JBTM_10-2_Fall_2013

JBTM
H. Edward Pruitt
49
The IMC also hosted a conference in 1938 in Tambaram, India (also referred to as Madras
1938), commonly known as the third World Mission Conference. It was largely represented by
Western churches, yet it included a growing number of leaders from the younger churches. The
younger church leaders were conservatives and they defended the Christian message regarding
other religions, but also advised missionaries to dialogue with other religions.
In 1947, the IMC held its conference in Whitby, Canada. By this time, the use of the terms
“Christian” and “non-Christian” when referring to peoples or countries had been dropped. By
the end of the conference, the door had been opened for “new paths in mission theology.” 10
Within thirty-seven years of Edinburgh 1910, a convergence was well under way in this first
movement that flowed from Edinburgh.
New Delhi 1961 was a turning point as the IMC and the World Council of Churches (WCC)
became effective when mission councils who had been affiliated with the IMC aligned with
the WCC, and the IMC ceased to exist. From the time of the New Delhi Conference, “World
mission conferences could truly be called ecumenical because of the much larger denominational
participation, including Orthodox churches and soon after the Second Vatican Council also
Roman Catholic observers.” 11
One of New Delhi’s speakers was a deeply committed Lutheran named Joseph Sittler. He was
a leader who was unafraid to address issues of ecumenism and Christian unity. Widely known for
his keynote speech, “Called to Unity,” which he delivered at the Third Assembly of the WCC in
New Delhi 1961. Sittler may have set the tone for the future meetings at Uppsala and Bangkok.
Sittler’s interest in Eastern Orthodox thinking contributed to his own theological stance and
influenced his New Delhi speech, which emphasized unity and the Cosmic Christ.
Sittler argued that God calls the Christian churches to unity, and “this relentless calling [that]
persists over and through all discouragements ... is what engendered the ecumenical movement
among the churches, and steadily sustains them in it.” 12 For Sittler, Cosmic Christology affirmed
to mankind that the gift of God in Jesus Christ was for all of creation. Cosmic Christ stems from
God’s cosmic plan based on Scriptures such as John 1:1–14; Mark 16:15; Col 1:15–20; Eph
1:3–4, and 9–10.
Other conferences were held between 1961 and 1973. However, theological convergence
was clearly evident at Bangkok 1973, when the Commission on World Mission and Evangelism
(CWME) held its conference under the theme of “Salvation Today.” The terminology which had
been inspired by liberation theology took center stage in Bangkok and promoted social, political,
10 “History,” World Council of Churches, www.oikoumene.org/en/what-we-do/cwme/history (accessed
March 26, 2014).
11
Ibid.
12 “Ecumenism/Unity,” The Joseph Sittler Archives, http://www.josephsittler.org/topics/ecumenism.html
(accessed February 16, 2009).