March 22, 2012

A new video from the World Council of Churches (WCC) called The Changing Face of Mission explores the history of mission since the 1910 Edinburgh conference on mission, and how during the past century mission has changed.

"Mission dictates that we take the church into the world where people are hurting," says Jennifer Martin, a commissioner with the WCC Commission for World Mission and Evangelism (CWME) in the opening of the video.

The 26-minute video takes the viewer through some highlights of Christian mission from the incarnation of the International Mission Council (IMC) in 1921 to the formation of the CWME in 1961 through its integration with the World Council of Churches (WCC) .

The video was premiered on 22 March at a CWME pre-assembly event in Manila, the Philippines, in which a major statement on mission is being readied for the 2013 WCC Assembly in Busan, Republic of Korea.

One of the most significant changes in mission during the past century has been the shift in church growth from the global north to the global south.

"There has been a shift from the global north to the global south, so that now mission is no longer in the west as it used to be. Why is this so? You, see, that shows that the center of gravity of world Christianity has shifted from the north to the south," Rev. Dr Opoku Onyinah of the Pentecostal church in Ghana says in the video.

With this shift has come a changing emphasis on how mission is defined, according to experts interviewed in the video.

The video is available online (Link: http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=3068400d155b432ab354) for viewing and free download.

(Link: http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=9d1a63b58113a1db4ee5)

The video serves as an excellent resource for mission studies in church and academic settings, Bible studies on mission and for congregations interested in understanding the changing face of mission.

Watch online The Changing Face of Mission (Link: http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=ded5fdde806868a246e6)

WCC Commission on World Mission and Evangelism (Link: http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=8d30d2d78151dc200513)

World Council of Churches