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...the risk of reading one's own biased perspectives and preferential interests into the WCC history of the debate on evangelism;
* the small dividing line that exists between the broader area of "mission thinking" in general, and the specificities that have to do with the area of dialogue on evangelism;
* the constraints of time and space that allow only for a brief presentation of major trends and themes, without it being as deep as the topic deserves.
With regard to the understanding of mission vis-a-vis evangelism, it might be helpful to refer to the definition that is included in "Mission and evangelism in unity today" from 2000:
Use of terminology: For some Christians and churches the terms mission and evangelism, although related, are perceived differently, for others the two are virtually identical in both meaning and context. In the present document the two terms are used with some differentiation:
a) "Mission" carries a holistic understanding of the proclamation and sharing of the good news of the gospel by word (kerygma), deed (diakonia), prayer and worship (leiturgia), and the everyday witness of the Christian life (martyria); teaching as building up and strengthening people in their relationship with God and each other; and healing as wholeness and reconciliation into koinonia--communion with God, communion with people, and communion with creation as a whole.
b) "Evangelism", while not excluding the different dimensions of mission, focuses on explicit and intentional voicing of the gospel, including the invitation to personal conversion to a new life in Christ, and to discipleship.([section]7) (2).
I Ecumenism rooted in the missionary movement and as passion for evangelism: the formative period 1910-1948
If one meditates on the relation between evangelism and the ecumenical movement as a whole, one cannot deny the fact that ecumenism as such owes its very existence to the evangelical concern. For most of the decades of the 20th century, it does not make sense to speak about two distinct movements, namely, one for world evangelization and one for world ecumenism. In fact, they have been one, or at least very closely interrelated. The 1910 World Missionary Conference in Edinburgh, which opted for the vision of "the evangelization of the world in this generation"--the motto of the Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions--derived its strength and major thrust from a strong drive towards evangelization. The 19th-century Protestant missionary movement, the student Christian movements in America and Britain (D. L. Moody) or the YMCA, all centred on the rediscovery of the Bible and the evangelistic task. It was following their mandate to pursue the unfinished missionary obligation that brought them into contact with people of other Christian churches, and made them the pioneers of an ecumenism rooted in a common desire for the evangelization of the world. Many of the early pioneers of the ecumenical movement, such as J. R. Mott, J. H. Oldham and others, never lost their rootedness in a movement that was rooted in the zeal to share the gospel with others. Set in the still optimistic and even triumphalistic tone of the mission spirit of the 19th century, the eight commissions set up by the Edinburgh conference developed a strategic master plan for evangelization, and with proper data, strategies and troops assigned. It is interesting to see that Edinburgh was much less interested in a theology of evangelism because a common awareness and understanding of the evangelistic task was just seen and experienced as a given reality. And that reality was geared towards the practice and strategic steps needed for fulfilling that task. It therefore developed an impressive and broad agenda that included issues of interreligious encounter, international justice and overcoming racism.
A number of things all contributed to unfolding the overarching concern for evangelism in the formative decades of the international ecumenical movement. There was the formation of the International Review of Missions (1912) as the first and unique international forum of dialogue on evangelism. Then, there was the beginning of the International Missionary Council in 1921, and the subsequent world mission conferences in Jerusalem (1928) and Tambaram/Madras (1958). The reports of these world mission conferences still did not include any ecumenical theology of evangelism, but they are extremely rich and still worth reading because they highlight the dialogue that took place between evangelism and the developing worldviews and ideologies that were gaining strength in these decades. There is still some prophetic quality about what happened in Jerusalem, for instance, when a major clash was envisaged between the Christian worldview, the forces of secularism and the newly emerging ideologies of progress and consumerism.
It might be proper for this first formative period of 1910 to 1948 to say that ecumenism in this period was seen as an imperative rooted in the overarching concern for world evangelization. Characteristic of this period is what the 1958 world mission conference in Madras formulated in response to the world situation and the unfinished task of evangelization:
This is the task primarily of the whole church for the whole world ... Nothing in the present world situation in any way invalidates the gospel ... World peace will never be achieved without world evangelization ... We summon the churches to unite in the supreme work of world evangelization until the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our Lord.
II The WCC as an organization built within the framework of an overarching concern for evangelism: the founding period (1940s and 1950s)
When the World Council began in 1948, the IMC was not among its founding members. In fact, the IMC remained only in association with the WCC until 1961. However, this certain institutional divide did not prevent the young WCC from continuing the evangelistic concern of many of its predecessors and founding movements. It was very clearly stated in the message of the inaugural WCC assembly in Amsterdam (1948) that, "The evident demand of God in this situation is that the whole church should set itself to the total task of winning the whole world for Christ". The main biblical reference point of the council was John 17:21, where a calling to Christian unity is developed that has its sights set on a missiological horizon: "... that they may all be one so that the world may believe".
It is also worth recounting that the very basis of the WCC describes the community and fellowship of churches in the WCC as a community moving towards a goal of mission and evangelization: "... a fellowship of churches which confess the Lord Jesus Christ as God and Saviour according to the scriptures and therefore seek to fulfil their common calling to the glory of the one God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit". The wee thereby has affirmed the tradition from which it comes, namely, the inseparable connection between church unity and church mission or evangelization.
It certainly became clear that the world's condition, i.e. the challenges and the worldview under which the WCC had to articulate its vision for evangelism, bore no comparison to the period before the catastrophe of the second world war. There existed the foretaste of decolonialization, the new relationship between mission, mission agencies and churches, and the dramatic changes taking place in western societies that, until now, had been seen as the unshakeable solid home base of mission in Christian countries. All of these developments very soon had a bearing on the debate and understanding of mission and evangelization. One basic document in which the interrelation between the missionary and ecumenical vocations is deeply reflected is the declaration of the WCC Central Committee (Rolle, Switzerland) in 1951 that dealt with the calling of the church for mission and unity. It is worth recalling that this meeting of the Central Committee used strong argumentation in order to repudiate a view current at the time. This view claimed that the missionary age had gone and belonged to the past, and went on to say that, following the second world war, we had entered an age of ecumenism in which all concern for evangelism had been left behind. The statement and declaration of Rolle clearly means that "ecumenical" cannot be used as meaning something opposite to "evangelical" and/or "missionary". It is affirmed strongly that "ecumenical" should always be used to describe--in accordance with its Greek roots referring to all the inhabited earth--everything that refers to the total task of the whole church to proclaim the gospel to the whole world.
The unity and apostolicity of the church are both well founded in the biblical witness. Therefore, both the demand for evangelization and for church unity are inseparably linked. To tear both apart is to violate the integrity and authenticity of the Christian witness. In addition, the declaration...
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