An Interview with Dr. Daryl Balia, International Director of Edinburgh 2010

Dr. Balia took up his position of directing the Edinburgh 2010 project in 2007. He holds degrees in theology and public administration which he studied in his native South Africa, Germany and the United States. An ordained minister of the Methodist Church, he also taught missiology for ten years and worked in Nelson Mandela's government for seven years promoting public ethics and national integrity.

Dr. Balia, you are the International Director of Edinburgh 2010. What exactly is your task?

It depends on when the question is asked as my tasks continuously evolve. When I assumed duties in April 2007, as project manager, it essentially involved setting up an elaborate project infrastructure to operate within the university system but broad enough to attract global interest from churches and mission agencies around the world. Over the past two years I think we have succeeded in generating a strong level of interest in our study process which is meant to underpin preparations for the 2010 conference. Much more could have been done, of course, had more resources been secured but we’ve had to compete with a wide range of interests and agendas at a time of economic recession and mission fatigue. Many of our study consultations are taking place at this time, and we shall publish a comprehensive volume of essays on all our themes by the end of this year.

And what have you done before taking up this position?

I moved to the UK in 2005, first to work for an interfaith organisation in Oxford, and later at the Selly Oak Centre for Mission Studies in Birmingham before coming to Edinburgh. I used up a lot of my spare time here to finish a book on fighting corruption which has just been published by SPCK. The book deals a lot with my work in moral regeneration in the Mandela government in South Africa, which is still home for me.

Why is Edinburgh 2010 such a special project for you?

I was a student participant at the 75^th anniversary celebrations which were held in Edinburgh in 1985, but even before that, my grandfather’s pastor, the Rev. John Rungiah, was himself a delegate at the 1910 conference and he came to Edinburgh from my home village. So much for the nostalgia bit, but what really excites me about Edinburgh 2010 is our hope to develop a new paradigm for mission in the 21^th century. I don't think we live in a world where one cap can fit all, but I am confident of a very diverse gathering of people from almost all the representative stands of Christianity to meet and reflect together on how best to respond to God's Mission for our generation.

Who attended the 1910 World Missionary Conference?

In June 1910 more than 1,000 delegates were invited to Edinburgh to take part in one of the most defining gatherings in the entire history of Christianity. In his book Edinburgh 2010: Springboard for Mission Ken Ross describes the background of attendees:

"176 missionary societies and boards sent delegations - 59 from North America, 58 from the Continent, 47 from the United Kingdom, and 12 from South Africa and Australia. The delegates were overwhelmingly British (500) and American (500). Representatives from continental Europe were a small minority (170). Very few (though very significant) were the delegates from the 'younger churches' of India, China and Japan. There were no African participants nor were there any from Latin America nor from the Pacific Islands.
It was an entirely Protestant event. No one was invited from the Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox Churches (though correspondence was sympathetically received). The Pentecostal movement which was beginning at this time was also underrepresented. The participants were overwhelmingly male despite the fact that women were already making a massive contribution to the missionary movement. While the participants were struck by their diversity, from a longer historical perspective it is striking how limited was their range. Such was the impact of the event, however, that it stimulated the imagination to think of a still more widely representative gathering. Wardlaw Thompson of the London Missionary Society confessed: 'I long for the time when we shall see another Conference, and when men of the Greek Church and the Roman Church shall talk things over with us in the service of Christ.'"

In 2010 the World Church invited more than 250 delegates to gather in Edinburgh - many more will be able to participate virtually or attend one of the many local events. The stakeholders of Edinburgh 2010 committed themselves to appoint as delegates 60% from the global south, 50% women, and 20% under the age of 30. By implementing this policy the General Council wants to ensure that World Christianity is represented accordingly.

Follow us on Twitter!

The latest Edinburgh 2010 news are now available on Twitter. Twitter is an internet service for friends and colleagues to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing? So tell us what you do, follow tweets about 2010 resources and events, tweet back and start tweeting with each other. To follow us on Twitter please click here.

22 September 2009
Book launch party at the Centre for the Study of World Christianity
Time: 4.30-6.00pm, Venue: New College, Edinburgh (UK)

New College and the Centre for the Study of World Christianity invite you to the launch of the two latest books on Edinburgh 2010. Edinburgh 2010. Mission Then and Now, edited by David A. Kerr and Kenneth R. Ross, is the first book to systematically examine the eight Commissions which reported to Edinburgh 1910 and gave the conference much of its substance and enduring value. The World Missionary Conference. Edinburgh 1910 by Brian Stanley is likely to become the standard academic study of the epoch-making 1910 conference. The launch party starts at 4.30 pm in Rainy Hall, New College, Edinburgh. Refreshments will be provided. To register for the event, please contact Jasmin Adam on 0131 2255722 or email at jadam (at) cofscotland.org.uk. 

A Springboard for Mission?

Edinburgh 2010: Springboard for Mission
By Kenneth R. Ross
(2009), ISBN: 978-0-86585-008-8

The World Missionary Conference of Edinburgh 1910 was an epoch-making event. Edinburgh 2010: Springboard for Mission provides an overview of the momentous 1910 conference and analyzes the many streams of development in global Christianity which flowed from the first Edinburgh conference. This primer on the importance of Edinburgh 1910 and the forthcoming 2010 conference looks both at the achievements and downfalls of the past as well as pushes the Christian mission movement forward to the future. As Kenneth Ross writes in this volume, "the centenary of Edinburgh 1910 is an occasion which challenges the global missionary movement to re-gather and take stock again of how it stands in relation to its task."

Time has come for the mission movement to gain new momentum and definition for the task ahead. Edinburgh 2010 truly has the potential to serve as a new springboard for mission. 

By kind permission of the publishers, William Carey International University Press, this publication is also available for download here. For more information visit the publisher's website or follow this link.

Take time to listen to the Word of God.

'They set off privately by boat for a lonely place.
But many saw them leave
and recognised them and came round by land,
hurrying from all the towns towards the place,
and arrived there first.
When Jesus came ashore, he saw a great crowd,
and his heart went out to them,
because they were like sheep without a shepherd,
and he had much to teach them.'

Mark 6:32-34