October 01, 1989 by Bruce Graham

It was a tense, unplanned moment. All eyes were fixed on Thomas Wang as he made his way toward the podium. The IFMA executive committee requested that he make clear the position of the AD2000 Movement (to which he gives leadership) in relation to Roman Catholics.

The request followed the report of the Executive Director of the IFMA in which deep concern had been expressed on the part of the IFMA board over the inclusion of Roman Catholics as participants and observers in the Lausanne II congress as well as the earlier Global Consultation on World Evangelism held in Singapore in January. Following the Consultation and Congress, two streams in the AD2000 movement were emerging. One stream, led by those open to wider cooperation, would include Roman Catholics. But what about the stream to which Thomas Wang would give leadership? Positioned at the podium, feeling "destined for trouble" as he put it later, Thomas carefully articulated his position. Personally, as a born-again believer, he could find no scriptural support for excluding from fellowship another born-again believer in the Catholic tradition. But, as for the AD2000 Movement office, Catholics would not be invited as committee members nor as participants in programs. They would only be invited as observers following a similar policy decision of the earlier Lausanne I organizing committee.

His response brought a great sigh of relief to many. The air was now clear for the IFMA Executive Committee to move ahead with an action, read out for the meetingstrongly affirming its backing of the AD2000 Movement office to which Thomas Wang gives leadership.