On the threshold of the 100th anniversary celebration of the 1910 Edinburgh World Mission Conference, World Council of Churches general secretary Rev Dr Samuel Kobia has offered a sober analysis of the past century's achievements and failures, and called for an "ecumenically responsible evangelism".
The 100th anniversary celebration of the landmark event is widely regarded as the symbolic starting point of the modern ecumenical movement. Speaking at a meeting in Edinburgh to prepare for the celebration, Kobia affirmed: "We need a new Edinburgh and can only hope that the celebration we foresee for 2010 will be a step in that direction."
Such a re-edition depends on involving today's newer and most dynamic mission movements, Kobia said. These are to be found "among Christian traditions not represented in any of the formal fora that exist as a consequence of the structures of last century", he said.
