wfn.org | WCC FEATURE: Mission in unity: Challenges, obstacles and opportunities remain

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>World Council of Churches - Feature

CHALLENGES, OBSTACLES AND OPPORTUNITIES REMAIN FOR MISSION IN UNITY

>For immediate release: 10 June 2010

>by Theodore Gill (*)

“Take your stumbling-blocks, and turn them into stepping-stones.� �� This
was the well-known personal byword of Christian statesman and Nobel  Peace
Prize laureate John R. Mott (1865-1955). Mott, a Methodist layman  from the
United States, was a key organizer of the World Missionary Conference  at
Edinburgh, Scotland in 1910.

As some 300 delegates from over 60 countries and virtually all Christian
traditions made their way home from Edinburgh 2010, a 2-6 June convocatio n
held to honour the centenary of Edinburgh 1910 and consider means  of
witnessing to Christ today, visions of stumbling blocks and stepping
stones were easy to conjure.

"Edinburgh 2010 has opened up a vision for common work and further
cooperation between mission organizations and churches from different
traditions", says Jacques Matthey, a Swiss theologian who for many  years
has been a leading figure in the World Council of Churches’  work on
mission and evangelism.

"Whilst Christian mission in the 21st century has been marked by  conflict,
the Edinburgh 2010 process opens up the promise to bring about an  era of
new relationships in mission between various traditions of world
Christianity", says Matthey. "We have seen that a different way  to relate
to each other is possible." If only because of that, the conference  is "an
important step towards wider forms of unity in mission".

On the other hand, Matthey acknowledges that Edinburgh 2010 was  not fully
representative of world Christianity. "The youth, the global South  and
neo-charismatic or independent groups among others were not sufficiently
represented", he says. In addition to that, as some Pentecostal
participants have pointed out, there was too much academic language  and
not enough narrative contributions from the South.

However, Matthey still finds as a "legitimate source of joy the  enormous
breadth of participation" that marked Edinburgh 2010. The wide spectrum  of
churches, denominations and mission traditions united around the  project
– which included Orthodox, Anglican, Lutheran, Reformed,  Methodist,
Baptist, Seventh Day Adventist, Roman Catholic, Evangelical, Pentecostal
and Independent traditions – made it "the most representative  of the
diversity of world Christianity today".

For Matthey, the conference's Common Call (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=0013ce9b70da6b636ef8 )
"carries some significant theological content". To highlight but  a few
elements, Matthey points out "the understanding of Christian mission  as
God's mission in the world; the idea that mission involves the whole  of
life including God's creation; the importance given to the role  of the
Holy Spirit; the space of youth and children in mission; and the  value of
cooperation and mutual welcome between churches".

“Mutual acceptance and appreciation”

On Sunday 6 June, after the end of a three-hour closing celebration  in the
Church of Scotland’s Assembly Hall, where the historic 1910  gathering
took place, four panelists who were involved in the 2010 conference  shared
their opinions of conference outcomes as well as questions they  have been
left to ponder.

Rose Dowsett of Glasgow, Scotland, one of the planners of the Edinburgh
2010 study process, said she found Edinburgh 2010 “unique  and
historic” because of the scope of its inclusion and the  extent to which
participants had “found ways we could work together”  in bearing
witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ. “We are in agreement  that the
news of Jesus Christ is good news, and it is for all people. I hope  we can
carry this away with us.”

Dowsett, who is vice-moderator of the World Evangelical Alliance  (WEA)’s
mission commission, observed that Edinburgh 2010 did not create  a
“continuation committee” as was the case in 1910  because there is
“no intention for a long-term institutional life this time.�� �

However, she emphasized that individual comments on reports of the
conference and local or regional groups’ contributions arising  from the
process will continue to be received and reviewed, particularly  through
discussion on the conference website (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=c0e620fec06b898362aa ).

José Lopez Vázquez, a Latin American youth delegate, detected  hesitancy
on the part of participants to raise controversial topics during  the four
days of discussion. He cited gender, sexuality and restorative justice  as
issues that had been largely avoided. “This was a very nice  attempt to
reunite around mission,” he said, “but people didn’ t really engage
seriously, sometimes. They were afraid.”

Lopez Vázquez also protested the dominance of the English language  in the
proceedings, pointing out that representation from regions of the  world is
sure to remain unbalanced unless problems of translation can be  overcome.

The remaining members of Sunday’s panel were the Anglican  archbishop of
York, John Sentamu, and the Catholic archbishop of Glasgow, Mario  Conti.

Archbishop Conti expressed hope for the future of Christian mission
undertaken in a spirit of unity. He felt strongly encouraged by  the way in
which participants had been "looking together at the way we could  act
effectively in witnessing to Christ today”. He strongly  endorsed the
Common Call of the conference as a statement of principles.

Archbishop Sentamu also spoke of the challenge to Christian mission  that
arises from the flawed, human character of the faithful themselves.  Those
who fully come to accept people who are different from themselves  often
lose standing in their own communities. He observed, “a  rediscovery of
our common humanity is something we do not easily respect.”

For Sentamu, the establishment of unity among human beings, including  the
members of diverse church traditions, is never a matter of “a  cheap or
costless compromise”. The intricacies of ecumenical dialogue  are bound
to occupy theologians over time, but they ultimately will lead to  "a
meeting in the truth of the gospel", said the archbishop, quoting  the late
Pope John Paul II. Meanwhile, he added, “We need to be able  to pray for
one another.”

>“The end and the beginning”

Encouragement to exercise loving hospitality towards others and  humility in
Christian outreach formed the refrains of Edinburgh 2010’s  closing
celebration, which was attended by more than a thousand worshippers
gathered at the same venue as the 1910 groundbreaking World Missionary
Conference: the Assembly Hall of the Church of Scotland, set on  The Mound
near Edinburgh Castle and St Giles Cathedral.

Archbishop Sentamu preached the sermon. “Human activity  only begets human
activity. The prophetic Word and the Spirit make us live,”  he said. His
voice echoed with an evangelizing passion that recalled preachers  of the
past who spoke in the same space.

John R. Mott, who was elected chairman of the continuation committee
established by the 1910 conference, famously began his final speech  at
that gathering: “The end of the conference is the beginning  of the
conquest. The end of the planning is the beginning of the doing.”  Yet
Mott was no stranger to obstacles when it came to mission and Christian
unity.

He saw plans for the International Missionary Council tragically  delayed in
the decade following Edinburgh 1910 because of the turmoil of the  great
war of 1914-18. A generation later, the formation of the World Council  of
Churches was similarly stalled by the devastation of the Second  World War.

And yet Mott could be relied upon to implore his colleagues to find  ways of
turning “stumbling-blocks into stepping-stones”.  Surely this is also
Mott’s message for Christians of the 21st century.

>[1,146 words]

(*) Theodore Gill is senior editor of WCC Publications in Geneva  and a
minister ordained by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

More information (Link:

http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=6764337939e783198831 )

Photos  (Link: http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=df66dd5c44b80c5c 96f0 )

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith,  witness and 
service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship  of churches 
founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 349 Protestant,
Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 560  million 
Christians in over 110 countries, and works cooperatively with the  Roman 
Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Dr Olav Fykse  Tveit, from 
the [Lutheran] Church of Norway. Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.