The Centenary Celebration of the 1910 Edinburgh World Missionary Conference:
The Event and Reflections
Rev Eric S.Y. SO
I A Centennial Event 1910 – 2010
1 The Chinese Participants
In June 1910, over 1200 representatives from all over the world attended the World
Missionary Conference in Edinburgh, Scotland. There were 19 non-western
representatives of which 8 were Asians. Among these 8, there were 3 Chinese: Rev.
Cheng Jing-yi from Mishi Church, Beijing representing the London Missionary
Society; Prof. Tong Ching-en, Acting Vice-Chancellor of the University of Shanghai
and Professor of the Baptist Theological Seminary; and Mr. T.Y. Chang from the
Presbyterian Church of Shanghai. As well as these, two Chinese in UK, Ms. Ida Kahn,
a female medical doctor student, and Dr. C.C. Wong also attended the conference. (1)
In other words, 100 years ago there were 5 Chinese Christians, 0.4% of the total
attendance, present at the World Missionary Conference. A century later, on June 2-6,
2010 there were also 5 Chinese participating in the Centenary Celebration of the
Edinburgh Conference. Three were from mainland China – Rev. Gao Ying, vice
president of China Christian Council; Rev. Wen Ge of Nanjing Theological Seminary
and Prof. Sun Yi of the Department of Philosophy, Renmin University of China - and
two from Hong Kong - Rev. Chan Kwok-keung from the Hong Kong Sheng Kung
Hui and myself representing the HK Council of the Church of Christ in China
(HKCCCC). Since there were only 450 participants for 2010 Edinburgh Conference,
though the number of Chinese had remained the same, it was now 1.1% of the total
and 2.75 times of the percentage of Chinese attendance one hundred years ago.
2 The Participants World-Wide
In 1910 participants at the Conference were mainly from the Western Church,
especially the Protestants from Western Europe and North America. A century later,
the organizers obviously provided representation from the Catholic, the Orthodox and
the Pentecostal Churches. In the 2010 Conference, Rev. Dr. Lee Young Hoon,
successor of Rev. Dr. David Cho Yong-gi from the Full Gospel Church of Korea, was
invited to give a keynote speech, which in fact was deliberately a very special
arrangement. Apart from this, geographically the representatives from Latin America,
Southern and Eastern Europe, and the increased percentage from Asia and Africa
showed that in the 21st century, Christianity has turned its major development from
the West and North to the East and South. The regions which I observed with low
participation were the Middle East and the Pacific in that they had 1 and 5 participants
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respectively.
3 Agenda of the Conference
The 1910 Edinburgh Conference had 8 commissions with the themes of : 1) Carrying
the Gospel to all the Non-Christian World; 2) The Church on the Mission Field; 3)
Education in Relation to the Christianization of National Life; 4) The Missionary
Message in Relation to the Non-Christian Religions; 5) The Preparation of
Missionaries; 6) The Home Base of Missions; 7) Missions and Governments; 8)
Co-Operation and the Promotion of Unity. The Conference mainly discussed how
Christian missionaries could effectively spread the Gospel throughout the world.
Although the ecumenical movement was born after the conference, it was indeed first
and foremost a missionary conference.
The theme of the 2010 Edinburgh Conference was ‘Witnessing to Christ Today’ with
9 sub-themes: 1. Foundations for mission; 2. Christian mission among other faiths; 3.
Mission and post-modernities; 4. Mission and power; 5. Forms of missionary
engagement; 6.Theological education and formation; 7. Christian communities in
contemporary contexts; 8. Mission and unity - ecclesiology and mission; and 9.
Mission spirituality and authentic discipleship; and 7 transversal themes: i. Women
and mission; ii. Youth and mission; iii. Healing and reconciliation; iv. Bible and
mission - mission in the Bible; v. Contextualization, inculturation and dialogue of
worldviews; vi. Subaltern voices; and vii. Ecological perspectives on mission. This
event was not only a centennial celebration for the 1910 Edinburgh World Missionary
Conference but also an important gathering for participants from around the world to
reflect how missionary work has been carried out in the past decades and to discuss in
what way the Churches could address emerging issues of Christian mission.
However, the event was only a 5-day program which included arrival and the opening
and closing celebrations held in the same venue as in 1910 - the General Assembly
Hall of the Church of Scotland. Only three full days were assigned for keynote
presentations and group discussions on various themes and topics. Frankly speaking it
was just a introductory way of presentations on “big topics”and “symbolic hours”
for exchanging views and thoughts for the sake of the record.
II A Personal Reflection on the 2010 Edinburgh Conference
It was truly an exciting and meaningful experience to be present in the 2010
Edinburgh Conference, particularly sitting in the same Assembly Hall at the closing
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celebration where Rev. Cheng Jing-yi, the forefather of the Church of Christ in China
sat in 1910. Although there were only four and a half days on the conference program,
which did not give enough time for much discussion on each of the sub-themes, I had
the conviction that I needed as a member of HKCCCC to continue to carry out my
vocation and to move forward in the future for God’s mission. Below are the points of
reflection which I would like to share.
1 Lack of the Voice of Asia and China
For more than a hundred years, the Churches of Asia and China were in the hands
of the Western missionaries. For this the Asians and Chinese voiced out in the
1910 Edinburgh Conference: “Give us friends!” After a century, Church
development significantly moved from the Global North to the Global South
(especially to Asia, Africa and Latin America). However, in the 2010 Edinburgh
Conference, the Churches of Europe and USA were still the dominating voices. It
is regretful and disappointing that there was no voice from the Asians and the
Chinese. The opportunity given to Rev. Dr. Lee Yong Hoon was obscure. Why
was a Charismatic Church leader in Korea invited to speak and was the only Asian
to do so? (As a matter of fact, the combined membership of the Presbyterian and
Methodist Churches in Korea is far more than that of the Full Gospel Church. It
was mentioned in the Conference by the speaker himself that his Church has about
800,000 members but as far as I know the Presbyterian Church of Korea just by
herself has 3 million members). Furthermore, it is well known to the world that a
rapid growth of Christians has been occurring in China in the last thirty years and
there are currently more than 20,000,000 members. It is definitely a miracle and a
good study case for all Christian missionaries. But why did the organizers make
no way for the Chinese delegates to share? Was it because of the pre-arrangement
for the Korean Pentecostals, or was the matter simply overlooked? Was it because
of financial or political reasons, or an explicit preference of the Europeans and
Americans?
2 A Diversified Reality in Missiology
A hundred years ago, the missiological understandings and strategies were
dominated by the Western missionaries. In the 21st century, mission theology
and missiological approaches are multiple. We have to recognize that there is no
one perfect theory of mission for all and whenever applied to different
environments, adjustments are always needed. Nevertheless, it does not mean
that cooperation and collaboration for mission among Churches is only an ideal.
Any missiology without Christian unity is non-Biblical and not sustainable. It
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must be carried out with the spirit of Christian unity and facing the challenges of
globalization. Inter-dependence in Mission, Sharing in Mission, and Partnership in
Mission are good practices for the missiology of the 21st century. I believe this is
what had been discerned by the great pioneers a hundred years ago in Edinburgh
and it is a fundamental guiding point for today.
3 From Three Self to Three Mutual
In 19th and 20th century the Chinese Church was highly dependent on the Western
missionaries. Today the Chinese Church has become a Three-Self Church:
Self-governing, Self-supporting and Self-propagating. But Three-Self does not
mean exclusive. It needs to move into a more mature state: the Three Mutual
principles which are Mutual Support, Sharing and Co-operation. When the
Chinese Church becomes a Three Mutual Church, someday it will also be a
significant witness of Christian presence in a globalized world.
4 Constructing a Theology for the Future
The 1910 Edinburgh Conference was a conference for Church mission and
missionaries. It focused on how the Gospel could be effectively spread in the
non-Christian world. After the Conference, exploration on mission and
evangelism, Christian witness and social service, faith and order, and Christian
unity movements emerged and developed and brought new agendas to Christianity.
Facing the future, the Church has to revisit and re-construct theology for today.
On one hand, we have to review what has been established in the past as the
founding stone of the Church. On the other hand, we can proceed with the process
of theologizing faith and order, parish and social experience in practice, and
ecumenism and globalization, and thus carrying and consolidating a new structure
of theology for the coming decades in this 21st century.
5 Ecumenical Spirit Requires Listening and Mutual Respect
The history of unity and separation of the Church in the last 1000 years is a reality
which we have to confess. It proves that diverse thoughts and views could bring
separation. But, the history also serves as a reminder for the Churches divided to
value the importance of listening and appreciating each other, and through
walking and working together it is possible to be united again.
In the book “Unity of the Church” (1948) by Rev. Dr. A. R. Kepler, the first
General Secretary of CCC, he highlighted 4 primary principles for Church unity:
:
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i)
Generosity : Churches and Members, while retaining what they treasure,
should also learn to sacrifice for others and make contribution towards
enhancing the organic unity of the Church.
ii) Mutual Respect: Members should respect each other’s uniqueness and
heritage and recognize that all share the common evangelical foundation of the
Church.
iii) Inclusiveness : With a mentality of inclusiveness, new members with
backgrounds and cultures different from ours should be warmly welcomed as
one family.
iv) Unity and not uniformity: As a Church we belong to one organic body
through an organizational structure. But there is flexibility not only to embrace
elements of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church but also
particularities of Churches in their local context so that unity in diversity is
possible.
In the last century, the Chinese Churches were under the bondage of
denominationalism. The Church Unity Movement led by the leaders of the Church of
Christ in China was to establish a united Christian Church in the Chinese community
in order to bring the gospel of peace and harmony to the people in the time of turmoil
and division. With this wisdom from the past, we can continue the ecumenical journey
ahead.
The founding of the World Council of Churches in 1948 helped the Christian Unity
Movement to extend across both the Protestant and Orthodox Churches. The
Movement also gives life to ecumenical theologies, liturgies and ministries between
Churches’ traditions and the energy to enter into a bigger unity. After the Second
Vatican Council, the Roman Catholic Church started to be actively involved in many
aspects of the Movement and demonstrated that all Churches are members of the
Body of Christ according to the prayer of Jesus. Recently the WCC has also been
developing the Global Christian Forum as a platform for the Evangelicals,
Pentecostals, Romans Catholics, Orthodox and all Protestant Churches to dialogue for
a broader way of realizing Christian unity.
A hundred years ago, the Edinburgh Conference brought a new vision to the Church
universal and gave birth to the ecumenical movement. At the end of the first decade of
the 21st Century, we are at a crossroad facing critical challenges on global issues.
Despite its limitations and insufficiency, the 2010 Edinburgh Conference has aroused
the urgency for developing a new way of thinking about missiology and ecumenism.
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With the grace of God and by the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the leaders in 1910
braved the challenges and dared to find new ways. Encouraged by their steps and
example, we are also able to start another mile on this road.
1 Brian Stanley (2009),《The World Missionary Conference, Edinburgh 1910.》
Grand Rapids, Michigan：William B. Eerdmans Publishing House, pp. 94 – 97.
顧夢飛，(2010)“1910 年愛丁堡大會上的中國聲音”，
《天風》(2010) 4 期 (總
364 期)，中國基督教全國兩會「天風」編輯部，上海，頁 42-44。
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