• Directories
    • Business Directory
    • Church Directory
    • Organization Directory
  • Advertise
  • Donate
  • Help
  • Log In

MENUMENU
  • Learning
        • Leader’s Edge
          • Author Interviews
          • Book Summaries
        • Book Reviews
          • Book Look
          • EMQ Book Reviews
        • Publications
          • Anthology
          • Evangelical Missions Quarterly (EMQ)
          • Missiographics
        • Podcasts
          • The Mission Matters
          • Members Only Feed
          • Missions Podcast DirectoryNew
        • Topics
          • COVID-19 Resources
          • Diaspora Missions
          • Global Issues Updates
          • Member Highlights
          • Mobilization
          • Muslim Missions
          • Support Raising
          • UkraineNew
        • Media Library
          • Conferences
          • Global Issue Updates
          • On Mission
          • Thought Leader Briefings
          • Webinars
          • Workshop
          • View All
  • Programs
    • Accreditation
    • Bible Certificate
    • Church Missions Coaching
    • Cohorts
    • Cybersecurity
    • ImproveNew
    • Mission Jobs
    • Missions DataNew
    • Publish
    • RightNow Media
    • The Mission App
    • Women’s Development
  • Events
          • Calendar
          • In-Person Events
          • Virtual Events
          • Event Recordings
          • Awards
        • Premier Events
          • Mission Leaders Conference
          • On Mission
        • Upcoming Events

          • Webinar: An Introduction to the Theology and Practice of Cross-Cultural Risk
            Thu May 26 2022, 12:00pm EDT
          • Pocket Guide to Being a Missions Pastor: 5 Things Every Missions Pastor Needs to Know
            Wed Jun 1 2022, 01:00pm EDT
          • From Harlem to the World - the Local Church Mobilized for Global Missions
            Wed Aug 3 2022, 01:00pm EDT
        • View All Events
  • Research
          • Missions DataNew
          • Missiographics
          • Research Reports
        • Popular Research
          • Compensation Reports
          • COVID-19 Resources
          • Field Attrition Report
          • View All Reports
        • Contribute
          • Current Research Projects
          • Volunteer
  • About Us
        • Who We Are
          • Our Contribution
          • Meet the Team
          • Board Members
          • History (1917–present)
        • Our Beliefs
          • Statement of Faith
          • Community Standards
        • Awards
        • Partner with Us
          • Advertise
          • Donate
          • Sponsorships
          • Volunteer
        • Help
          • Contact Us
          • Advertising Specs
          • Branding Guidelines
  • Join
        • Learn
        • Learn what you cannot learn anywhere else.

        • Meet
        • Meet people you otherwise won’t meet.

        • Engage
        • Engage in a community like none other.

          • Benefits
          • Benefits for Churches
          • Pricing

Sponsored Content

Upcoming Events

  • Webinar: An Introduction to the Theology and Practice of Cross-Cultural Risk
    Thu May 26 2022, 12:00pm EDT
  • Pocket Guide to Being a Missions Pastor: 5 Things Every Missions Pastor Needs to Know
    Wed Jun 1 2022, 01:00pm EDT
  • From Harlem to the World - the Local Church Mobilized for Global Missions
    Wed Aug 3 2022, 01:00pm EDT
  • Innovation Leaders Discussion
    Mon Aug 8 2022, 01:00pm EDT
  • Peer 2 Peer for Communications and Marketing Staff: Communications and the Mission of God: Aligning organizational communications with God's purposes
    Thu Aug 18 2022, 01:00pm EDT

View all events »

Topics

author interview CEO Church Church Missions Church Mission Team Church Planting COVID-19 Cross Cultural Skills Diaspora Disciple Making Discipleship Focus Future Innovation Islam Justin Long Leadership Management Member Care Missiology Missionaries Mission Finance and Administration MLC2019 MLC2020 MLC2021 Mobilization muslim Muslim Diaspora Networks Partnership Podcast Presenter Pursuing Partnerships Series Research Risk Short-Term Missions Spirituality support raising Training Trends Unengaged Unreached Weekly Roundup Women Women in Leadership

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Edinburgh 1910 to Everywhere 2010: Deja Vu All Over Again?

Posted on January 1, 2010 by Ted EslerJanuary 1, 2010

by Gary Corwin

Few today would disagree that 1910 was a major turning point for the world Christian movement.

Something about big number anniversaries make them an ideal time to review, reflect, renew, and recommit. That certainly seems to be the agenda for the many international gatherings scheduled during this centennial anniversary year. So what was so special about Edinburgh 1910, and what should we reasonably expect of all these looming commemorations? Will baseball great Yogi Berra’s famous line, “Déjà vu all over again,” be the summary statement—or will there be something more?

There were several special things about the World Missionary Conference (WMC), held in Edinburgh in 1910. First, the WMC provided a marker for the enormous progress that had been made in global mission during the nineteenth century. Perhaps more important, however, was its role as the fountainhead for the twentieth-century march of the ecumenical movement, and its impact on many of the key figures who helped pace that movement during the early years of the twentieth century. Second, from an evangelical point of view, not everything that came in its wake can be considered positive developments; however, neither were all of them negative. One very helpful thing that it achieved was to bring the younger churches around the world into view for the older churches, thereby helping them to recognize these churches as an integral part of the world Christian movement.

Few today would disagree that Edinburgh 1910 was a major turning point for the world Christian movement. It was really the first international, inter-denominational conference, and the cause of Christian unity was certainly stimulated by it. Although its focus was mission(s), the possibilities of cooperation and even merger were never far from the minds of the participants. Clearly, the most significant fruit borne in the years following Edinburgh 1910 was the new momentum for unity and the downplaying of theological barriers. Unfortunately, much of this fruit led in subsequent decades to a siphoning off of energy from the kingdom extension aspects of biblical mission. This impact could be seen even in the International Missionary Council (IMC), but was certainly true in a more pronounced way with the emphases of the World Council of Churches (WCC) into which it was ultimately subsumed.

The course that Edinburgh 1910 set in motion had enormous impact, resulting in a focus change that unfortunately also led to the ultimate demise of missions in theologically liberal circles. And, yet, ironically, it also seemed to play a role in supercharging the cause of missions in evangelical circles, perhaps largely by broadening the exposure of many young leaders (such as John R. Mott and J. H. Oldham) to the churches of the wider world. The emphasis on unity also had another positive impact—it ultimately influenced evangelical inter-denominationalism and its accompanying spirit of cooperation.

Perhaps the most important prior decision of those planning the WMC in Edinburgh was to limit invitations only to those who were involved in mission to “non-Christian” lands. This was done primarily to assuage the concerns of High Church Anglicans and European Lutherans. The result, of course, was a total lack of participation by those working in traditionally Roman Catholic Latin America. It was also true, however, that neither Roman Catholics nor representatives of the Orthodox churches were invited. Taking the long view of this development, one might say that Edinburgh 1910 marked the beginning of the ascendancy in international conferences of a particular point of view—one favoring a focus on methodology and cooperation over the much harder work of seeking common biblical and theological commitment.

The result, as alluded to above, was an evolution that led first to a continuing committee, then to the establishment of the IMC (1921), then to a merger of the IMC into the WCC (1961), and concurrently, a long-term withering of evangelical and missionary zeal among the mainline churches that form the backbone of the WCC. Will this pattern continue? Will the healthy evangelical ecumenism that found a new birth with the Wheaton and Berlin conferences of 1966, and more significantly still with the Lausanne Congress of 1974, also become a casualty of methodological fixation at the expense of clarity about commitment to biblical and theological essentials? We certainly pray not, but the challenges to biblical and theological clarity have seldom been more serious for evangelicals. In fact, what it means to be an evangelical has never been more in doubt for so many who claim the name.

Salvation by grace through faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross, and trust in the Bible as the totally reliable and authoritative word of God in all that it affirms have long been the essential benchmarks of evangelical faith. But are they still? Or, is that understanding only one legitimate understanding among others? Is sharing in the concerns of Jesus for the needs of people in a horizontal plane an adequate substitute? Or perhaps a commitment to reconciliation and inclusion? Or perhaps sharing one’s journey with other like-minded souls in an ongoing “conversation?” Or any of a hundred other good things that have always been understood to be part of the product of true salvation, rather than a prerequisite to it?

Will the conferences and commemorations that mark this centennial year address these essential issues—or will they simply muck around in pleasant platitudes about unity, task, and method? That is the question, and the future of evangelicalism and gospel extension to the least reached and the least interested is sure to be impacted by how it is answered.

…

Gary Corwin  is associate editor of EMQ and staff missiologist with the international office of Serving in Mission (SIM).

Copyright  © 2010 Evangelism and Missions Information Service (EMIS).  All rights reserved. Not to be reproduced or copied in any form without written permission from EMIS. 

GoToOlder PostNewer PostAll PostsA Second Look: Editorial by EMQ Editor Gary CorwinEMQSectionVolume 46 - Issue 1

Comments are closed.

Subscribe to Our Mailing List

Keep up to date with our community.

Menu

  • Home
  • Directories
  • Advertise
  • Donate
  • Contact Us

Join

  • Join
  • Benefits
  • Learn
  • Meet
  • Engage

Help

  • Contact Us
  • Terms
  • Cookies Policy

About Us

  • Who We Are
  • Statement of Faith
  • Awards
  • Resources
Missio Nexus Logo

© Missio Nexus. All rights reserved.
As an Amazon Associate Missio Nexus earns from qualifying purchases.


PO Box 398
Wheaton, IL 60187-0398

Phone: 770.457.6677
678.392.4577

Annual Sponsors

ECFA Logo Brotherhood Mutual Logo

Subscribe to our Mailing List

Membership website powered by MembershipWorks