Primates Proclaim Decade Of Evangelism
Episcopal News Service. May 11, 1989 [89090]
LARNACA, Cyprus (DPS, May 11) -- To proclaim the good news of the Kingdom; to teach, baptize and nurture new believers; to respond to human need by loving service; to seek to transform the unjust structures of society.
Thus did ACC-6 [Anglican Consultative Council], meeting in Badagry in 1984, summarize the mission of the Church. The Anglican Communion was urged to review its total life in the light of its missionary calling. From this "mission audit" undertaken in many dioceses, there began to emerge a renewed emphasis on our evangelistic task. Thus it was that the Lambeth Conference of 1988 called on provinces and dioceses of the Anglican Communion, in cooperation with other Christians, to make the closing years of this millennium a Decade of Evangelism (LCR 43).
Subsequent to Lambeth, the Mission Issues Strategy and Advisory Group (MISAG II) made helpful comments and suggestions regarding this proposal, including this definition of evangelism:
Jesus commanded His disciples to "go and make disciples of all nations" and to be his "witness... to the ends of the earth (Matt. 28:19, Acts 1:8). To evangelize is to make known by word and deed the love of the crucified and risen Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit, so that people will repent, believe, and receive Christ as their savior and obediently serve him as their Lord in the fellowship of his church. (See also John 20:21, Luke 4:18ff.)
The primacy of evangelism derives not from a desire simply to increase Church numbers, but from God's unique provision of eternal life in Jesus Christ.
The Primates wish to commend the attached reflections of MISAG II to individual provinces and dioceses, as well as those reflections contained in the earlier report of MISAG I, entitled Giving Mission Its Proper Place. The report of the Mission and Ministry section of the Lambeth Conference (especially sections 1-23) is also to be commended. In all these reports, our people will find a theological and practical basis for effective strategies of evangelism.
The Primates of the Anglican Communion want, therefore, to affirm this call to a Decade of Evangelism, and request all dioceses, parishes, and religious communities to prepare for the decade with prayer.
We suggest the following guidelines for consideration by the individual provinces:
a. Approach the Decade of Evangelism not as a terminal point but as a beginning. We carry on the decade as learners expecting its end to be followed by decade after decade of evangelism. God's calling and sending forth are measured not by decades, but by eternity
b. Discover and use distinctive Anglican gifts. Our heritage of liturgical and sacramental worship, our apostolic continuity, and our "reasonable tolerance" are all evangelistic tools and distinctive gifts to the larger Christian community. Effective evangelists are true to themselves.
c. Seek to work cooperatively with Christians of other Churches, many of which are also calling for a decade of evangelism. Two significant conferences in 1989 -- the World Council of Churches-sponsored "Your Will Be Done: Mission in Christ's Way" in San Antonio, and the meeting of "Lausanne II" in Manila - will indicate numerous ecumenical opportunities for cooperation and sharing at all levels.
d. Focus on persons, not programs. The Christian faith is spread person to person, community to community. It is a movement. It is not a program passed down for others to follow. Human story touches human story in the midst of God's story.
e. Focus on the local, not the universal. The context of of evangelism is crucial. Some Anglicans live in a predominantly Christian culture; others are in the minority. Strategies for -- even definitions of -- evangelism will vary from situation to situation.
f. Learn from each other. Living in many different situations and contexts, Anglicans have much to learn from each other and from other Christians. Provinces are therefore encouraged to gather statements, stories, strategies and experiences for sharing with other Anglicans and the larger Christian community. The Anglican Consultative Council, through the secondment of a Volunteer for Mission, will seek to coordinate and facilitate this sharing, as well as the identification of further resources.
g. Use the laity, the forefront missionaries of the Church. Tremendous energy is released when we realize that every Christian is an agent of mission.
h. Prayer is essential. Surround and undergird all ministries of evangelism and new initiatives for evangelism with prayer.
Meeting so close to the world of our biblical origins, we are reminded that the God who called forth and sent out Abraham and Sarah and the Prophets, who in the fullness of time sent forth his only Son and the Holy Spirit, our comforter, is the same God who continues to call forth and send out His faithful people on that mission of reconciliation that is God's own. Jesus Christ in his ministry, in his life, death, and resurrection, modeled that mission for us. It involves no less than the fullest measure of service and proclamation. In a Decade of Evangelism, we seek for a moment to lift up this great act of proclamation, properly called evangelism, which holds out to women and men everywhere the person of Jesus Christ. As people in the power of the Holy Spirit are drawn to him, so are they drawn to God, to one another, and to all creation. On this sure foundation may be built all our ministries of love.
Larnaca, April 1989
The group acknowledges, with warm appreciation, the initiative taken by the bishops at Lambeth especially their recognition "that evangelism is the primary task given to the Church"; and their call "to make the closing years of this millennium a 'Decade of Evangelism' with a renewed and united emphasis in making Christ known to the people of his world" (LCR 43).
The group also notes that the Lambeth Conference urged that evangelism be undertaken in cooperation with other Christian bodies. In some places it may be most appropriate and fruitful for the Anglican Church to take an initiative in calling for this partnership with other Churches in evangelism. We gladly note that the Roman Catholic Church has called for a decade of evangelization; the World Council of Churches (WCC) is convening an important meeting on world mission in San Antonio next year; and the "Lausanne II" conference for world evangelism will meet in Manila. We consider it important to have consultations with such Christian bodies and other Churches so that together the churches might bear common witness to the Gospel; and that any fears of proselytizing (or sheep stealing) might be allayed.