In recent years the Five Marks of Mission have become the latest in a long series of mission ‘slogans’ in the Anglican Communion, but little attention has been paid to their origin or theological presuppositions. This paper traces the development of an Anglican definition of mission from the 1984 meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council, at which a four-fold definition was first put forth, to the present use of the Five Marks of Mission across many parts of the Communion. The strong influence of evangelical mission thinking on this definition is demonstrated, as is the contributions from African Anglican bishops. Anglican mission thinking has shifted from emphasizing pragmatism and coordination to providing a vision for the Communion to live into. Mission thinking has been a site of genuine cross-cultural interchange among Anglicans from diverse backgrounds.

Recent tensions within Anglicanism have brought about an intense re-visiting of some of the debates that surrounded its emergence as a worldwide Communion in the nineteenth century. Then, as now, there were a number of suggestions for stronger structures at the centre. With Lambeth 2008 and the recent ACC 14 (Anglican Consultative Council 14), the Anglican Communion has effectively reaffirmed its commitment to a voluntarist, relational way of being together; dealing with differences through mutual self-limiting rather than by central control. Beyond specific proposals, such as that for an Anglican Covenant, this continued commitment to a ‘polity of persuasion’ will require time and patience as well as a quality of ongoing engagement to succeed. What is at stake is more than Anglican unity. It is the capacity for Anglicanism to witness with integrity to the world about living under God in community, sharing power, and co-existing interdependently on a tiny and increasingly conflicted planet.