This work investigates the structural and theological evolution of the ecumenical movement during the pivotal decade between 1961 and 1971. Norman Goodall, a seasoned observer and participant in the World Council of Churches, utilizes his extensive institutional knowledge to document the shifting priorities of global Christian cooperation. He argues that this period marked a transition from foundational organizational efforts toward more specialized, localized, and socially engaged expressions of the ecumenical mission.

Experts recognize this volume as a primary source document for understanding the mid-20th-century institutional trajectory of the World Council of Churches. Readers frequently note that the prose reflects the formal, administrative tone characteristic of ecclesiastical reporting from that era.