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Pope Benedict XVI has sent a formal greeting to delegates, visitors and staff attending the Edinburgh 2010 anniversary event commemorating the World Missionary Conference held at Edinburgh in June 1910.

“The priority in Christian mission is to witness to the love of Jesus Christ for all the world,” Prof. Dana L. Robert of Boston University told a Friday press briefing at the Edinburgh 2010 Conference. “The mystery of salvation is not ours to know,” she added, yet Christians feel compelled to bear witness to the gospel with an urgency “as inevitable as breathing”.

“We must not allow difficult theological, socio-cultural and political issues, or disagreements over theologies of religion, to discourage us from sharing God’s love and salvation through Jesus Christ with all the world.” With these words, keynote speaker Dana L. Robert encouraged delegates to Edinburgh 2010 in their commitment to unity of purpose in Christian mission, evangelism and dialogue.

Christian songs and hymns from around the globe mingled with the native skirl of bagpipes at welcoming ceremonies for Edinburgh 2010, a five-day conference marking the 100th anniversary of the World Missionary Conference of 1910. By the start of the conference, 297 registered delegates from 60 nations were joined by more than 100 additional visitors and staff on the Pollock Halls campus of Edinburgh University.

Delegates of the Edinburgh 2010 Conference will be attending morning worship in a number of local congregations in Edinburgh and in the surrounding areas. You are invited to join them! List with places of worship can be found here.

The Italian network 'one body one spirit' has joined E2010 and is collecting messages for delegates.

In November 2009, the Ecumenical Christian Centre in Bangalore hosted a three day seminar on the challenges and prospects of 100 years of ecumenism in India. The participants of the seminar were asking for an "ecumenism of freedom and solidarity", which is not dominated by "any caste, creed or community."

Papers presented at the seminar included: "Edinburgh 1910 and beyond: A critical assessment of 100 years...

A study guide for churches and congregations dedicated to the centenary of the World Missionary Conference has been published in English and German.

New Directions for Church in Mission (Neue Perspektiven einer missionarischen Kirche), written by Ken Ross, is now available as free PDF download here. The publication summarises the results of the Edinburgh 2010

An updated conference programme and general information for invited delegates is available here. This has been distributed to all delegates.

Information for accredited journalists can be downloaded from our media page. This includes a press programme, practical and background information. 60 journalists from 20 different countries covering all major denominations and several languages have been invited to attend the Edinburgh 2010 conference and celebrations.