When evangelicalism was defined at the international conference convened in London in 1846 to establish the Evangelical Alliance the definition explicitly excluded an ecclesiological statement. The reason for this was that the great evangelical revival of the eighteenth century had created a situation where members from most of the Protestant denominations that existed at that time could be one in heart and mind as long as they ignored their differing ecclesiology. A good example of this non-ecclesiological unity was the formation of the London Missionary Society [LMS] in 1795. Episcopalians, Presbyterians and Independents formed an overseas mission to send out missionaries that would simply preach the gospel, translate the scriptures and allow converts to organize themselves into the sort of churches that suited them. However, for most evangelicals this proved to be a step too far and most mission work was carried out on denominational lines for the first half of the nineteenth century.
For more information go to
The Whole Church as a Transformed and Transforming Society on the Lausanne Movement website.
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This product was added to our catalog on Monday 18 November, 2024.
