Action for Churches Together in Scotland Networks 2010

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In the Methodist report on Ecumenical Relations in Scotland 2010, there is a long section about Action for Churches Together in Scotland (ACTS).  This post is devoted to its networks.

ACTS Mission Network

During 2010 the Mission Network published its review titled "Through the Keyhole" which focused on the state of our churches and their place in our communities both through the eyes of church goers but also of the "unchurched".  The report highlighted some interesting observations although most reflect other studies.  "Being Church in Areas of New Development" has continued to be a major focus of the ACTS Mission Network's activities through 2010.  New work being undertaken includes: "Mission Shaped Church" with a specific initiative being "Cafe Church" on which a couple of courses have been run and an embryo network of those interested established.  This Network is also starting to take an interest in "More than Gold" the Churches response to the 2012 Olympic Games in preparation for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in 2014.

ACTS Church and Society Network

The ACTS C and S Network continues to cover a very broad agenda.  The Network continues to service and support a wide range of Associated Ecumenical groups and Bodies in Association.  Significant areas of work during 2010 have included:

• A group looking at issues that the Scottish Gypsy "Travellers" have with the Church
• A group looking at the War in Afghanistan - through concepts of "Just War"
• The launch of the "Minority Ethnic Christians Together in Scotland" as a grouping of around 50 existing minority ethnic Christian groups
• A conference on "Spiritual Care in Higher Education"
• An exploration of Chaplaincy in the National Health Service
• Material for the 2011 Scottish Parliamentary Elections.  This includes guidance on how to handle extremist groups (specifically those deemed to be racist) based on Methodist material.

ACTS Faith Studies Network

A booklet on the Holy Trinity which the Faith Studies Network endorsed and published and placed on the website raised significant discussion during the year.  While the members of the Network (including Roman Catholics) hope that it will be used by ecumenical and other groups to explore the issues and to improve their understanding of the place which the Trinity holds in their Churches' worship and doctrine the text has led to much anguish especially with the Roman Catholics.  This issue illustrated the difficulty in ACTS speaking with one mind on any particular issue and while generally accepted that debate is healthy it can add some tensions between denominations on specific issues.

ACTS Church Life Network

In 2010 the Methodist Church through Rev John Butterfield took on the Convenorship of the Church Life Network.  The "Back to Church Sunday" initiative continues to be one aspect of this Network's work as does the material on the ACTS website for "A Quiet Day for Scotland" 2010.  The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity took as a theme for 2010 the centenary of the 1910 World Missionary Conference and this Network engaged in the production of this material.  A new Associated Ecumenical Group to this network is the "Scottish Churches Disability Action Group" which had its launch in 2010 and is starting to develop an agenda for greater involvement of disabled people in Scottish Church.  John Butterfield has also been instrumental in producing through this group the Easter 2011 worship material for ACTS.

Related articles

• Action of Churches Together in Scotland (ACTS) (ecumenicalissues.blogspot.com)
• The Methodist Church in Scotland Ecumenical Relations Report 2010 (ecumenicalissues.blogspot.com)
• District Ecumenical Officers' meeting, February 2011 (ecumenicalissues.blogspot.com)

The Methodist Church in Scotland Ecumenical Relations Report 2010

This is the first of five extracts from the Methodist Church's Ecumenical Relations Report for Scotland.  The author is Dr Bill Reid, who is responsible for ecumenical relations in the Scotland District.  More information about Scotland's ecumenical relations can be found on the Methodist Church website.

2010 has been a year of significant anniversaries for the Churches in Scotland.  As well as being the 450 anniversary of the Reformation in Scotland, the year has also included the 100 anniversary of the 1910 Mission Conference held in Edinburgh (credited with initiating the Ecumenical Movement) and the 50 anniversary of Scottish Churches House.  These three anniversaries highlight both great progress made in ecumenical relationships but also the inherent challenges we all still face in serving Christ together in today's Scotland.

The Reformation in Scotland
Much of the commemorations to mark the 450 years since the Reformation were understandably led by the Church of Scotland engaging in key services, conferences and other events with the Roman Catholic Church, the Scottish Episcopal Church and civic society.  These events were well managed and at times moving but seemed to make little impact on our wider society.  It is worth noting that for some of us it appeared the other denominations in Scotland were marginalised in many of these events.  Also with such a close focus on what took place in Scotland 450 years ago  the opportunity to see "Reformation" as an ongoing process across the nations rather than an event was largely lost.  That said the reaffirmation of Baptismal vows shared between the leaders of the three denominations illustrated how much progress has been made in their relationship in recent years.

1910 Mission Conference

On the world stage Edinburgh 2010, a conference entitled "Witnessing to Christ Today", was initiated by the World Council of Churches to celebrate the "Great Mission Conference of 1910".  Whereas the Conference of 1910 was largely attended by white male reformed church ministers and missionaries, Edinburgh 2010 was far more inclusive bringing delegates from all over the world to Edinburgh.  Initially planned for over 1000 delegates the final number was nearer 200 (largely through planning and financial constraints).  It was very pleasing to see people of many races (women and men) and from a broad spectrum of theologies including catholic, orthodox and evangelicals.  The main focus was on an academic conference which somewhat disappointingly did not engage with the wider church let alone society in general.  That said much of the Conference was transmitted on the internet.  The highlight for many was the closing worship when over a thousand shared in a joyous almost 3 hour events in the Church of Scotland General Assembly Hall on 6 June.  If the energy that was generated that afternoon could be replicated across Scotland our churches would not be struggling for membership.

Scottish Churches' House

Closer to home for the Methodist Church in Scotland is Scottish Churches' House (SCH), in Dunblane, where we currently have our offices.  SCH dates back beyond 1950 when a large number of then relatively young Christians worked together to establish and refurbish the House out of various properties that came together from various sources.  SCH became the main focus for ecumenical action in Scotland and has been loyally supported over the years.  The founding of the House was celebrated on 17 July with several of those involved at its outset still supporting the House at what was a joyous occasion.  Sadly, although a major refurbishment has recently been completed and SCH still attracted its loyal supporters the user base had continued to age and decline to such a point that the new Charity being set up to run the House judged that its current operation is no longer viable.  As a result of ongoing financial loss the trustees of Action of Churches Together in Scotland (ACTS) have decided to cease its current operation on 16 July 2010 but rather than sell the SCH properties immediately has invited tenders to rent the House from ACTS and run it a way compatible with the ACTS objectives.  So while the future of SCH is uncertain we should pray that a fresh vision for it emerges over the next few months.  We should also hold in our prayers at this difficult time the staff and supporters of the House who have contributed so much to its success and continued witness over more than 50 years.
 

Ecumenical Christmas Quiz - Answers

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The Methodist Ecumenical News Christmas Quiz has kept you all guessing for weeks I am sure.  The quiz was so difficult, that no-one submitted any answers.  Here they are at last - most of them refer to significant events during 2010.

1. When is a LEP not a LEP? - Everyone has heard of a Local Ecumenical Partnerships, abbreviated to LEP from time immemorial.  Last year the British Government saw fit to introduce Local Enterprise Partnerships, also to be abbreviated.  So, take your pick. 
2. Who might be wearing their own ordinary hat from 2011?  I'm afraid this is a rather silly pun.  So, 'their own' would be 'personal' and 'ordinary hat' is of course the 'ordinariate'.  The first Anglicans were received into the Ordinariate on Saturday 1 January 2011.
3. Who is the odd one out? (Give your reason.) Archbishop Vincent Nichols, Archbishop Rowan Williams, Bishop Nathan Hovhanissian and Commissioner Elizabeth Matear.   These are the four Presidents of Churches Together in England.  Bishop Hovhanissian stood down during 2010, as reported in a post last year.
4. What do the following have in common? Be specific for extra points ... Revd Martin Atkins, Revd Roberta Rominga, Revd David Cornick, Revd Olav Fyske Tveit, Brother Stephen Smyth.   They are all General Secretaries of, in the same order, the Methodist Church of Great Britain,the United Reformed Church, Churches Together in England, the World Council of Churches and Action of Churches Together in Scotland. 
5. Join the dots ...

Edinburgh - World Missionary Conference in 1910

Lausanne - First Lausanne Congress on World Evangelisation 1976

Edinburgh Cape Town - Edinburgh 2010 (Centenary of 1910) in June 2010 and the Third Lausanne Congress of World Evangelisation in October 2010.

Now pay attention through 2011 and see if you can answer the next quiz!

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Evangelical Congress takes Reconciliation as Key to its Mission

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This month's CTE News carries the following report about the third Lausanne Congress:

The third Congress of the Lausanne Movement met in Cape Town, South Africa. Delegates from 200 countries discussed evangelism [the way the Christian message is announced] in diverse contexts, styles and cultures. The theme of the event was “God in Christ reconciling the world to himself” (2 Corinthians 5.19).

The Lausanne Movement seeks to be a global network of 'reflective practitioners' who share one vision for the work of world evangelisation. The movement began in 1974 when the Revd Dr Billy Graham and the Revd Dr John R.W. Stott convened the International Congress on World Evangelisation in Lausanne, Switzerland with the goal of framing “a biblical declaration on evangelism” and stating “what the relationship is between evangelism and social responsibility”. The Lausanne Covenant adopted by the first congress has been a rallying cry for many Christians, and for some it has come to define what is meant by “evangelical”. A delegation representing the World Council of Churches (WCC) and led by the WCC General Secretary, the Revd Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, has been present at the third congress, in Cape Town, an event the Lausanne movement leadership refers to as its "most diverse gathering ever". Over the decades, the WCC and leaders of the Lausanne movement have engaged in lively dialogue concerning the nature of Christian mission, evangelism and social action. Tveit is the first WCC General Secretary to be invited to address such a congress. In his greeting on behalf of the WCC, Tveit spoke of Christians’ “common vision of the holistic mission of God.” He added, “Let us keep the road open, and the dialogue going, so that we learn from one another how we can participate in God’s mission together with respect to others as one Body of Christ.”

A landmark in Christian history

The year 2010 was chosen for this third Lausanne congress because it marks the 100th anniversary of the 1910 World Missionary Conference, convened in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was a climactic event following 19th-century missionary expansion, and has been identified by historians of Christianity as the beginning of the modern ecumenical movement. Several 2010 events are being held throughout the world in honour of this centenary, including a June consultation in Edinburgh at which Tveit provided introductory remarks.

Tveit told the congress in Cape Town that reconciliation is what being Christian “is all about." He said" "We are called to be one, to be reconciled, so that the world may believe that God reconciles the world to himself in Christ." In the opening session of the congress, the Revd Dr S. Douglas Birdsall, executive chair of the Lausanne Movement, also emphasised the theme of reconciliation. Birdsall welcomed participants, saying that reconciliation is "our focus, our calling and our passion. It is this reconciling gospel that brings us together." He encouraged delegates to draw close to each other as they were drawing close to God. "This is a working congress with a specific task. Its outcomes, shaped by us all as we look to God, could help to chart the course of world evangelisation for the next decades," he said.

The diversity of the congress in Cape Town was echoed by the Bible study groups in which delegates meet each morning to reflect together on a text from Ephesians. Participants shared their own observations and applied what they read to their own context. Each group was like a microcosm of the global church, providing an opportunity to sit together, learn from one another, show concern for one another, stimulate and build partnerships and also to pray for one another.

Voices for justice and reconciliation

In an interview, the moderator of the WCC Commission of World Mission and Evangelism, Metropolitan Geevarghese Mor Coorilos, said that in a historical context that requires greater unity among Christians, the participation of the WCC in this congress of the Lausanne movement would go a long way toward bridging the gap between evangelicals and the ecumenical movement, "a distinction that we need to overcome". "It is particularly reassuring to listen to the voices for justice and reconciliation," Mor Coorilos said. He added that he prays that the spirit of unity in the congress, which was also demonstrated by a broad constituency and in a tangible manner at the centennial celebrations of the 1910 World Mission Conference earlier this year in Edinburgh, could be sustained for a long time.

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The Ecumenical Landscape

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A Presentation made by Revd Dr David Cornick, General Secretary of Churches Together in England , to their Enabling Group on 18th September 2010, during the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Britain, can be found on CTE's website.  It is a good read and raises a number of important issues about ecumenism in Britain today.  The article is too long to reproduce in full but I summarise it here and extract a couple paragraphs.  If you find them interesting, take a look at the full article.

• The wider ecumenical context of the Pope's visit

... let Newman’s honesty remind us that one of the realities that underlies our ecumenical pilgrimage is that we start from different places. Those of us who are Protestants are formed by an ecumenical heritage which is about meeting together in council. It is commonly, if wrongly, dated from the Edinburgh Missionary Conference of 1910, the centenary of which we are celebrating this year. As the Protestant churches gathered in council did their theology, they perceived the unity of the church to have been given once for all in Christ, and concluded that it had been masked by the divisions of history, so the ecumenical task was to make that given unity visible.

• Ecumenism as adjustment or restoration?
• Decline of the Free Churches and the consequent changes to the ecumenical scene over the last 120 years.
• Pan-protestant ecumenism: does service divide or unite?

According to Theos, most British people welcome Pope Benedict’s social teaching. Not least on economics and social research. That allows me to explore another tension in our ecumenical landscape. That is the tension between differing Christian world-views. I believe we need to do a good deal of patient work here, because there are complex things going on, and they cut across denominations, not only between them. The faultline which exposes these different worldviews runs through the role of women, gender issues and human sexuality. What should concern us ecumenically is not that Christians have different understandings of those matters. Christians also have different understandings of the role of economics, the nature of the sacraments, and beginning and end of life issues. What matters ecumenically is that we reach beyond the divisive issue to begin to understand how the worldviews that lead us to those conclusions are formed. In other words, we need to apply the same principles of listening and respectful dialogue which have done so much to heal our past misunderstandings.

• Conservatism and liberalism as reactions to post-enlightenment thought
• implications of Anne Rice's views for mission in the west

That generosity has been, I believe, a significant factor is bringing about the symbolic healing of our nation after nearly half a millennium of persecution, suspicion, fear and hatred which we have been part of this weekend. It is, I believe, desperately needed not only within the church, but in English society and in the global village. I pray that together, in obedience to Christ, and empowered by the Spirit, we will have the courage to keep that light burning.

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• The Free Churches Group (ecumenicalissues.blogspot.com)
• Churches Together In England Enabling Group, September 2010 (ecumenicalissues.blogspot.com)
• Methodist President will meet Pope Benedict XVI (ecumenicalissues.blogspot.com)
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The Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization

Four thousand people are currently attending the Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization in Cape Town.  It started on 16 October and continues until 25 October 2010.  There's a lot of material on the website.  Also John Baxter Brown is present and posting about it on his blog.  The following are a few excerpts from the Congress website that explain what it is about.

We believe 2010 is a significant year in which to hold the congress.  2010 is the 100th anniversary of the 1910 World Missionary Conference, convened in Edinburgh, Scotland under the leadership of John R. Mott.  CT2010 gives the church an opportunity to celebrate the Edinburgh Conference and the progress made in missions and evangelization since that time.  It also offers an opportunity to take an inventory of where we are as a global church.  What have we learned with regard to missions and evangelization since 1910?  What mistakes have been made and what can we learn from them?  What new challenges and opportunities are before us in sharing the gospel? 

The Lausanne Movement is a dynamic, catalytic environment in which like-minded missional leaders can engage with one another face to face and through technology to deal with the seminal issues that are before us with respect to world evangelization.  Lausanne provides a theological basis (The Lausanne Covenant) that allows leaders to move forward in their development of collaborative relationships and partnerships in theological reflection and with strategic action. 

CT2010 is the third major Lausanne world congress.  In July 1974 some 2,700 participants and guests from over 150 nations gathered in Lausanne, Switzerland for the International Congress on World Evangelization.  Since 1974, dozens of Lausanne-related global, regional, and topical conferences have been convened all over the world.

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Faith and Order Centenary

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A history lesson seems appropriate for today.  This is from the latest edition of CTE News, October 2010.

Tuesday 19 October 2010 marks the 100th anniversary of the Faith and Order movement. “Faith and Order” seeks Christian unity through theological dialogue among representatives of various churches. The beginnings of Faith and Order are closely linked to the World Missionary Conference of June 1910 in Edinburgh, Scotland. The focus of the Edinburgh Conference was cooperation in global Christian mission. Questions around church-dividing issues and controversial points of doctrine were intentionally avoided during public discussions in Edinburgh, yet they were in the minds of many who attended.

One participant in the conference was Charles Brent, a Canadian by birth, a missionary bishop then serving in the Philippines on behalf of the Episcopal Church of the United States of America. The idea of a Faith and Order conference began with Bishop Brent, who made the link between the Edinburgh Conference with its call for Christian unity and the need to resolve issues of faith and order in the divided churches. He recognized that the “self-denying ordinance” not to discuss questions of difference was a good one in the context of missionary strategy, but that questions of faith and order needed their own appropriate forum, and in such a forum they might be discussed and resolved through dialogue. At the end of the Edinburgh Conference, Brent said: During these past days a new vision has been unfolded to us. But whenever God gives a vision He also points to some new responsibility, and you and I, when we leave this assembly, will go away with some fresh duties to perform.

Bishop Brent returned to the United States in 1910 for the General Convention of the Episcopal Church, held in October of that year. Brent prepared a resolution for the General Convention that would have major consequences for the nascent ecumenical movement. On 19 October 1910, the General Convention unanimously passed a resolution calling for a world conference of the representatives of all the churches “for the consideration of questions pertaining to the Faith and Order of the Church of Christ”. This action of a church – not a theological faculty or missionary society – ensured an ecclesial commitment to overcome past histories by means of theological dialogue and to prepare the way for the Church’s unity in faith, order, life, work, worship and mission so that the world may believe in Christ. As Günther Gassmann, a former director of Faith and Order for the World Council of Churches (WCC), has written: “Faith and Order was and is a movement of and in the churches. All theological efforts on all levels within churches and between churches towards closer and, finally, full communion are, in a way, Faith and Order efforts.”

There were other significant American calls for the resolution of church-dividing issues around the same time as the General Convention of the Episcopal Church, notably from the National Council of Congregational Churches and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), both on 18 October 1910. However, the date of 19 October 1910 marks the institutional beginning of the Faith and Order movement that would lead directly to the First World Conference on Faith and Order in Lausanne, 1927. Bishop Charles Brent presided over the 1927 event. Faith and Order, along with the Life and Work movement, became a constitutive element of the World Council of Churches at the inauguration of that body in 1948. The Commission on Faith and Order continues to be a vital dimension of the work of the WCC.

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5-way Consultation Starts Today

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Today marks the start of a unique 5-way consultation of denominational ecumenical officers.  See the earlier post, Edinburgh 1910-2010: Towards Unity in Mission, for more detail. This consultation is a joint venture between Churches Together in England and the Ecumenical Officers of the Baptist Union, Church of England, Methodist Church, Roman Catholic Church and United Reformed Church. The first 24 hours (from lunch on Monday 11th to lunch on Tuesday 12th October) is the Open Conference, in which four speakers will explore the main conference theme together with 95 Denominational Ecumenical Officers of the five churches and a further 20 participants.

The second 24 hours (from after lunch on Tuesday 12th to lunch on Wednesday 13th October) is the Consultation for the Ecumenical Officers of the five churches, which will take up the theme of the conference and relate it to their work. This will be a time of reflecting together, sharing issues and looking for new ways of working together. This is the first time such a meeting of ecumenical officers has taken place, and this in itself is a significant development.

Here are some details of the contributions from the speakers for the first 24 hours:
 

The Revd Dr Jeremy Morris has recently taken up the position of Dean of King's College, Cambridge. His academic interests include modern European church history, Anglican theology and ecclesiology, the ecumenical movement, and arguments about religion and secularization.

'Edinburgh 1910-2010: Mission and Unity in Context'
This opening address will explore the impact of the World Missionary Conference of 1910, taking into account both contemporaries’ views and those of subsequent generations. How is it that a conference constructed primarily as a celebration of mission, which took as its watchword ‘The evangelization of the world in this generation’, has come to be remembered primarily as a key step in the emergence of the ecumenical movement? And how is it that the ‘Faith and Order’ agenda, which has often been traced back to Edinburgh, became separated from the evolution of the institutional agencies of the missionary movement? Looking at the history of the interpretation of Edinburgh 1910 is a way into understanding the place and prospect of religion in the twentieth and early twenty-first century, with all the implications that follow for the relationship of unity and mission today, both in Britain, and in the wider world.

Dr Kirsteen Kim was Research Coordinator of the Edinburgh 2010 project from 2009-2010. She is Associate Principal Lecturer and Director of Programmes in Theology and Religious Studies at Leeds Trinity University College and serves as Vice-Moderator of the World Council of Churches’ Commission on World Mission and Evangelism, on which she represents CTBI.

'Edinburgh 1910-2010: The Development of the Discipline of Missiology'
Dr Kim’s address will look at the development of missiology by highlighting shifts in the mission theology of Edinburgh 2010 compared to Edinburgh 1910, with particular reference to global, cultural and regional factors. It will enquire what these shifts mean for unity in mission and also suggest local implications for mission in the British context for further discussion.

Father James Hanvey S.J. is currently the Director of the Heythrop Institute for Religion, Ethics and Public Life.  His address will focus on the interface between faith and culture.

The Revd Dr Stephen Finamore is Principal of the Bristol Baptist College.

He will be leading the study of the following Bible Texts: Mark 1.1-20, Genesis 1.28, 12.1-3, Psalm 96, Isaiah 2.2-4, Matthew 28.18-20, Galatians 3.27-29, Revelation 21.22-26.

As always, leave a comment if you would like more detail about any of these.

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Edinburgh 2010

Between 2 and 6 June 2010, a centenary conference took place in Edinburgh for a conference that took place in the same hall as this year's closing ceremony.  The 1910 World Missionary Conference brought together primarily northern churches to facilitate greater unity amongst the various strands of Christian witness.  There is plenty of information on the Edinburgh 2010 website.  This includes details of the wider study process and ways in which it is still possible to be involved in associated events around the world.

The following is a helpful account of the conference reproduced with permission from CTE News. 

Archbishop John Sentamu issued a reminder at the closing worship service of “Edinburgh 2010”. Jesus told his followers, “You are my witnesses.” The Anglican Archbishop of York appealed on behalf of “the crucial importance of Christian witness.” Alluding to the gospel account of Peter’s denial of Christ, he added: “Jesus today is on trial in the court of the world by our lips and lives. Jesus and his gospel are being judged.”


Encouragement to exercise loving hospitality towards others and humility in Christian outreach formed the refrains of Edinburgh 2010’s closing celebration and of the meeting’s Common Call in which delegates expressed “full awareness that God resists the proud, Christ welcomes and empowers the poor and afflicted, and the power of the Holy Spirit is manifested in our vulnerability.” As Archbishop Sentamu put it in his sermon, “Human activity only begets human activity. The prophetic Word and the Spirit make us live.” His voice echoed with an evangelising passion that recalled preachers of the past who spoke in the same space.

In June 1910, a groundbreaking World Missionary Conference drew delegates from churches and mission societies throughout the earth to the Assembly Hall of the Church of Scotland, set on The Mound near Edinburgh Castle and St Giles Cathedral. One hundred years later, on the afternoon of Sunday 6 June, more than a thousand worshippers gathered in the Assembly Hall to mark the end of the Edinburgh 2010 conference surveying world Christianity and the potential for common witness to Jesus Christ in the 21st century. Among participants in this closing celebration were the nearly 300 delegates from some 60 nations and a broad range of Orthodox, Catholic, Anglican, Protestant, Evangelical, Pentecostal, independent and uniting churches. A “Common Call” to renewed commitment, affirmed by this year’s conference, was addressed to the Christians of this era and affirmed at the climax of the closing celebration. Diversity was clearly on display in the ecclesiastical vestments and national dress worn by worshippers in the Assembly Hall. Prayers were led in several of the world’s languages, and hymns were sung from Africa, Asia, the Americas and Oceania as well as disparate cultures of Europe. Indian dancers from Selly Oak Colleges, Birmingham and an African choir were among the many forms and voices that animated the proceedings.

Historians imagined what a delegate from 1910 would make of this year’s deliberations. Among other things, they noted, it would have come as a shock that the current celebration was being video-streamed live throughout the world. On the other hand, how would a delegate from 2010 transported to an earlier time survive without the capacity to e-mail? The presence of two direct descendants of 1910 delegates from Asia was acknowledged: the granddaughter of Yun Ch’iho from Korea and the grandson of John Rangiah who had represented the Indian community in South Africa. Bishop Devamani of Dornakal, Church of South India, read excerpts of the speech given in 1910 by a young V.S. Azariah, later the first bishop of Dornakal. Further presentations stressed the need for mutuality in mission: westerners have much to learn from Christians of the east, and northerners must discover how to show greater humility and a willingness to learn from the global south.

Archbishop John Sentamu’s sermon followed a reading of Ezekiel’s prophecy that brought new life to a valley of dry bones. “As leaders in mission,” said the archbishop, “we must help our churches by acting prophetically, speaking out for freedom against injustice. Our forebears have done so in the past against slavery and more recently against apartheid, world debt and poverty. We must continue to speak out against injustice shown to asylum seekers and all in need.” He continued, “As we do this, we must remember that speaking prophetically is not the same as condemning other people’s failures, but rather helping us all towards the acceptance of common goals which uplift the heart. To help lift up the heart of a nation is an exciting challenge, and it is one which we can do together, because it is what God has called us to as part of our mission and discipleship.”

The previous evening, a final discussion session at the conference reviewed the study processes leading to 2010 and the deliberations undertaken in small groups and plenary conclaves on the Pollock Halls campus of Edinburgh University. “This is probably the most comprehensive mission gathering since 1910,” remarked Vinoth Ramachandra, a Sri Lankan leader of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students. Like other speakers, Ramachandra recognised many promising developments in the 2010 gathering yet expressed disquiet at the high percentage of religious and academic professionals compared to the many lay workers present a century earlier. He called this a “blind spot” in contemporary church gatherings, a failure to realize that “the primary work of mission takes place in the daily lives of ordinary Christian men and women”. The next such world-wide event, he said, will profit from an attempt to include more members of the laity, women, youth and representatives from the southern hemisphere. Existing boundaries need to be “deconstructed, though not destroyed”. In particular, “the artificial boundary between clergy and laity needs to be deconstructed”. The essential thing in these times, Ramachandra said, is that “boundaries of all kinds must be eroded.”