Christian Mission Must be Constant Encounter
Diocesan Press Service. January 7, 1964 [XVII-8]
Mexico City -- The pattern of Christian mission in today's secularized world must be one of constant encounter with the real needs of our age.
This was one of the principal conclusions of 200 church leaders from six continents who concluded a two-week meeting of the Commission on World Mission and Evangelism of the World Council of Churches in Mexico City Dec. 19.
The report of the group studying Christian Witness to Men in the Secular World said that the Christian message does not call men to live "in exclusive minorities" but to live a life of witness and service to the total community.
The form of Christian mission must "be that of dialogue using contemporary language and modes of thought, learning from the scientific and sociological categories and meeting people in their own situation. "
The "big breakthrough" for Christian unity will come when divided local congregations forsake their introverted ways and seek to find "unity of witness within the secular communities of the world," another report presented there said. It dealt with the witness of the congregation in its own neighborhood.
The lives of city and suburban dwellers are less often intertwined with those who reside near them than with those with whom they work or engage together in recreational or political activities, the report observed.
It contended that such "non-residential neighborhoods" make denominational divisions "absurd" because they cut across the unity men are given in these natural communities of every day life.
The Christian missionary force must strive to become increasingly international, interracial and interdenominational, if the Church is to make an effective witness, another report stressed. It dealt with the witness of the Church across national and confessional boundaries and called upon Christians everywhere "to bear this witness across all the frontiers of our time."