Introduction

This article entitled ‘The Future of Mission in the World Council of Churches: The Dialogue
between Lesslie Newbigin and Konrad Raiser’ was published by the Journal of mission studies
in the year 2004. The article was written by Michael W. Goheen, who was an associate professor
in the Religion and Theology Department at Redeemer University College, Ancaster, Ontario,
Canada. He was also a minister of preaching at First Christian Reformed Church, Hamilton,
Ontario. His other work includes "As the Father Has Sent Me, I am Sending You": J.E. Lesslie
Newbigin's Missionary Ecclesiology published by Boekencentrum, 2000. His major aim in the
article was to summarize and evaluate a debate between ecumenical pioneer Lesslie Newbigin
and former WCC general secretary Konrad Raiser. Raiser exemplified a trinitarian approach to
ecumenism and mission that recognized the universal presence of the Holy Spirit among all
peoples and religions, and so he ceased to have a Christocentric focus. For Newbigin, while a
trinitarian approach to ecumenism and mission is of paramount importance, an abandonment of
the centrality and universality of Jesus Christ is something that cannot be abandoned.

Keywords: Christocentrism, Ecumenism, Ecclesiology,

Summary

A scuffle between Newbigin and Raiser took place in the pages of the International Bulletin of
Missionary Research in 1994. Newbigin1 fired the first volley with a lengthy review and rather
harsh critique of Raiser's book Ecumenism in Transition: A Paradigm Shift in the Ecumenical
Movement. Raiser's2 response was brief and generous but the issues were not engaged on a deep
level. Newbigin's3 response to Raiser in the same issue of the IBMR was likewise brief and more
subdued. One year later Raiser4 delivered a public lecture at the Bicentenary Celebration of the

1
Newbigin, Lesslie (1994a) "Ecumenical Amnesia." International Bulletin of Missionary Research 18(1): 2-5
2
Raiser, Konrad (1994) "Is Ecumenical Apologetics Sufficient? A Response to Lesslie Newbigin's 'Ecumenical
Amnesia.'" International Bulletin of Missionary Research 18(2): 50-51
3
Newbigin, Lesslie (1994b) "Reply to Konrad Raiser." International Bulletin of Missionary Research 18(2): 51-52
4
Raiser, Konrad (1995) Toward an Ecumenical Vision for the 21 st Century. Unpublished public lecture given
during the Bicentenary Celebrations of the London Missionary Society/Council for World Mission in London, 12
July 1995.
London Mission Council entitled Toward an Ecumenical Vision for the 21 st Century. Newbigin5
attended that lecture and was incited to draft a nine page response to what he heard. These brief
skirmishes contained important clues to central issues of two very different visions of the future
of mission within the WCC. This paper examines these different visions.

The evaluation of that crucial period in the 1960s as represented by the Uppsala Assembly offers
an insight with which to evaluate the contrasting visions. For Raiser, Uppsala is judged to be a
positive development that responds to the challenges of the present by modifying the emphases
of the classical vision. For Newbigin, however, Uppsala represents a painful experience where
there is a denial of the original ecumenical vision. Newbigin and Raiser agree that a paradigm
shift has taken place that has its roots in Uppsala; their differences lie in how they evaluate that
shift. I elaborate these contrasting visions at three points: their understanding of the missio Dei,
of ecclesiology, and of the mission of the church.

Missio Dei

In their writings both Raiser and Newbigin point to the Willingen Conference of the International
Missionary Council (IMC) (1952) as a turning point in the ecumenical tradition for
understanding mission.6 7
This conference signaled a shift from the church to the redeeming
mission of God as the central reference point.

The Willingen statement, however, already concealed profound differences about how the
mission of God was to be understood. Two interpretations of this phrase had already appeared at
Willingen. One interpreted the phrase to mean the providential action of God by His Spirit in the
world with little reference to the church. The other emphasized God's work through the unique
witness of the church as it continued the mission of Christ. The latter understanding was

5
Newbigin, Lesslie (1995) Reflections on the LMS / CWM Bicentennial: July 1995. Unpublished response to
Konrad Raiser's key-note address, 12 July 1995 for the Bicentenary Celebrations of the London Missionary
Society/Council for World Mission.
6
Newbigin, Lesslie (1970) "Mission to Six Continents." In Harold Fey, ed. The Ecumenical Advance: A History
of the Ecumenical Movement, Volume 2, 1948-1968. London: SPCK. Pp. 171-197
7
Raiser, Konrad (1999a) 'That the World May Believe': The Missionary Vocation as the Necessary Horizon for
Ecumenism." International Review of Mission LXXXV1II. 350 (July):
187-196.
endorsed by Willingen but it was the former that would gradually gain in prominence becoming
the "received view" at Uppsala.

Newbigin maintained the Christocentric understanding of the missio Dei. Raiser believes that
such a Christocentrism is insufficient to meet the demands of the contemporary world. Global
crises demand that the church shift attention to the Spirit's work in the oikoumene. Newbigin
argues also that a "Trinitarian perspective can be only an enlargement and development of
a Christo-centric one and not an alternative set over against it, for the doctrine of the Trinity is
the theological articulation of what it means to say that Jesus is the unique Word of God
8
incarnate in world history. Raiser too wants to develop a trinitarian perspective that is
Christological9. Yet a significant difference remains between their conceptions. Newbigin uses
the word "Christocentric" while Raiser uses the word "Christological."

Ecclesiology: A Unique Body with the World

Within the ecumenical tradition there are two different views of the church. The first of these
ecclesiologies is rooted in the classical ecumenical tradition, while the second is rooted in
a Christocentric understanding of the missio Dei. Neither Newbigin nor Raiser completely fit
these two ecclesiologies yet their ecclesiologies broadly follow these two distinct lines.
Newbigin's views are recognizable in classical ecclesiology and Raiser's in the ecclesiology
springing from Uppsala.

The differences between Newbigin and Raiser are rooted in differing assessments of Christ. If
Christ has revealed and accomplished the age to come in His life, death and resurrection, and if
the church has begun to share in the life of the age to come by his Spirit, the church will be
distinct, even separate from the world. It is more than a unique community that contributes to the
moral fabric of society and the resolution of global threats. It is a community that bears God's
purpose for all history and thus stands to some degree in antithesis with the world. The church's
distinctiveness and solidarity with the world are both essential for a faithful missionary church10.

8
Ibid 1994a: 2; 1977d: 214
9
Ibid 1994: 50
10
Berkhof, Hendrikus (1979) Chrìstian Faith: An Introduction to the Study of the Faith. Grand Rapids: Wm. B.
Eerdmans Publishing Company.
This being-different-from-the-world will take on an institutional form. Christianity devoid of an
institutional nature cannot offer a true alternative. Raiser's concern for the church to contribute
toward the household of life is not well served by his call to minimize the institutional
distinctions between church and the world11. The way ahead for an ecumenical ecclesiology is to
recover an understanding of the church as a distinct body that shares in the victory of the cross,
but at the same time to find appropriate structures that enable the church to address the needs of
the day.
Mission: Bearing the Whole Gospel to the Whole World
Raiser's understanding of mission again falls within the Uppsala trajectory. For Raiser the
mission of the church is not to Christianize the world but to change it. Religious pluralism, the
wrongs of economic injustice, and the threat to all natural life systems require the church to
engage in self-critical analysis regarding the universalism that informs the missionary task 12. The
imperialism of missionary work and the exclusive claim for the gospel threaten the unity that is
desperately needed in today's world. The urgency of world need demands that the primary task of
the church be to further the process of reconstructing sustainable human communities13.
Newbigin reserves perhaps his harshest criticism for Raiser's understanding of mission.
Newbigin's concern is that Raiser ignores the evangelistic and missionary task of the church 14.
According to Newbigin, Raiser evidences little concern for the great majority of people in the
world who have not confessed Christ, been baptized, and incorporated into the church.

Critique

The missio Dei concept acknowledges that the church is, by nature, missionary. The term itself
gained wide acceptance after 1964, when Georg Vicedom used it in his book The Mission of
God, and the Second Vatican Council15 spoke of the church as missionary by its very nature. The
ownership of mission is entirely with God from start to finish. The Father sends the Son, and
together they send the

11
Raiser, Konrad 1991 Ecumenism in Transition: A Paradigm Shft in the Ecumenical Movement. Geneva: WCC
Publications.
12
Ibid 1994: 50
13
Ibid 1997: 26
14
Ibid 1994a: 5
15
Balia, D. & Kim, K. 2010. Edinburgh 2010: Volume II. Witnessing to Christ today. Edinburgh 2010 Series.
Oxford: Regnum.
The role of human beings (i.e., the church) is to be the instruments that God employs to conduct
his mission. Missio Dei begins from the realization that mission belongs to God and is first and
foremost God's initiative, an initiative in which the church is asked/allowed to participate 16.

The missio Dei concept shifted previously held understandings of the origin and source of
mission from human to divine agency. The theological concept of missio Dei was redefined and
expanded along the lines that mission is finding out where the Holy Spirit is at work and joining
in17 - i.e., that the key role of the Holy Spirit within the mission of the Triune God is now
emphasized.

The essence of mission is a life in the Holy Spirit 18. This affirmation makes a clear association
between the overarching issue of life in fullness and the work and presence of the Holy Spirit in
creation and the church: The powerful presence of the Holy Spirit, revealed in Jesus Christ, the
crucified and risen Lord, initiates us into the fullness of life that is God's gift to each one of us.
An entire section is devoted to The Mission of the Spirit.

TTL19 addresses the relationship between church and mission, stating that it ". is not the church
that has a mission but rather the mission that has a church". It can be said that the statement in
TTL that mission is not a project of expanding churches but of the church embodying God's
salvation in this world echoes Hoekendijk's critique and represents a new approach that did not
begin with the church and its standard missionary agenda. It is significant that TTL20 starts with a
declaration that the life of the church arises from the love of the Triune God. If read with the next
statement - that mission is a response to God's urging love shown in creation and redemption - it
becomes clear that the point of departure is God himself.

This is also the case with TC, which regards the church as rooted in the vision of God's great
design for all creation - the kingdom. The church has an evangelistic vocation to proclaim the

16
Bevans, S. 2014. “Mission of the Spirit”. International Review of Mission 103(1): 30-33.
17
Ibid
18
Bevans, S. & Schroeder 2011. Prophetic dialogue: Reflections on Christian mission today. Maryknoll: Orbis
Books
19
TTL – Together Towards Life: Mission and Evangelism in Changing Landscapes (2006)
20
Balia, D. & Kim, K. 2010. Edinburgh 2010: Volume II. Witnessing to Christ today. Edinburgh 2010 Series.
Oxford: Regnum.
kingdom, and this includes the transformation of the world towards the kingdom of God. The
church is sign and servant of God's design21.

This positioning of mission in the Trinity, the emphasis on the activity of the Holy Spirit, and the
understanding of mission as life-giving, together with the focus on justice and people in the
margins22 succeed in solving a tension that has been apparent since the critique of Hoekendijk at
Uppsala, by placing divine action alongside human agency. It might be that the influence of
Hoekendijk still leads to a "softer" formulation of the role of the church in mission in TTL, and
perhaps an underplaying of the centrality of the church to mission. In the case of TC, the central
place of the church in the mission of God, and as a continuation of God's mission, is discussed in
much clearer terms.

Conclusion

WHAT COULD THE FUTURE LOOK LIKE?

The very act of reflecting on an ecumenical document reminds us that we are collectively
engaged in the missio Dei through the strength of the Spirit, and that we are doing it within
diverse contexts.

This section concludes with a number of observations on exciting new possibilities for mission
and Missiology, as revealed by Together towards life. It discusses possible future themes such as
missions with creation at its heart; missional ecclesiology and missional leadership; mission
supported by a "transformative spirituality, and mission from the margins.

Mission with creation at its heart

The TTL document very clearly focuses on the relationship with creation and life in all its
fullness. The introduction of the theme clarifies the scope and intention of TTL.23
21
Ibid
22
Bevans, S. & Schroeder, R. 2004. Constants in context: A theology for mission today. Maryknoll: Orbis Books.

23
Billings, J.T. 2010. The Word of God for the people of God: An entryway to the theological interpretation of
Scripture. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans [Kindle Edition].
It also mentions that the church is commissioned to celebrate life, and to resist and transform all
life-destroying forces. It’s my observation that the emphasis on life-affirming mission is of
crucial significance for TTL. The mission statement claims that the Spirit of God is at work
where life is affirmed and blossoms. As such, the affirmation of life is a criterion to be able to
distinguish between the spirits of this world and the Spirit of God, serving as an instrument to
observe where God's Spirit is at work. The affirmation thereby also establishes a theological
bridge between the Christian faith, secular world views, indigenous religions, and wisdom
traditions - for, because the gospel is good news for all of creation, it is vital to recognize God's
mission in a cosmic sense, and to affirm all life, the whole oikoumene, as being interconnected in
God's web of life24. This also represents an important point of critique on TTL: the hermeneutical
key, namely that the Spirit is at work where life is affirmed and blossoms, begs the question of
how this is reconciled with the classic point of view that the Spirit always points towards Jesus
the Christ.

It reminds me of that mission is not only about changing the church, but also about changing
society.

Missional ecclesiology and missional leadership

The church is the mission. The ecumenical discourse of the past century recovered the
relationship between mission and church. Missional ecclesiology is grounded in the missio
Trinitatis. The TTL document states that it is impossible to separate church and mission. The
church originated as part of God's mission and the aim of the church is to fulfil God's missionary
purpose.25

The church is a sign and symbol of the reign of God, as it witnesses to the power of Christ
through the transforming work of the Holy Spirit. Thus, mission is holistic, because it focuses on
all of life and all of creation as it calls people to abundant life. It is also understandable that local
congregations as the interface between the celebration and nurturing of our faith and our witness
to the world. This aspect is even more evident in the TC document. It places the church within

24
Ibid
25
Ibid Bevans & Schroeder 2004
the mission of God, and the core identity of the church is its missional identity. The church plays
an important role in the design of God.

Mission supported by a "transformative spirituality"

The church, sent in the Spirit to engage in the missio Dei, seeks to be the "fellowship of the
Spirit". Mission is a spiritual endeavour, and spiritual life is missional, since both are human
responses to impulses produced by the mission of the Spirit throughout the whole of creation.
Spirituality is the heart of mission praxis26.

Although one would expect at least a reference to spirituality in general in the TC document, the
document is strangely silent on this issue.

Mission from the margins

I conclude with the future opportunities presented by the focus of the TTL document on mission
from the margins.

There is a great attention to the importance of marginalized communities. Marginalization is a

key mission topic. The acknowledgement of mission from the margins serves as a counterpoint
to injustices in life, church and mission. Jesus Christ embraced the marginalized. This implies
that mission, participating in Christ's mission, can be done by the powerless to the powerful, the
poor to the rich, and the marginalized to the privileged.

This new affirmation aims to provide new concepts and directions for mission. My conviction is
that the TTL document provides mission and Missiology with a dialogue partner that reminds the
church, and those who practice theology - especially Missiology - that we are together on a
journey towards life. The changing landscapes on this journey remind us that the church finds
itself in the liminal space between an institution and a community of sent disciples participating
in God's mission. The Spirit is the guide, reminding us that we can find the Father's Son among
the least and the marginalized - the shadow stories of the community. It is a time of risk, but also
a time filled with the hope and promise of life in all its fullness27.
26
Ibid Billings, J.T. 2010
27
Ibid Billings, J.T. 2010