:+

ur topic will bc thc lamous mccting at d

inburgh in 1910, thc rcsulting !ntcrnational
Missionary Council, and Vorld Council ol
Churchcs. !n addition wc will bc looking at thc morc
rcccnt Lausannc Committcc on Vorld vangclization
and somc othcr structurcs that havc dcvclopcd having
to do with thc intcrnational missions sccnc.
! wish thc out ol print book callcd Ecumenical Foun-
dations, by Villiam Ritchcy Hogg, wcrc morc rcadily
availablc. Tc book prcscnts a vcry intcrcsting survcy ol
what thc author calls movcmcnts ol unity, rcgarding
thc mission cld in thc ninctccnth ccntury.
nc thing that you should takc notc ol is that thcrc
arc lour dicrcnt strcams ol coagulation my word,
not hiswhcrcby dicrcnt groups and strands ol
Christianity bcgan to comc togcthcr on thc cld or
havc an impact on thc cld in, say, !ndia.
nc was a scrics ol cld conlcrcnccs, convcncd by
missionarics, thc sccond strcam was conlcrcnccs, hcld
in thc homclands, thc third onc was lcllowships ol
mission cxccutivcs (such as thc !FMA and FMA),
hcld in thc homclands. Finally, thcrc was thc studcnt
movcmcnt, thc S\M, and cvcntually thc Vorlds
Studcnt Christian Fcdcration. ! would add that cvcn
bclorc thc rst ol thc lour mcntioncd by Hogg, thcrc
wcrc cld lcllowships ol missionarics, without which
thc morc lormal cld consultations would ncvcr havc
takcn placc.
Te Origin of Unity: Te Mission Field
n most mission clds thcrc is a varicty ol mission agcn
cics. !n Guatcmala thcrc wcrc 40 dicrcnt oncs whcn !
was thcrc. 8y now that numbcr has at lcast doublcd. ! was
thc cditor ol thc intcrmission ncwslcttcr at onc point. !
got to bc cditor by thc simplc lact that ! suggcstcd that
thcrc bc such a ncwslcttcr.
Tc missionarics lrom thc various agcncics would gct
togcthcr oncc a ycar lor a timc ol lcllowship. Usually somc
Amcrican pastor would comc down and trcat thc mis
sionarics likc his pastoral chargc lor a lcw days ol rctrcat
and spiritual rcncwal. Tat typc ol intcrmission lcllowship
brings togcthcr pcoplc ol dicrcnt kinds. !l ! had not bccn
in that kind ol a lcllowship, ! do not think ! would havc
gottcn to know thc Calilornia Fricnds, thc Ccntral Amcri
can Mission, thc Nazarcncs, or thc Southcrn 8aptists as
wcll as ! did. !l ! had staycd in Calilornia, it ccrtainly would
ncvcr havc happcncd. Tc point is that in thc ninctccnth
ccntury, duc to Amcricans lrom thc samc city, say Cincin
nati, going to !ndia, thcy lclt a closcncss to onc anothcr in
!ndia. ! livcd in a part ol Guatcmala whcrc thcrc wcrc prac
tically no othcr Amcricans. Now and thcn, whcn ! would
bc in a ncarby city, ! would scc an Amcrican tourist walk
ing down thc strcct with a wilc and a couplc ol littlc kids.
! would havc to bitc my tonguc to rcsist thc tcmptation to
stop and talk with thcm in nglish. !t would havc bccn so
nicc. 8ut ! had to mind my own busincss and walk on past,
lor why, in thc middlc ol a city, should ! stop somcbody
and start talking to thcm: (! was a pcrson starvcd lor any
kind ol contact with my own pcoplc).
!t rcally is not any grcat spiritual achicvcmcnt or virtuc
that pcoplc lrom thcsc dicrcnt backgrounds ol thc
Christian tradition got togcthcr, oncc thcy had gottcn on
thc cld, or at lcast, that was not thc only cxplanation. Vc
cannot casily say that bccausc missionarics arc holicr than
anybody clsc, thcy arc ablc to scc thcir unity in Christ
morc clcarly. Tat might bc part ol it, but, basically, thc
missionarics wcrc just stunncd by thc uttcr contrast bc
Te Legacy of Edinburgh, 1910
Ralph D. Winter
Rcprintcd with pcrmission lrom Vintcr, Ralph . Te Unfolding Drama f the Christian Movement. n.d., Chaptcr 16.
:: Tnv Lvc~cv ov bixnivcn, ++o
twccn thcir Christianity, ol whatcvcr typc, and thc Hindu
rcality. So all ol a suddcn, Mcnnonitcs and Prcsbytcrians
lclt vcry closc togcthcr, bccausc, comparativcly spcaking,
thcy wcrc. Tat kind ol unity is almost incvitablcno
grcat crcdit to thc missionarics thcmsclvcs.
!t is a lact that movcmcnts toward unity in Vcstcrn
Christcndom arc prccmincntly, in tcrms ol thc origi
nating cncrgy and momcntum, thc rcsult ol mission
cld cvcnts. Studcnts lrom thc samc country lound
onc anothcr on thcir campuscs, and, as missionarics
lrom dicrcnt countrics, thcy lound onc anothcr on
thc cld. \arious missions got acquaintcd, and thcn
thcir cld churchcs wcrc brought togcthcr in councils
ol churchcs, which tcndcd to wcld Luthcrans, 8aptists,
and Mcthodists togcthcr lar sooncr than it cvcr would
havc happcncd in thc Unitcd Statcs.
Tat is what thc rst hundrcd pagcs, or so, ol Ritchcy
Hoggs book arc about. Hogg was a doctoral studcnt
undcr Latourcttc, and his book is a history ol thc !n
tcrnational Missionary Council (!MC).
Edinburgh, 1910
!n 1910 a vcry signicant mccting took placc in d
inburgh, Scotland. !t was callcd thc Vorld Missionary
Conlcrcncc. Tcrc had bccn a mccting in thc Unitcd
Statcs in 1900, thc cumcnical Missionary Conlcr
cncc. (!t is rathcr amazing that thcy had uscd thc word
ccumcnical in that ycar.) !t had bccn a vcry largc
mcctingmainly ol church pcoplca conlcrcncc on
mission mobilization, not a consultation on mission
stratcgy. Tc assumption had bccn that cvcry tcn ycars
thcy should hold a similar mccting. 8y 1910, John R.
Mott, most rcadily charactcrizcd as thc lcadcr ol thc
Studcnt \oluntccr Movcmcnt, was about 44 ycars old.
Tc S\M got startcd in 1886, whcn hc was about 20.
Altcr 24 ycars ol laithlul and cncrgctic labor, hc and his
lricnds now had an immcnsc, intcrnational inucncc
through both thc Vorld Studcnt Christian Movcmcnt
and thc Studcnt \oluntccr Movcmcnt. For cxamplc, hc
was thc onc (with an cyc back on a stratcgy mccting ol
mission lcadcrs that hc had attcndcd in Madras), who
dccidcd, almost indcpcndcntly, that thc 1910 dinburgh
mccting would not bc a church lcadcrs mccting, as back
in 1900, but rathcr a mission lcadcrs mccting, to locus
on stratcgy rathcr than on mobilization.
Tis sct thc dinburgh 1910 mccting apart lrom all
prcvious, or subscqucnt, mcctings. Ncvcr bclorc had
thcrc bccn a worldlcvcl conlcrcncc to which pcoplc
wcrc invitcd spccically bccausc thcy wcrc mission
agcncy lcadcrs! Ncvcr bclorc had anything likc that
bccn convcncd (nor sincc).
1
!t was an absolutcly uniquc mccting in thc scnsc that it
drcw togcthcr, not church lcadcrs, but mission lcadcrs.
At thc conclusion ol that 1910 mccting, a continuation
committcc was lormcd. Tc continuation committcc
had its work blastcd by thc First Vorld Var, and it was
not until 1921, at Lakc Mohonk, Ncw York, that thc
!ntcrnational Missionary Council (!MC) was lormcd.
Tc !MC, not thc Vorld Council ol Churchcs, was thc
immcdiatc rcsult ol thc dinburgh 1910 mccting ol
missionary cxccutivcs. Tus thc !ntcrnational Mission
ary Council drcw togcthcr all thc various associations
ol mission agcncics. !n North Amcrica, lor cxamplc,
having bcgun back in 1892, thcrc was thc Forcign
Mission Conlcrcncc ol North Amcrica (FMCNA).
Tat was a conlcrcncc ol mission cxccutivcs in thc
Unitcd Statcs. Tcrc was a similar conlcrcncc in Nor
way, and onc in ngland.
!n ngland thcy callcd this onc thc 8ritish Forcign
Missions Sccrctarics 8ag Lunch, or somcthing likc
that. Mission cxccutivcs got togcthcr in thc various
countrics ol thc scnding part ol thc world. Tcrc was a
scnding portion ol thc globc and thcrc was a rccciving
portion. Tis is not a propcr distinction today, but it
was practical thcn. So in thc scnding part ol thc world,
thcrc was thc FMCNA, thc Norwcgian Mission
ary Council (which still cxists, lull blast), thc 8ritish
Forcign Sccrctarics whatcvcr, ctc., and cach ol thcsc
scnding associations was a mcmbcr ol thc !ntcrnation
al Missionary Council.
n thc rccciving cnd, a subtlc cvcnt took placc. !m
mcdiatcly altcr thc 1910 conlcrcncc, a ncw phcnom
cnon took placc in various countrics ol thc world. Tc
dicrcnt agcncics working in a country such as !ndia
had bccn gctting togcthcr lor an annual intcrmission
lcllowship ol somc sort. Now thcy lormcd thc Nation
al Christian Council ol !ndia. Tat Council and othcrs
likc it in othcr mission clds also bccamc mcmbcrs ol
thc !MC, which was thcn composcd ol both scnding
councils in thc homc countrics and cld councils ol
missionarics in thc targct mission lands. Tc conjunc
tion ol thcsc two kinds ol councils would cvcntually
bc its undoing. Tus thc !ntcrnational Missionary
Council was cxclusivcly missionagcncy oricntcd at its
Ralph D. Winter :
inccption, but lrom thc start a subtlc translormation
bcgan to takc placc.
Tc immcdiatc goal ol missions is to plant thc church.
Tc mcntality ol thc missionarics (latcr on, whcn thcrc
wcrc not only mission agcncics in thc cld, but also
thosc national churchcs to which thcsc missions wcrc
ticd) locuscd on thc qucstion, Vhat will wc do with thc
cmcrging national church lcadcrs: Shall wc incorporatc
thcm into thc National Christian Council: l coursc,
thc answcr was Ycs! Ccrtainly. Tat is thc purposc ol our
bcing in !ndia, to producc national churchcs.
Soon, thcn, you had two dicrcnt kinds ol lcadcrs coming
togcthcr in thc cld councils: you had cxpatriatc mission
arics, who rcprcscntcd sphcrcs ol nancial and intcllcctual
powcr and schools and hospitals, running thcir own littlc
colonial cmpirc in !ndia. Tcy mct togcthcr, but thcy
cagcrly said, Tc national church lcadcrs should comc
to our mccting! And thc National Christian Coun
cils throughout thc mission lands morc and morc wcrc
lormcd with thc idca that thc churchcs would also bc
rcprcscntcd, and not just cxpatriatc missionarics.
Now you had what ! call in my writings an oicumcni
cal gathcring. (Tc phrasc has ncvcr stuck, but what
it idcntics lor mc is a mccting whcrc both church
lcadcrs and mission lcadcrs arc prcscnt.) cumcnical
today mcans church lcadcrs, and thcrc is no word lor
mission lcadcrs only.
Church and Mission Agency
Vc arc talking now about 18501950. Prctty soon, in
thc mission lands, thc churchcs bccamc vcry important
and thc mission agcncics not so important. (Tcrc may
havc bccn a lcw Johnnycomclatcly mission agcncics
that did not producc much ol a church.) You also had
a lcw churchcs on thc cld that had no rclatcd mis
sion agcncics. 8ut gradually, as thc National Christian
Council (NCC) ol !ndia includcd morc and morc
church lcadcrs, thcrc camc a day whcn somcbody said,
Vhy do wc havc missionarics in this mccting: Vho
arc thc missionarics: Vhat arc thcy doing hcrc: !ts
thc church in !ndia that counts!
!t is an intcrcsting thing that no onc noticcd that two
mission agcncics, born in !ndia ol !ndian national
initiativc, alrcady cxistcd. Tcy wcrc both loundcd by
8ishop Azariah ol thc Anglican Church. nc was thc
National Missionary Socicty, a sort ol homc mission
socicty in South !ndia, loundcd in 1905. 8ut that was
not quitc good cnough. About 1907 thcrc camc thc
National !ndian Missionary Socicty. Tc point is that
thcsc two agcncics wcrc nationwidc and intcrdc
nominational. Two mission organizations cxistcd, but
nobody took thcm scriously.
! want to go back to somcthing ! said carlicr:
Tc grcatcst stratcgic hiatus in modcrn mission stratcgy
has bccn thc ncar total abscncc ol anybody saying that
wc havc to start mission socictics run by nationals.
Vc havc startcd churchcs run by nationals, but no onc
(or practically no onc) has thought ol starting cross
cultural missions. Yct 8ishop Azariah did! Actually, it
was Shcrwood ddy, a Studcnt \oluntccr man in thc
YMCA movcmcnt, who cncouragcd him to do it. !t
was not purcly a nationalizcd idca.
Tcn thcrc was a parcnthcsis until around 1945, whcn
somc missionary lcadcrsnot ncccssarily national
lcadcrssuggcstcd a changc. !t was not as il thc nation
al lcadcrs had said, Lcts gct rid ol thcsc missionarics.
Tc lorcign missionarics wcrc thc idcalists, thc armchair
stratcgists, who had said, Vc shouldnt bc thc oncs to
bc hcrc, you know, wc rc going to bc rctiring. Push thc
national lcadcrs lorward. So hcrc thcy wcrc saying,
Lcts changc thc constitution ol thc NCC ol !ndia.
!ncidcntally, what ! am tclling you now is happcn
ing simultancously in many othcr mission lands: in
thc National Christian Council ol Kcnya, and in
thc National Christian Council ol South Alricait
is all happcning as wc spcak. Tc national churchcs
arc growing up. Tcir vcry prcscncc and cxistcncc is
lionizcdthc prccious lruit ol missionary work!
!n 1945 thcy said that thc mission organizations and
thcir pcoplc arc not cvcn going to bc mcmbcrs ol thcsc
national councils. Tc National Christian Council ol
!ndia should now bc callcd thc National Council ol
Churchcs ol !ndia. Tc National Christian Council bc
camc thc National Council ol Churchcs. !n lact, in !n
dia you still havc thc National Christian Council, but
it has a dicrcnt lunction. !n Mclancsia thcy changcd
it to thc National Council ol Churchcs ol Mclancsia.
And in most othcr placcs thcy changcd thc namc lrom
NCC to NCC, so to spcak.
Vc arc intcrcstcd not in namcs, but in structurcs and
lorms and lunctions, and in what is rcally happcning.
Tc lact is that ovcr a pcriod ol timc in thc rccciv
: Tnv Lvc~cv ov bixnivcn, ++o
ing arcas ol thc world, a mission situation changcd to
a church situation. Tc rccciving countrics cndcd up
with a bunch ol National Councils ol Churchcs, cvcn
though thc scnding countrics still had a bunch ol mis
sionaryscnding councils. nc cxamplc is thc Nor
wcgian Missionary Council that still sits, abandoncd,
loncly in thc Vcst, an anachronism to thc rising and
transccndcnt missionary church rcality!
And so thcsc grcat missionary and church statcs
mcn orbitcd thc carth, talking about thc Ncw ra ol
thc National Church. Archbishop Tcmplc said, Tc
youngcr churchcs arc thc grcat ncw lact ol our timc.
h, what a thrilling and a labulous dcvclopmcnt it is!
Tc Church has comc ol agc! !n cvcry nation ol thc
world thc Church is thcrc, and thc mission agcncics
can just takc a back scat or withcr awaywhich thcy
thcmsclvcs wish to do, in most cascs anyway.
Hcnry \cnns lamous goal statcmcnt in thc ninctccnth
ccntury was thc cuthanasia ol thc mission (structurc).
Most mission agcncics naturally wantcd thc national
churchcs to bc promincnt. Howcvcr, this produccd what
was a lundamcntal structural anachronism in thc !ntcr
national Missionary Council. At onc cnd ol thc scalc
wcrc thc National Councils ol Churchcs (NCCs). Tcsc
pcoplc arc not thc kind ol pcoplc who, whcn thcy gathcr
togcthcr, arc going to pull out thcir 8iblcs and rcad thc
Grcat Commission lor thcir dcvotional pcriod. 8ack in
thc carlicr !MC, whcn thcy pullcd out thcir 8iblcs thcy
rclrcshcd thcir minds on thc Grcat Commission. !n thc
latcr NCCs, whcn thcy pullcd out thcir 8iblcs thcy rcad
about social justicc and all othcr kinds ol problcms that
arc thc normal, natural, incvitablc, and pcrlcctly rcason
ablc conccrns ol national churchcs.
! do not want to cxcusc libcralism, nor cxcusc thco
logical dccay, nor crosion or anything likc that. 8ut in
addition to all that wc know about crccping libcralism,
thcrc is hcrc a structural transition, which is not a thco
logical changc but a sociological changc. Tis structural
transition should not bc chargcd as charactcrizing
crccping libcralism. Just bccausc thc National Chris
tian Council ol !ndia no longcr talks about missions
docs not in itscll provc that thcy havc lost thcir laith.
Tcy just simply lost thcir missionarics. Tcy lost thc
mission agcncics as mcmbcrs. Tcy rulcd thcm out in
thc ncst hour ol thcir idcalism.
Hcrc is thc y in thc ointmcnt, and this is why ! always
usc !ndia as thc cxamplc ol this transition: thcy cvcn
rulcd out, structurally, two indigcnous mission socict
ics that wcrc pcrlcctly lcgitimatc and totally national!
!n othcr words, thcy madc a structural shilt, not mcrcly
a national shilt. Tey shifted from mission agencies to
churches, not mcrcly lrom lorcigncrs to nativc !ndians.
Church Teology vs. Mission Teology
Church thcology is dicrcnt lrom mission thcology. !l
you do not bclicvc it, walk lrom thc School ol Vorld
Mission to thc School ol Tcology in Fullcr Scminary.
Tc School ol Tcology is dominatcd by thc conccrns
ol thc church. ! bclicvc that church conccrns add up
to nurturc: nurturc thcology, nurturc pastoral carc, and
nurturc 1 (at bcst) cvangclism.
Mission thcology is somcthing clsc. ! uscd to bc told
that missiology is not an acadcmic cld. ! had to takc
thc initiativc, along with Gcrald Andcrson, to start thc
Amcrican Socicty ol Missiology, bccausc thc Prcsi
dcnt ol Fullcr Scminary told mc that thcy cant ocr a
Ph.. dcgrcc in Missiology bccausc thcrc isnt such a
cld. So wc startcd a scholarly socicty and wc startcd a
scholarly journal. Now you can gct a Ph.. in Missiol
ogy at Fullcr.
Tc lact is that thcrc was a structural shift lrom missions
to thc nccds ol thc churchcs, which mcant a wholc ncw
agcnda. !t is incvitablc, it is rcasonablc, and it is normal.
Altcr all, what do you talk about in thc lamily circlc: You
talk about thc lamily bank account and whcthcr or not
you should buy brown ricc, but whcn you go to thc occ,
you talk about occ things. Tc occ whcrc you go to
work is a taskstructurc. Tc homc is a carctakcr structurc.
Tc churchcs, whatcvcr clsc thcy arc, havc to bc carc
takcr structurcs. Vhcn church lcadcrs gct togcthcr,
thcy talk about carctakcr problcms.
Vhcrc is thc link bctwccn mission thcology and
church thcology: Tc Fullcr Tcological Scminary
Statcmcnt ol Faith was bcing rcviscd a lcw ycars ago.
Tcy askcd thc School ol Vorld Mission to makc
somc rcmarks about it. So lor thc sccond timc ! lookcd
at it closcly, thc rst timc having bccn whcn ! bccamc
a prolcssor. ! had rcalizcd thc rst timc that thc wholc
statcmcnt ol laith structurc was built, likc any othcr
Protcstant statcmcnt ol laith, to cxplain how it is that
wc arc Christians and nobody clsc is. Tc clcmcnt ol
thc Grcat Commission, ol rcdcmption, is prcscnt in
a sccondary scnsc. So whcn wc said that wc did not
Ralph D. Winter :
havc any problcms with thc Statcmcnt ol Faith, cxccpt
lor its lundamcntal structurc, thcrc was a tcnsc littlc
backandlorth discussion lor a timc! !t is basically a
church crccd. Vhat about thc Apostlcs Crccd: ocs it
say anything about taking thc gospcl to thc cnds ol thc
carth: No. !t is a church crccd.
Now, whcn thc church lcadcrs bccamc asccndant in
thc cld councils, an adjustmcnt bccamc ncccssary in
thc !MC itscll. Tc !MC now laccd a dilcmma. Tc
transition lor thc !MC took placc bctwccn thc mcct
ing in Jcrusalcm in 1928 and that in Ghana in 1958.
Alrcady at thc Jcrusalcm mccting you could scc thc
prcdominancc ol church lcadcrs crowding into thc
mcctings. No longcr, as in 1910, did thcy just invitc
mission lcadcrs, and nobody clsc.
8ishop Azariah, who had hclpcd to lound thc two mis
sion socictics ol !ndia in 1905 and 1907, was at thc 1910
mccting at dinburgh. Hc was thcrc, but hc was not
thcrc as a mission leader. Hc was thcrc bccausc thc CMS
(thc Church Missionary Socicty ol thc Anglican Church)
invitcd him. Tc cxpatriatc missionarics in !ndia saw him
as an outstanding church lcadcr, and thc mission was
proud ol thc church. So hc was thcrc at dinburgh 1910.
8ut thc Vcstcrn missionarics ignorcdunintcntionally,
! am surcthc cnormous signicancc ol thc lounding
ol a national mission socicty in !ndia, run by !ndians.
And though Azariah was thc loundcr, and was currcntly
involvcd in both ol thosc mission socictics, it apparcntly
did not occur to thcm to invitc cithcr ol thcm to thc 1910
!MC mccting. As a mattcr ol lact, Latourcttc himscll
mcntioncd Azariah scvcral timcs in his History of Christi-
anity, but it did not occur to him to mcntion that hc was
a mission leader as wcll as a church lcadcr!
Tat hiatus, howcvcr, was not duc to a dclcct in thc
structurc ol 1910, it was a dclcct in thc implcmcnta
tion ol 1910.
Tus, thc !MC mct in Jcrusalcm and thcn in Madras,
and thcn nally thcy wcnt to Ghana to havc a mcct
ing in 1958 to considcr thc dcvcloping anomaly. At
thc Ghana mccting thcy said, Vhat arc wc going to
do: Vc now havc mainly rcprcscntativcs ol national
churchcs coming to our mcctings. (! happcn to havc a
copy ol thc vcrbatim transcript ol cvcrything that was
said at Ghana.) Tc ncxt mccting was in Ncw clhi,
thcn in 1963 in Mcxico (by this timc thc !MC had
mcrgcd into thc Vorld Council ol Churchcs), thcn
camc 8angkok, and thcn Mclbournc in 1980.
Tus, thc !MC was climinatcd, or, that is, it was incor
poratcd into thc Vorld Council ol Churchcs. !t bccamc
an associatcd council ol councils. !t also bccamc a VCC
Commission on Vorld Mission and vangclism, and
undcr thc lattcr namc it bravcly mct in 8angkok, and
tricd to prctcnd that it was still intcrcstcd in missions.
Yct what thcy rcally did at that mccting was to say that
missions is ovcr, it is a thing ol thc past! !t is no longcr
lcgitimatc to scnd missionarics lrom anywhcrc to any
whcrc! Tat is what you l church thcology. Churchcs arc
now cvcrywhcrc, so whats thc usc ol missionarics:
Tc ncw phrasc is Mission in Six Contincnts. Vhat
a hcrcsy! Noticc that word in. !n othcr words, mis
sion takcs placc within cach nation, it docs not takc
placc between nations. Vcll, ycs, thcy havc talkcd about
lrom six contincnts to six contincnts, but what thcy
arc rclcrring to is churchtochurch workcrs, not mis
sion outrcach to unrcachcd pcoplcs.
Tc VCC (Vorld Council ol Churchcs), in prcpara
tion lor its Mclbournc mccting, dcvotcd a wholc issuc
ol thc International Review of Mission to an analysis
ol thc !MCs 1910 mccting, thcir 1928 mccting, thcir
1936 mccting, and all thcir mcctings down to 8ang
kok, and thcn with a look lorward to Mclbournc.
! was askcd! do not know how this happcncdto
writc thc articlc on thc Ghana mccting lor that issuc
ol IRM. Vcll, ! was abbcrgastcd and plcascd! ! said,
Vow, what a privilcgc! Tis was thc crucial mccting
in thc wholc history ol thc !ntcrnational Missionary
Council! ! wrotc back and askcd, May ! writc not only
about Ghana, but also about thc structural changcs
that owcd up to it, and so lorth: Tc cditor said,
Surc, thats okay! So ! wrotc an articlc analyzing this
wholc trcnd.
2
!n that articlc, ! said that what wc nccd
is not only Mission in Six Contincnts, but missions
from and to six contincnts, il ncccssary. Tat was what
had bccn droppcd out ol thc picturc.
Conclusion
! havc bccn unlolding to you a plot that was not thc
dcsign ol any human bcing, but was a vcry undcrstand
ablc transition. !t ncvcrthclcss wrcckcd a Council
loundcd to locus on missions. !t changcd bccausc its
pillars wcrc now sct upon a dicrcnt cntity. Vhcn all
thosc church lcadcrs camc lrom around thc world to
thc mccting at Ghana, thc Vcstcrn (minority) dcl
cgatcs lrom thc Norwcgian Missionary Council, thc
:6 Tnv Lvc~cv ov bixnivcn, ++o
Gcrman Missionary Council, ctc., had said, Vc cant
votc against all thcsc nicc national lcadcrs, all thcsc
church lcadcrs! !t was obvious by thcn (Ghana, 1958)
that it was too latc to do anything clsc. Tcy said,
Vc dont havc any rcason lor cxistcncc bccausc thc
Vorld Council ol Churchcs is a council ol churchcs,
and now wc also havc bccomc a council ol church
councils! So what is thc usc lor us to continuc: And
so thcy invcntcd a ncw catcgory undcr thc VCC
callcd thc Associatc Councils ol thc Vorld Council ol
Churchcs, to handlc things likc councils ol churchcs.
Up until this timc thc VCC rcachcd around thc wholc
world to churchcs (and dcnominations) by thcm
sclvcs, not to councils ol churchcs. !ndividual churchcs
arc dircct mcmbcrs ol thc Vorld Council. ncc thc
!MC was mcrgcd with thc VCC, thc lattcr gaincd a
ncw dcpartmcnt that takcs thc National Councils ol
Churchcs into mcmbcrship. So now thc !MCs Coun
cil ol Councils is a dcpartmcnt ol thc Vorld Council
ol Churchcs, and lor many pcoplc that ccctivcly takcs
thc placc ol thc wholc missions sphcrc ol rcality.
For many pcoplc thc churchcs arc thc rcality, so it has
bccn a shilt that has gonc lull circlc. Tc structurc ol
missions itscll has thus bccn climinatcd. At this point
in history, thcn, thc gathcrings ol thc ncw VCC cntity
only invitc thosc mission structurcs that arc conncctcd
to mcmbcr churchcs. Tis mcans that quitc a lcw vcry
signicant structurcs simply do not t into thc normal
pattcrn ol participants in thc lormal mcctings ol thc
VCCs Commission on Vorld Mission and van
gclismsuch as a Vorld Mission organization likc
Vyclic 8iblc Translators, or an vangclism organi
zation likc thc 8illy Graham vangclistic Association.
Tis is in dccidcd contrast to thc tradition ol thc !MC
and thc dinburgh 1910 tradition.
Endnotes
1
Tis statcmcnt was madc in a classroom ol missionarics in
1979. At thc cnd ol that class, a missionary (Lciton Chinn)
agrccd to scrvc as thc sccrctary lor a lounding committcc lor
a proposcd 1980 mccting similar to 1910!
2
My articlc was givcn a namc within thc scrics ol articlcs
in that issuc. Tc Ghana mccting is whcrc thc marriagc
bctwccn thc !MC and thc VCC was dccidcd upon. Tus, !
cntitlcd my articlc (no doubt unwiscly) Ghana: Prcparation
lor Marriagc. 8y itscll that titlc is clcarly mislcading.