The Rev Andrew Anderson is the minister of a Church of Scotland church in Edinburgh and a member of the Executive Committee of Edinburgh 2010, the four-day gathering of 300 Christians taking place in the Scottish capital this week to mark 100 years since the historic World Missionary Conference.
With Christians from all the mainline denominations and traditions taking part, Rev Anderson shares his vision for mission and unity here.
CT: Unity is a big theme for Edinburgh 2010 but there is always a concern where many Christians are coming together from a broad range of traditions that the unity expressed will only be skin deep and that after the conference is over, it will be a case of returning to “business as usual” and we won’t actually be any further along the road to unity. Are you concerned about achieving genuine unity when the Christians represented at Edinburgh 2010 are so diverse?
AA: Indeed! It is the challenge for the church but I would say we have achieved a lot of unity already. I’m very impressed with the make-up of the General Council, the very fact that that council was formed and that it has met very peacefully and cooperatively together over the last few years. That is a huge achievement and the fact we have even brought this event together is a sign of the unity we want.
I was at a consultation for Edinburgh 2010 in Seoul last year on the theme of spirituality and mission and different denominations and cultures came together – Orthodox, Pentecostal, Protestant, Anglican, Roman Catholic, and from different continents too.
It was an astonishing achievement to bring that grouping together and I think this has really happened worldwide. I don’t know what’s going to happen over the next few days but a lot has already been achieved and I think people have caught a vision of unity that they don’t want to let go of.
CT: That’s one of the striking differences between the 1910 gathering and Edinburgh 2010 – the participation of Roman Catholics, Orthodox Christians and Christians from the Global South. What impact do you think that’s going to have on discussions?
AA: Well, I think it will be huge, I hope it will be dynamic and creative and an avenue for the Holy Spirit to lead us and guide us and inspire us. I think a lot of people will find themselves sitting next to someone that they may not have found themselves sitting next to before over breakfast!
I will speak at the conference and my theme will touch on what is remembered from 1910 and that is a speech by an India bishop called Bishop Azariah of Dornakal who appealed for friends. He made the point that missionaries did a lot but there was still a difference between white missionaries and the indigenous Christians in Asia or Africa and he appealed for friends. Not just being missionaries working alongside indigenous people but that a friendship would be established. That is what is remembered by 1910 historians and theologians often quote his appeal, “Give us friends.”
