The Edinburgh Missionary Conference held in June of 1910 was both the culmination of nineteenth-century Christian missions and the formal beginning of the modern Christian ecumenical movement.

Protestant denominations and missionary societies from around the world sent 1,200 representatives to Edinburgh, Scotland. John R. Mott, an American Methodist layperson and leader of the Student Volunteer Movement for foreign missions, was conference chair. The conferees took stock of the gains made since 1810 in evangelism, Bible translation, mobilization of church support, and the training of indigenous leadership. Looking to the future, conferees worked on strategies for worldwide evangelism and cooperation.

The conference led to the founding of several ecumenical projects and agencies, including the World Council of Churches in 1948.

External Links

• The World Missionary Conference by Charles Clayton Morrison (a first hand account of the conference from the one-time editor of Christian Century)