Introduction: In 1910, World Missionary Conference was held in Edinburgh from 14th to

23rd june. This is the first time of conference for missionary from different denomination
officially. But before 100 years William Carey, the pioneer Baptist missionary in India, had
proposed a decennial interdenominational world missionary conference and had suggested that the
first should be held in Cape Town in 1810. From this event two important things we point out are
that ecumenical movement and evangelical movement. Both of their root were started from this
conference. It was the meeting of people related to Christian mission who gathered together to
swap views on the ways and means of carrying out the Lord’s command to preach the gospel to
the whole creation.
This paper is discussing the important mission perspectives of World Missionary Conference
(WMC) Edinburgh, 1910 with an intention to expose the mission concepts .
2. A Brief Description of World Missionary Conference, Edinburgh 1910
World Missionary Conference, Edinburgh, which is characterized by Walls as the high
point of the modern Western missionary movement and the springboard of the modern
ecumenical movement, was held between June 14–23, 1910, in Edinburgh. It was planned and
purposed specifically to discuss and plan strategies to reach the whole world with the gospel of
Jesus Christ. Many organizations, mission agencies and churches came together with a unifying
purpose to ‘evangelize the whole world in this generation’. It focused itself on making strategies
for mission work among the non-Christians and cooperation in that initiative.
We often find in different literatures written on the Edinburgh 1910 conference that it
was not concerned about the theological articulations but on missions. But we do find one
theology in that conference, i.e. the theology of mission. Peter C. Phan observes that the theology
of mission was expounded in the plenary discussions when the eight written commissions with a
distinct theme were presented.

3. Mission and WMC, Edinburgh 1910

3.1 Unity, Cooperation and Partnership in Mission- The prime reason for avoiding intense
theological or doctrinal discussion was to constitute unity, cooperation and partnership to carry
out the mission in non-Christian lands. Therefore, it enlarged the limits of discussion about
missiology, Church support and Christian unity. Commission Eight of this conference was based
on Co-operation and the Promotion of Unity. It confirms that this aspect was one of the very
important concepts of mission. Anderson further throws light on this concept and says that the
“Edinburgh 1910 conference aimed to analyze the Christian mission and to make plans to carry it
to fruition by cooperation….The topics of the studies all treated the matter of Christian unity as a
requirement for mission.” Andrew Walls also emphasizes that at Edinburgh the undertaking of
mission brought people together from various theological and ecclesiological affiliations.

3.2 Mission as Expansion and Extension- The commission I of the Edinburgh 1910 conference
focused on “Carrying the gospel to the non-Christian world” to reach the whole world. Mission
was understood as expanding and extending the kingdom of God through evangelism and
planting the churches in non-Christian lands. The same commission further adds that “the chief
aim must ever be to persuade human hearts everywhere that Jesus Christ is their Savior ….”
Bevans and Schroeder express that the Edinburgh conference symbolized the peak of
“missionary optimism, pragmatism and enthusiasm for the speedy Christianization of the world.”
The Edinburgh 1910 conference put up a process for international cooperation in the undertaking
of bringing the whole gospel to the whole world.

3.3 Church-centered Mission- In Edinburgh 1910 conference the function of the Church in
mission was at the very core. It was underlined that it was the obligation of the Church to send
out the missionaries in unreached areas. One whole Commission II, The Church in the Mission
Field, was devoted to study the place of mission in the life of the Church. Joshua Kalapati
expresses that the Edinburgh Conference was chiefly church-centered and it even discussed the
three “S” formula of “self-government, self-support and self-propagation.” Focusing on Church’s
role in mission, historian Snaitang argues that at the Edinburgh 1910 conference “ecumenical
leaders saw unity as an important means in which the Church could pursue and expedite the task
of converting the ‘heathens’ and planting of churches.” It was here at Edinburgh only that the
Western Christianity at first could articulate an apparent picture of a church that would be larger
than itself.

3.4 A Milestone for Mission Studies- The Edinburgh conference 1910 was also very much
significant in articulating mission studies as it brought out well-studied eight documents on
different subjects related to mission. Andrew Walls also characterizes this conference as the one
which initiated the mission studies. He says that “it marked, if not the birth, a genuine
renaissance of mission studies.” The writing which was produced in the conference developed
the emerging and rising field of missiology. The topics of the studies contributed to prevailing
concept that the Christian unity would serve as an instrument for mission. It further emphasized
on studying the concepts and questions of mission in different cultural and geographical
contexts. The publication of The International Review of Missions (later Mission) and organizing
succeeding world missionary conferences helped to achieve that goal.

4. Edinburgh 1910 and Today: Then and Now

David Kerr observes that the chief aim of the Edinburgh 1910 conference was to discuss
missionary problems in reaching the unreached areas and at the same time “it serves as a
benchmark of the mainstream Protestant missionary movement in the early twentieth century,
and a point against which we can review subsequent twentieth century developments.” Now the
questions here before us are that how different or similar approaches we find today in
comparison to the Edinburgh1910 conference? Is there a shift of focus or broadening the concept
by including the holistic aspect of mission keeping the present contexts in mind? One similarity
between today’s mission thinking and the Edinburgh 1910 conference is that both set out for
both a vision and an agenda for the future of the mission, one in the 20th century and the other in
21st century. One difference that comes to my mind is that in 1910 the concept of missio Dei was
absent, which was developed and discussed in the Willingen conference in 1952. At present the
missio Dei idea serves as a foundational concept in any discussion on mission. Another very
striking difference that comes to mind is that in 1910 there was no confusion about what the
mission is. But in recent discussion we find that there is no particular definition or concept is
articulated, it is multifaceted, as David Bosch puts it: “Our mission has to be multidimensional in
order to be credible and faithful to its origins and character.”
Another difference that we encounter today is of the language used. The language of the
1910 conference was a military language to conquer the world. But today more of a dialogical
language is implemented both in discussion and writing. The term “witness” is preferred over the
term “mission,” “expansion” is changed with “movement” and we can go on with the changes in
terms and language. “Conversion” has become a “shameful” act where it was highly desired in
1910. In today’s mission focus the stress is more on “here and now” than “then and there.”
Many think that changes which occurred in future shifted the focus of the movement
from its real aim, articulated in the Edinburgh 1910 conference. Hedlund says that “the true
meaning and intent of Edinburgh becomes lost in the developments which follow.” But as we
have discussed these similarities and differences, it is up to an individual with his/her spiritual
affiliation to evaluate that whether the focus has been shifted or broadened.

Goals
The slogan ‘The Evangelization of the World
in This Generation’ was often quoted as the
aim of the conference, or to put it another way:
to offer the Saving Gospel to all the world.
Expectations were very high as can be seen in
that the chairman, John R. Mott, thought that
this conference was a truly kairos moment with
a number of factors coming together to make
a huge leap forward in missionary work, es-
pecially in East Asia.13 Together with this was
the aim to get greater collaboration between
churches in their missionary work and to
achieve greater unity among churches.
The work of the Conference was in receiv-
ing and discussing the reports of eight com-
missions which had been set up beforehand.
The reports had been made available before
meeting. Because the titles of the commissions
give a fair indication of the contents of the
Conference, I will mention them and their date
of presentation:
1. Carrying the Gospel to all the Non-Christian
World (June 15, 1910).
2. The Church in the Mission Field (June 16,
1910).
3. Education in Relation to the Christianization
of National Life (Jun 17, 1910).
4. Missionary Message in Relation to the Non-
Christian World (June 18, 1910).
5. The Preparation of Missionaries (June 22,
1910).
6. The Home Base of Missions (June 23, 1910).
7. Missions and Governments (June 20, 1910).
8. Co-Operation and the Promotion of Unity
(June 21, 1910).
5. Conclusion-
In this paper we have discussed about the milestone Edinburgh 1910 conference and its impact
on the future of mission. Many consider it as a beginning of the ecumenical character of mission
as Glasser says that the “conference marked the beginning of the modern era of ecumenical
mission.” But at the same time some disagree with this claim by revealing those who were not
involved: women, non-whites and Latin Americans. Highlighting the same thing, Kerr says that
“although it succeeded in bringing together ‘low-church’ evangelicals and ‘high-church’
Episcopalians, the absence of Pentecostals, Catholics and Orthodox…underscores its limited
ecumenical scope.” So they point out that “Ecumenical” may not be a fully justified adjective to
illustrate the conference, but they do agree on this point that it surely facilitated to develop an
impetus towards breaking down denominational obstacles.
So as we have moved from 20th century to the 21st century, more complicated and diverse
challenges confront us. We can no longer rely on the strategies and schemes of 1910, because it
was clear that the conference was very much “part of the 19th century with its Eurocentric vision
of the world and its cultural and religious optimism.” Though we have the same goal of
“proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ,” we need to apply relevant strategies and concepts
in our mission. Today the mission is not from North to the South, it is truly global, from
everywhere to everywhere.

Bibliography
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Bevans, Stephens B. and Roger P. Schroeder, Constants in Context: A Theology of Mission for
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Bosch, David J. Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission. New York:
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Cho, Paul H. “Between Edinburgh 1910 and 2010: Changing Theological Views of Mission,”
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Contribution:
One of the most significant contributions of the Edinburgh 1910 missionary conference was the
formation of the International Missionary Council (IMC) in 1921. The International Missionary
Council (IMC) was one of the most significant Christian groups of its era. It brought together church
leaders from around the world, it commissioned the best missiological studies of the time, it
facilitated the formation of national councils of churches in newly evangelized countries.