Mission as Seen from Geneva: A Conversation with Eugene L. Stockwell

Abstract

Eugene L. Stockwell is Director of the Commission on World Mission and Evangelism of the World Council of Churches. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, where his father was studying theology, and was raised from the age of three in Argentina, where his father served as president of Union Theological Seminary in Buenos Aires. As a young man Stockwell studied and practiced law before deciding to enter Union Theological Seminary (New York) and the ministry. He and his wife worked as United Methodist missionaries for ten years in Uruguay, from 1952 to 1962. This was followed by two years as Latin American Secretary of the Methodist Board of Missions and then eight years as Assistant General Secretary for Program Administration. In 1972 Stockwell became Associate General Secretary for Overseas Ministries of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. He took up his present responsibilities in Geneva in 1984. While visiting at the Overseas Ministries Study Center recently, Stockwell shared some of his thoughts on developments and directions in world mission with Editor Gerald H. Anderson and Research Assistant Robert T. Coote of the International Bulletin.