good relationships with the
new World Council of Churches, which was
to hold its first assembly in 1948.

29. Willingen 1952
► Mission is the purpose and action of the triune
God. Willingen is rightly considered to have had
the most lasting influence on ecumenical mission
theology. Indeed, the idea of missio Dei,that was
taken up in the follow-up of Willingen, proved to
be most creative. The strong emphasis on the
centrality of the church in mission (important since
Tambaram) was replaced by an enlarged
perspective that allowed an interpretation of world
events as determining factors for mission.

30. Hoekendijk
► To say that „the Church is the starting-point and
the goal of Mission‟ is after all only making a
phenomenological statement. It may well be that
we are so wrapped up in our church-centrism that
we hardly realise any longer how much our ideas
are open to controversy. Would it not be a good
thing to start all over again in trying to understand
what it really means when we repeat, again and
again, our favourite missionary text, „the Gospel of
the Kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the
Oikoumene - and attempts to re-think our
ecclesiology within this frame work of the kingdom
-gospel-Apostolate-world?

31. ► The Missionary movement of which we are a part
has its source in the Triune God Himself. Out of
the depths of His love for us, the Father has sent
forth His own beloved Son to reconcile all things to
Himself. that we and all men might, through the
Spirit, be made one in Him with the Father in that
perfect love which is the very nature of God.... We
who have been chosen in Christ, reconciled to God
through Him, made members of His Body, sharers
in His Spirit, and heirs through hope of His
Kingdom, are by these very facts committed to full
participation in His redeeming mission.

32. ► The next enlarged meeting of the IMC was in
Willingen, Germany, in 1952. Under the threat
of events in China to the traditional mission
enterprise, delegates rediscovered that mission
depends first and foremost on God‟s own
activity.

33. Achimota 1958
► In 1958, the IMC met in Achimota near Accra,
Ghana, and debated a proposal to unite with the
World Council of Churches, with which it shared
several programmes and enertained intensive
relations. The proposal was accepted by a great
majority, while certain theologically more
conservative mission councils refused to integrate
mission and church. They wanted to preserve
missionary freedom, and not become dependant
on ecclesiastical authorities and agendas.

35. New Delhi 1961
► In 1961, the "integration" of church and
mission - in practice of the IMC with the WCC -
became effective at the assemblies of New Delhi.
► The mission councils affiliated to the IMC became
affiliated to the Commission on World Mission and
Evangelism of the WCC (CWME, later called
Conference). The Division on World Mission and
Evangelism (DWME, later, Commission) took over
the programmatic work and responsibility of the
IMC, which ceased to exist.

36. ► From then on, the world mission conferences
could really be called "ecumenical" because of
the much larger denominational participation,
including Orthodox churches and, soon after
Vatican II, also Roman Catholic observers.

37. Mexico-city 1963
► In 1963, the first CWME met in Mexico-City
under the theme of "mission in six continents".
The perspective of mission was enlarged to
encompass all continents, and not only those of
the "south". Meeting during the first development
decade, the conference dealt intensively with
witness in a world where God was active, inviting
the churches to join in missio Dei. It was the time
of a psoitive appreciation of secularization and of
non-religious formulations of Christian faith and
action, in particular in the West.

39. Catholic documents -1965
► AD GENTES - Decree on the Mission Activity
of the Church - Second Vatican Council
► Ad Gentes is the Second Vatican Council's
Decree on the Missionary Activity of the
Church. Passed by the assembled bishops by
a vote of 2,394 to 5, it was promulgated by
Pope Paul VI on November 18, 1965. The
title is Latin for "To the Nations," and is
from the first line of the decree, as is
customary with Roman Catholic documents.

40. Ad Gentes
► Ad Gentes focused on the factors involved in
mission work. It called for the continued
development of missionary acculturation. It
encourages missionaries to live with the people
they are attempting to convert, to absorb their
ways and culture. It encourages the coordination
of mission work through agencies and the
cooperation with other groups and organizations
within the Catholic Church and other
denominations.

41. Lumen Gentium 1964
► Lumen Gentium, the Dogmatic Constitution
on the Church, is one of the principal documents
of the Vatican II. The Constitution was
promulgated by Pope Paul VI on November 21,
1964, following approval by the assembled
bishops by a vote of 2,151 to 5. (The full text in
English is available through the Holy See's
website.)
► As is customary with significant Roman Catholic
Church documents, it is known by its first words,
"Lumen Gentium", Latin for "Light of the Nations".

42. Nostra Aetate 1965
►Nostra Aetate is the Declaration on the
Relation of the Church with Non-
Christian Religions of the Second Vatican
Council. Passed by a vote of 2,221 to 88 of
the assembled bishops, this declaration was
promulgated on October 28, 1965, by Pope
Paul VI. The title means "In our Time" in
Latin and is from the first line of the
declaration as is customary with Roman
Catholic documents.

43. WCC‟s The church for others 1967
► The Church exists for the world. It is called to the
service of mankind. this is not an election to
privilege but to serving engagement. The Church
lives in order that the world may know its true
being. It is pars pro toto, it is the first fruits of the
new creation. But its center lies outside itself; it
must live ex-centrally. It must seek out those
institutions in the world that call for living
responsibly and there it must announce and point
to shalom, this ex-centric position of the Church
implies that we must stop thinking front the inside
towards the outside.

44. WCC‟s statement
► The Church is part of the world where God‟s
concern is recognized and celebrated. The Church
must be understood in its world-relation as an
expression of God‟s will that all men be saved (1
Tim. 2:3). This affirms its existence for all men
(pro-existence). In terms of God‟s concern for the
world, the Church is a segment of the World, a
postscript, that is, added to the world for the
purpose of pointing to and celebrating both
Christ‟s presence and God‟s ultimate redemption
of the whole world.

45. Geneva 1966
► As Christians we are committed to working for the
transformation of society. In the past, we have
usually done this through quiet efforts at social
renewal, working in and through established
institutions according to their rules. Today, a
significant number of those who are dedicated to
the service of Christ and their neighbor assume a
more radical or revolutionary position. They do not
deny the value of tradition or social order, but
they are searching for a new strategy by which to
bring about basic changes in society without too
much delay.

46. WCC 1969 UPPSALA
► Since Christ lived, died and rose again for all
mankind, catholicity is the opposite of all kinds of
egoism and particularism. It is the quality by
which the Church expresses the fullness, the
integrity and the totality of life in Christ. The
Church is Catholic, and should be catholic in all her
elements and in all aspects of her life, especially in
her worship. Members of the Church should reflect
the integrity and wholeness which is the essential
character of the Church.

47. ►The report also speaks of dialogue with
people of other faiths. In dialogue we share
our common humanity, its dignity and
fallen-ness, and express our common
concern for that humanity. It opens the
possibility of sharing in new forms of
community and common service. Each
meets and challenges the other; witnessing
from the depth of his existence to the
ultimate concerns that come to expressions
in word and deed.

48. Dialogue
► The meeting with men of other faiths or of no
faith must lead to dialogues. A Christian‟s dialogue
with another implies neither a denial of the
uniqueness of Christ, nor any loss of his own
commitment to Christ, but rather that a genuinely
Christian approach to others must be human,
personal, relevant and humble. In dialogue we
share our common humanity, its dignity and
fallenness, and express our common concern for
that humanity. It opens the possibility of sharing
in new forms of community and common service.

49. On Dialogue
►Dialogue and proclamation are not the
same. The one compliments the other in a
total witness. But sometimes Christians are
not able to engage either in open dialogue
or proclamation. Witness is then a silent one
of living the Christian life and suffering for
Christ.

50. WCC Bangkok 1972
► To the world he comes as the Lord of the
universe, with deep compassion for the poor and
the hungry, to liberate the powerless and the,
oppressed. To the powerful and the oppressors he
comes in judgement and mercy.
► Without the liberation of Churches and Christians
from their complicity with structural injustice and
violence, there can be no liberating Church for
mankind. We seek the Church which initiates
actions for liberation and support the work of
other liberating groups without calculating self-
interest.

51. Bangkok 1972/73
►The world mission conference of Bangkok,
at the turn of 1972/1973, became famous
for its holistic approach to the theme
"Salvation Today", encompassing its
spiritual as well as socio-political aspects,
without favouring one over the other.
Bangkok acknowledged the need for
contextual theologies and recognition of
cultural identity as shaping the voice of
those answering and following Christ.

53. ► The delegates struggled with situations of
exploitation and injustice expressed also in relations
between churches. In order to enable local churches
in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Pacific to set
their own priorities in witness, a temporary
"moratorium" on sending money and missionaries
from the North was proposed. An alternative
proposal for more justice in mission relations was
seen in the transformation of the Paris mission
society into a community of churches in mission
(called CEVAA).

54. ►World Congress on Evangelism (Berlin
1966)
►Asia-South Pacific Congress on
Evangelism (Singapore 1968)
► North American Congress on
Evangelism (Minneapolis 1969)
►Latin America Congress on Evangelism
(Bogota 1969)
► European Congress on Evangelism
(Amsterdam 1971)
Evangelical Groups Consultations

55. Wheaton Berlin 1966 Evangelical
groups
► And we remain convinced that, whatever the
social implications of the Gospel, our primary task
is to take this redeeming message of personal
salvation to every creature, and to use every
legitimate means for the evangelization of the
world in our generation.
► We may occasionally err in making our charges of
neo-universalism and syncretism against
individuals and organizations. We ourselves may
sometimes fail to present the Gospel in its biblical
fullness.

56. Evangelicals on 1966 On Ecumenism
►Today many voices call for organizational
Church union at the expense of doctrine
and practice (faith and order).
Denominational divisions are seen as the
great scandal of our day. Union becomes a
major objective. However, organizational
Church union of itself has seldom released a
fresh missionary dynamism, or upsurge of
missionary recruitment.

57. McGrvran
► If salvation today means political liberation, land
distribution, better pay for factory workers, the
downfall of the oppressive systems of
government, and the like, then the whole
apparatus of missions is rightly used to achieve
these ends. Evangelism will be downgraded.
Churching the unchurched will be neglected and
ridiculed. The airplane of missions will be directed
away from the propagation of the Gospel to the
establishment of utopias.

58. Lausanne Covenant 1974
Evangelical groups
►The Lausanne Covenant is a declaration
agreed upon by more than 2,300
evangelicals during the 1974 International
Congress to be more intentional about world
evangelization. Since then, the Covenant
has challenged churches and Christian
organizations to work together to make
Jesus Christ known throughout the world.

59. Nairobi Assembly WCC 1975
► The question was asked whether we can posit that
Jesus Christ is at work among people of other
faiths. Here opinions differed. Some stated as their
conviction that Jesus Christ as Savior is not
present in the other religions, although they
accepted the idea of a natural knowledge of God.
Others acknowledged the presence of the logoi
spermatikoi (scattered seeds of truth) in other
religions but stressed that only in Jesus Christ do
we receive fullness of truth and life. Others gave
first hand testimony that their own faith in Jesus
Christ had been greatly deepened and
strengthened through encountering him in
dialogue with those of other faiths. The point was
also made that the spirit works among people
outside Israel and outside the Church, and that
this spirit is one with the Father and the Son.

60. ► We affirm that God is both the creator and the
judge of all men. We therefore should share his
concern for justice and reconciliation throughout
human society and for the liberation of men from
every kind of oppression. Because mankind is
made in the image of God, every person,
regardless of race, religion, color, culture, class,
sex or age has an intrinsic dignity because of
which he should be respected and served, not
exploited. Here too we express penitence both for
our neglect and for having sometimes regarded
evangelism and social concern as mutually
exclusive.

61. Gaudium et Spes 1975
► Gaudium et Spes, the Pastoral Constitution
on the Church in the Modern World, was one
of the chief accomplishments of the Second
Vatican Council. Approved by a vote of 2,307 to 75
of the bishops assembled at the council, and was
promulgated by Pope Paul VI on December 8,
1965, the day the council ended. As is customary
with Catholic documents, the title is from the first
sentence and means "Joy and Hope" in Latin.

62. Evangelii Nuntiandi 1975
► The Apostoli letter Evangelii Nuntiandi of Pope
Paul VI. treats the Evangelisierung of the world
today and comes from 8 December 1975.
► In the first six chapters it describes Christ as
author of the Evangelisierung, the church and
their representative as carrier of the
Evangelisierung, beyond that their contents, ways,
methods and addressee, the listeners of the glad
message.

63. Evangelii…
► In the locking sieved chapter it concerns the spirit
of the Evangelisierung. It is to happen in Kraft of
the holy spirit, happen authentically and aim at
the unit in the faith. The truth obligated and by
the love inspired it is to have respect „before the
religious and religious situation of humans, who
one evangelisiert. Respect for their own life
rhythm, which one may not load over fee. Respect
for their conscience and their convictions, one not
to snub is “(EN 79).

64. Melbourne 1980
► The next CWME took place in Melbourne,
Australia, in 1980. Reflecting on the theme "Your
kingdom come", the conference insisted on the
particular role of the poor and churches of the
poor in God‟s mission. Influenced by the Latin
American liberation theologies, the delegates
highlighted the radical aspects of the kingdom
message, and the serious challenge it threw to
traditional missiology and mission programmes.

66. ► Other aspects of Melbourne however also deserve
recognition. There was ground-breaking work
done on evangelism and on the church as healing
community in the section dealing with the church‟s
witness. The conference also highlighted how
Christ‟s choice of vulnerability and way to the
cross challenges the use of power, in political,
church and mission life.
► Many of Melbourne‟s insights are to be found in
the document Mission and Evangelism - An
Ecumenical Affirmationadopted in 1982, which
remains the fundamental text on mission for the
WCC.

67. „Your Kingdom Come‟
►1. "Good News to the Poor",
►2. "The Kingdom of God and Human
Struggles",
►3. "The Church Witnesses to the Kingdom",
and
►4. "Christ - Crucified and Risen - Challenges
Human Power".

69. Kasemann in Melbourne
► Kasemann: Jesus will abolish every kind of
domination, authority and power and He is
destined to reign until God has put all enemies
under His feet.
► For us the Kingdom of God is not primarily theory
but praxis. Nor is it a praxis concerned mainly with
changed conditions, new possibilities and goals.
From the New Testament, the Christian
standpoint, the kingdom of God denotes that
praxis in which Jesus of Nazareth is our Lord and
Saviour of the world"

70. CWME statements

71. Evangelical groups
► International Congress for World Evangelization
(Lausanne 1974)
► Kenya Congress on Unreached Peoples
(Lenana 1975)
► Nigerian Congress on World Evangelization
(Nigeria 1975)
► Chinese Congress on World Evangelization (Hong
Kong 1976)
► Consultation on the Homogeneous Unit Principle
(Pasadena 1977)
► All India Congress on Mission and Evangelization
(Devali 1977)
► Ghana Congress on Evangelization
(Accra 1977)
► Second Nigerian Congress on World Evangelization
(Nigeria 1978)

72. ►Consultation on Gospel and Culture
(Willowbank 1978) Asia Lausanne Conference
on Evangelism - ALCOE I (Singapore
1978) Congress on Evangelization for
Malaysia and Singapore (1978) Norwegian
Congress on World Evangelization (Norway
1978) North American Conference on
Muslim Evangelization (Glen Eyrie 1978)
Venezuelan National Congress on
Evangelization (Caracas 1979) International
Consultation on Simple Lifestyle (Hoddesdon
1980) Stuttgart Congress on Evangelization
(Stuttgart 1980) Indian Congress on
Evangelization
(Guatemala 1980)

73. The Consultation on World Evangelization (COWE)
Pattaya, Thailand (June 16-27, 1980)
Evangelical groups
►Held June 16-27 in Pattaya, Thailand, this
Lausanne Committee on World
Evangelization sponsored consultation
gathered almost nine hundred people from
around the world to consider strategic
issues of reaching the unreached.
►Thailand statement

74. ► "to seek fresh vision and power for the task
Christ has given to his church until he comes;
► to assess the state of world evangelization, its
progress and hindrances;
► to complete an extended study program on
theological and strategic issues related to world
evangelization and to share the results;
► to develop specific evangelistic strategies related
to different unreached people groups; and
► to review the mandate of the LCWE" (Scott,
1981, 60-61).

75. Sollicitudo 1987
►Sollicitudo Rei Socialis is an encyclical
written by Pope John Paul II on 30
December 1987. Sollicitudo Rei Socialis was
written in regard to 'Social Concern' for the
20th anniversary of 'Populorum Progressio'.

76. Manila Manifesto 1989
Evangelical groups
►Fifteen years later in July 1989, the more
than 3,000 participants in the Second
International Congress on World
Evangelization (Lausanne II) in Manila,
Philippines produced another important
document: The Manila Manifesto.

77. Manila Manifesto
►Evangelism is primary because our chief
concern is with the gospel, that all people
may have the opportunity to accept Jesus
Christ as Lord and Savior.

78. San Antonio 1989
►The 1989 world mission conference of San
Antonio, Texas, USA can be considered the
last in the period dominated by the conflict
between two ideological and economic
systems (1918-1989). It followed on
Melbourne with another of the Lord‟s prayer
requests, "Your will be done", to which was
added "mission in Christ‟s way", an
expression taken from the 1982 Affirmation.

80. ► San Antonio became famous for a consensus
statement on the relation between Christianity and
other religions. This question has always been a
disputed point at WCC mission conferences. The
consensus found was, basically: "We cannot point
to any other way of salvation than Jesus Christ; at
the same time we cannot put any limit to God‟s
saving power.
► There is a tension between these affirmations
which we acknowledge and cannot resolve." As all
other CWME conference had done, San Antonio
also dealt with Christian involvement in struggles
for life and against oppression, as well as with the
increasing importance of our relations with
creation.

81. Your Will be Done: Mission in Christ‟s
Way
►1. Turning to the Living God;
►2. Participating in Suffering and Struggle;
►3. The Earth is the Lord‟s; and
►4. Towards Renewed Communities in
Mission.

82. Redemptoris Missio
►Redemptoris Missio (Latin for Mission of
the Redeemer), subtitled On the
permanent validity of the Church's
missionary mandate, is a Papal encyclical by
Pope John Paul II published on December 7,
1990 devoted to the subject of "the urgency
of missionary activity"[1] and in which he
wished "to invite the Church to renew her
missionary commitment."[2]

83. Canberra Assembly 1991
► As the Assembly discussed the process of listening
to the spirit at work in every culture, we caution
with others, that discernment is required to
identify the spirit as the spirit of Jesus Christ and
thus develop criteria for and limits to theological
diversity. We argued for a high Christology to
serve as the only authentic Christian base for
dialogue with persons of other living faiths...
► At present, there is insufficient clarity regarding
the relationship between the confession of the
Lord Jesus Christ as God and Savior according to
the Scripture, the person and the work of the Holy
Spirit, and legitimate concern which are part of the
WCC agenda... This theological deficit not only
conspires against the work of the WCC as a
Christian witness but also increases the tensions
among its member churches

84. Salvador de Bahia 1996
►The last, 1996, WCC conference on mission
of the century took place in Salvador de
Bahía, Brazil, and was fully dedicated to
the relation between gospel and cultures.
After the change in world politics of 1989
and the increased influence of cultural and
ethnic identities on violent conflicts, a
renewed missiological reflection on culture
was needed.

86. Mission statement
►We affirm that the spirit poured out on the
day of Pentecost makes all cultures worthy
vehicles of the love of God and that no
culture is the exclusive norm for God‟s
relationship with the humans. We also
affirm dialogue as a vital mode of
developing relationships, cultivating
understanding and growing towards the
unity to which all creation is called in Christ.

87. ► Reaffirming Bangkok‟s position on inculturation,
Salvador insisted on the richness of cultural variety
as God‟s gift, but also on the gospel imperative to
link the affirmation of one‟s cultural identity with
an openness to other identities. Salvador
recognized the fundamental equality of all
cultures, but also their ambiguity. In its relation
with cultures, the gospel may be illuminated, but
also obscured.
► Churches in mission may have to confirm elements
of their culture, but also to challenge others. In
the face of the situation in the Eastern part of
Europe in particular, Salvador reaffirmed the
WCC‟s opposition to proselytism, and the need for
cooperation in mission and common witness