Resources

ALLIANCE WORLD FELLOWSHIP

IX QUADRENNIAL

SANTIAGO – CHILE – APRIL 2008

SANTIAGO DECLARATION

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SEEING THAT:

1. We remain committed to obeying Christ’s command to go into the entire world and preach the gospel (Matthew 28:18-20).
2. One hundred and twenty years have passed since the foundation of the Christian and Missionary Alliance and thirty three years have passed since the foundation of the Alliance World Fellowship. Today ninety per cent of the twenty five thousand churches of the C&MA are scattered outside North America.
3. At this 2008 Quadrennial we have learned about:
1. God’s plan for the church to be the instrument of God’s activity in the world
2. The challenge of the world religions
3. New paradigms for missions.

CONSIDERING THAT THERE IS:

1. A Need for Integration of Emerging Churches:

   The explosive growth of the C&MA worldwide makes it very difficult to maintain the Alliance identity if special efforts are not made to transmit to the newer generation essential motivations and values that formed the C&MA.

   Only forty eight of the countries where there is Alliance work are officially member of AWF.

2. A Call for a Worldwide Missionary Vision:

   The C&MA is being presented with unprecedented opportunities for world evangelization.

   The rapid growth of the number of Christians in countries outside of North America and Europe in addition to new sociopolitical realities and globalization resulted in an increase of the missionary force from non-western countries.

   The presence of primarily national presidents and mission directors in the AWF quadrennial meetings is a slow way to transmit vision to the growing new generation of C&MA leaders and to maintain connections between national churches.

3. A Potential Crisis in Alliance Identity:

   The isolation of some regions and countries could provoke a breaking away of these countries and the establishment of national directions different from the foundational vision of the C&MA.

4. A Compelling Need for Integration of Theological Education:

   The current level of cooperation and networking among the different theological institutions of member AWF national churches does not take sufficient advantage of available resources to address the challenges of identity and internationalization of missions.

THEREFORE, WE RESOLVE:

1. To invite countries where there is an Alliance work, but not yet organized national churches, TO SEND A REPRESENTATIVE to the AWF quadrennials and regional AWF annual meetings.
2. To seek to deepen and harmonize missionary vision among member churches by:

Recognizing THE ROLE OF AWF in the strategic networking and collaboration of C&MA churches,

Establishing a permanent PRAYER NETWORK so that the Lord may bless our nations through the church,

Adapting and adopting NEW STRATEGIES and wisely seeking to reach people for Christ in this pluralistic world,

Asking MEMBER CHURCHES to make available through different formats, (special reports, books, videos, etc.) an explanation of their experiences in expansion so that we may all learn from each other,

Encourage churches in the south to ACCEPT THE VISION to take an active part in the RE-EVANGELIZATION of Europe and North America,

Inviting the five regions of AWF to cooperate in reaching the unreached peoples (“6th Region”),

Taking maximum advantage of the AWF QUADRENNIEL MEETINGS and the intermediate regional meetings to produce synergy for the joint work necessary to evangelize the world,

Encouraging KEY LEADERS AND MOBILIZERS of various Alliance churches throughout the world to attend AWF quadrennials and annual regional AWF meetings.

3. To take steps to clarify and strengthen Alliance identity by:

Writing a document that sets forth key elements of ALLIANCE IDENTITY noting especially: the four-fold Gospel, its implications today, the centrality of the Word of God, the diversity of evangelistic strategies, church planting, and Alliance missions. This document to be presented to Quadrennial 2012.

Encouraging national churches to promote AWARENESS OF AND IDENTITY WITH AWF within their own constituencies.

Establishinga REGISTRY of PRESENT ALLIANCE WORKin the world in order to facilitate the sharing of experience and expertise as well as to be able to celebrate God’s work,

Committing to careful conservation of the LEGACY of the C&MA worldwide by proper archiving of documents, files, statistics, gallery of martyrs, ministry to immigrants, etc.

4. To Strengthen Theological Education by:

Recognizing and utilizing new opportunities in THEOLOGICAL INSTRUCTION that combine traditional education with new technologies,

Asking that representatives of Alliance theological schools MEET AT LEAST ANNUALLY to create and develop platforms to integrate missional theological instruction, facilitate sharing of faculty and other resources, and strive to achieve some commonality and Alliance identity in an overall instructional framework.