Centenary of Edinburgh 1910

The World Missionary Conference held in Edinburgh in 1910 was a watershed in the modern ecumenical movement.  Representatives of a wide range of European and American Protestant and Anglican Churches and missionary societies met together to chart a move from competition to co-operation.  Notably absent were any Catholics or Orthodox and there were very few from the 'mission fields' of the global South.  One exception was Bishop Azariah of Dornakal who later became one of the architects of the Church of South India.

The main organisers were two laymen, the American Methodist John R Mott and the Anglican J H Oldham.  Mott went on to establish the Student Christian Movement and National Council of Churches in many parts of the world and Oldham became the first secretary of the International Missionary Council.

The declared aim of the Conference was 'the evangelisation of the world in this generation' but the optimism was severely dented by the outbreak of world war only four years later.  Not all the aims were achieved but Edinburgh 1910 led directly to the establishment of international gatherings for Life and Work, Faith and Order and the International Missionary Council which, in 1947, came together in the World Council of Churches.

After a century, the challenges facing the world and the Church are different and so is the ecumenical movement.  In preparation, a series of lectures by eminent international speakers has been given in Edinburgh.  Details can be found on the website www.towards2010.org and papers downloaded.  Many are published in Edinburgh 2010: Mission Then and Now, edited by David A. Kerr and Kenneth R. Ross, which can be ordered here. 

Another website, www.edinburgh2010.org gives details of further events around the world, including a major conference in the Assembly Hall in Edinburgh 2-6 June 2010 where a similar number of delegates, though from a much wider range of countries and Churches, will address the same headings as in 1910 and also modern ones such as Women and mission, Youth and mission, Healing and reconciliation, Bible and mission, Contextualization, Subaltern voices and Ecological insights.  A leaflet inviting the Churches of Britain to join in this centenary can be downloaded here.  For a useful 1-page summary by Bernie Collins, click here.

In the light of the centenary, material for the 2010 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity was prepared in Scotland and can be downloaded from the CTBI website.  There will also be a conference at The Hayes, Swanwick, Derbyshire, on October 11-12 for which details are here.  One of the speakers will be Dr Kirsteen Kim whose new book Joining in with the Spirit is about connecting World Church and local mission.