Mission & Evangelism in Recent Thinking: 1974-1986

This study of mission and evangelism is part of a thesis presented by the Revd Robert Bashford for the degree of M.Phil (CNAA), which he was awarded in 1989. Originally, Mr Bashford considered the international statements on mission published by the Lausanne Congress in 1974, by the World Council of Churches (Nairobi, 1975) and by the Roman Catholic Church (1975) as well as the material presented here. He also extended his scope to take in statements on mission made by the Methodist and Roman Catholic Churches in the United Kingdom
 
The main body of the thesis, however, concentrated on interdenominational evangelistic efforts in Britain, and on the special role played by the Church of England as the national church. It is this part of the thesis that is published here as a Latimer Study.
 
As the Anglican Communion embarked on a Decade of Evangelism, and as it does so in the 21st Century, it is essential for us to remember that in many respects we have been here before. The good intentions, the inspiring statements, the expressions of goodwill, and the almost total absence of any lasting results - all these will have had a familiar ring to those contemplating evangelism in the 1990s.
It is vitally inportant for us to understand what happened in the 1970s and 1980s, so that we realise just what are the strengths and weaknesses of our current position. Mr Bashford has given us an important survey of material which is often very hard to locate, and extremely difficult to analyse properly. His presentation is readable, and his research is thorough. We commend his study as an important contribution to the ongoing debate about, and practice of, mission in Britain