Seeking and serving the Truth. The First Hundred Years of the World Student Christian Federation

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Geneva. 1997. 307 p.Founded in 1895, the World Student Christian Federation was one of the first organized expressions of the modern search for Christian unity; and it was in the Federation that many of the women and men who later provided leadership in the World Council of Churches and other ecumenical organizations had their formative experiences of encounter and friendship across national and confessional boundaries. This centennial history draws on the wealth of materials in the WSCF archives and the rich reflections found especially in its journal The Student World to illustrate how the Federation evolved as Christian students in national movements around the world faced together the challenges of a turbulent century, including the convulsions of two world wars and the revolutionary changes in the student world symbolized by the events of 1968.Philip Potter was chairperson of the WSCF from 1960 to 1968, and general secretary of the World Council of Churches from 1972 to 1984. Thomas Wieser was a leader in the Swiss and American student Christian movements during the period 1946 to 1960, and later a staff member of the WCC's Commission on World Mission and Evangelism.Table of ContentsForeword Kyaw Than Introduction Philip A. Potter and Thomas Wieser Origins and Foundation: 1800-1895 Christian Students and World Mission: 1895-1913 Facing the Tragedy of the First World War: 1914-1919 Crisis of Faith and Fellowship: 1920-1928 Time of Change and Challenge: 1929-1939 Faith and Fellowship in the Second World War: 1939-1945 Witnessing to Christ the Reconciler in University Communities: 1945-1953 Students and the Life and Mission of the Church: 1953-1960 The Christian Community in the Academic World: 1960-1968 Discovering Identities-Political, Regional, Gender: 1968-1981Christian Solidarity in a Pluralistic World: 1981-1995 261Epilogue: Whither the Federation? Notes Appendix A: Selected Bibliography Appendix B: Officers of the WSCF Appendix C: Index of Persons