8. Mission and unity – ecclesiology and mission

Latest: Statement on 'Mission and Unity' from Institut Africain des Sciences de la Mission, Kinshasa, RD Congo now available (MS Word file in French) here.

Aims and objectives

The 1910 Edinburgh Conference is considered the starting point of the contemporary ecumenical movement, due to its insistence on the importance of unity and cooperation in worldwide mission. Today, there is a need to revisit the intimate relationship as well as underlying tensions between a focus on mission and a focus on church unity.

This track is dealing with various interpretations of the link between ecclesiology and mission in theological and practical terms. Interface with the work on the history of mission and ecumenism in the last century (in particular as to the evaluation of the `integration´ in 1961 of the International Missionary Council and the World Council of Churches) is key for this area.

Key issues and questions

1.  The mission agencies of 1910 preferred to avoid ecclesiological discussion. Why has ecclesiology come to prominence in the contemporary discussion of mission and unity?
2.  In the new landscape of world Christianity, What and where are the new or emerging missionary movements, missional ecclesiologies, and ecumenical missiologies?
3.  Where are the biblical, theological, and contextual resources for a satisfactory discussion of 'mission, unity, and ecclesiology'?
4.  What are the missiological and ecumenical implications of baptism, Eucharist, apostolicity, and ordination?
5.  What are the ecclesiological and ecumenical implications of mission focussed on healing and reconciliation?
6.  Are evangelistic witness and prophetic witness compatible with the search for visible church unity?
7.  What and where are the models of evangelistic witness undertaken ecumenically?
8.  How might the coming century be one in which a journey towards one common commemoration in 2110 is charted and undertaken together by churches and mission agencies?

Conveners

Revd Darrell Jackson, Redcliffe College, UK  (djackson@redcliffe.org)
Ms Kyriaki Avtzi, Churches in Dialogue, Council of European Churches (Kyriaki.Avtzi@cec-kek.org)
Rev. Dr Laszlo Gonda, Debrecen Reformed Theological University, Hungary
and WCC Commission for World Mission and Evangelism (gondal@drhe.drk.hu)

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