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Integral mission or holistic mission describes an understanding of Christian mission that embraces both evangelism and social responsibility. With origins in Latin America, integral mission has influenced a significant number of Protestants around the world through the Lausanne Movement.
The proponents of integral mission argue that the concept is nothing new. Rather, it is rooted in Scripture and wonderfully exemplified in Jesus’ own ministry. "Integral mission" is only a distinct vocabulary for a holistic understanding of mission that has become important in the past forty years in order to distinguish it from widely held but dualistic approaches that emphasize either evangelism or social responsibility.
By contrast, that same year the World Congress on Evangelization in Berlin continued to emphasise a traditionally Evangelicalism conception of mission, as articulated by Billy Graham: “if the church went back to its main task of proclaiming the gospel and people converted to Christ, it would have a far greater impact on the social, moral and psychological needs of men than it could achieve through anything else it could possibly do. However, the question of Christian social involvement came up repeatedly during the ensuing regional congresses.
The International Congress on World Evangelization in Lausanne in 1974 is regarded by some as "the most important world-wide evangelical gathering of the twentieth century." The Lausanne Covenant affirmed: "God is both the Creator and the Judge of all men. We therefore should share his concern for justice and reconciliation throughout human society and for the liberation of men from every kind of oppression ... we express penitence both for our neglect and for having sometimes regarded evangelism and social concern as mutually exclusive."
Following the Lausanne Congress, support for the concept of integral mission grew amongst evangelicals, particularly in the Two-Thirds World. A number of declarations which emerged from international evangelical conferences in the ensuing years (some of them organized by the Lausanne Movement and chaired by John Stott) revealed similar concerns for a holistic understanding of mission. Of critical importance for the development of the theology of integral mission were the various Latin American Congresses on Evangelism (CLADE, their Spanish acronym—italic=no). Beginning with the Second Latin America Congress on Evangelism, held in Peru in 1979, the CLADES (III, Quito, 1992; IV, Quito, 2000) were organized by the Latin American Theological Fellowship (FTL).
In the UK, the International Consultation on Simple Lifestyle in 1980 resulted in a document entitled "An Evangelical Commitment to Simple Lifestyle," again affirming a commitment to justice within an Evangelical conception of mission.
In 1982, the International Consultation on the Relationship of Evangelism and Social Responsibility concluded that the latter is a consequence of, a bridge to and partner of the former. The document published maintained the of evangelism, despite its affirmation that the two are in practice inseparable.
In 1983, the Consultation on the Church in Response to Human Need in Wheaton, Illinois, led to the publication of "Transformation: The Church in Response to Human Need," perhaps the strongest evangelical affirmation of integral Mission. It is explicit in its denunciation of injustice, and churches and Christian organisations who "by silence give their tacit support" to "the socio-economic status-quo."
In 1999 a global network of evangelical Christianity organisations committed to Integral Mission was established and christened the Micah Network, which owes its name to the centrality of Micah 6:8 to the concept of Integral Mission: "What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God." Their members represent approximately 600 Evangelical service organizations, churches and individual members around the world.
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