June 29, 2011
The World Evangelical Alliance (WEA), the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Vatican’s Pontifical Council on Inter-religious Dialogue (PCID) have issued an official document containing recommendations on the ethics of Christian missionaries. Called the first of its kind in history, the document was created after a five-year consultation between the three organizations partially in response to criticisms from religious communities of Christian missionaries using “deception and coercive means” to win people to Christ.
The document, titled “Christian Witness in a Multi-Religious World: Recommendations for Conduct,” include guidelines on developing methods for missions work. Specifically, Christian missionaries are to “reject all forms of violence” and the use of “financial incentives and rewards” and to “acknowledge and appreciate what is true and good” in other religions. It also advises missionaries to permit “sufficient time for adequate reflection and preparation” before a person converts.
Religion expert at Georgetown University Rev. Daniel A. Madigan said the document represents “an admission” that such practices have been occuring in Christian missionary work. The three developing bodies are said to represent 90 percent of the world’s Christians, including Catholic, Anglican, Orthodox, Protestant, Pentecostal, Evangelical and independent churches. To read the entire five-page document, click here.
