AD 2000 Archive

Discover how the dream of reaching the world for Christ by 2000 took shape in the ’90s, only to collapse due to misguided millennialism.

These essays, largely by Dr. Jay Gary, chronicle the journey of Christians to make AD 2000 and the turn of the millennium a milestone in worship and service.

• • The Birth of the AD 2000 Movement
    In 1989, I ran the founding conference of the AD 2000 movement in Singapore. Here is how we positioned things.
    • The Meeting of the Century
    • Leaders Try Again for Century Goal
    • Leaders to Pursue Cooperative Effort
    • The Early History of AD 2000
  • The Rise of Millennial Evangelism
    I wrote these articles on AD 2000 evangelism from 1989 to 1992. It was a season of great expectations.
    • AD 2000 Global Service Office
    • Passing Fad or Enduring Movement?
    • AD 2000 Call Sounded at Lausanne II
    • Tumbling Towards 2000
    • The Birth of an AD 2000 Agenda
    • AD 2000 Global Action Plan
  • The Fall of AD 2000 Evangelism
    By 1995, it was evident that evangelicals would not reach their “by the year 2000” goals. I was the first to call for self-criticism and suggest a “beyond 2000” horizon for world missions.
    • Has the Window of Opportunity Closed?
    • Mission Impossible or Dream Realized?
    • AD 2000: Prophetic or Target date?
    • AD 2000 Gets a Millennial Check-Up
    • A Church for Every People–Beyond 2000
    • The Millennium Bug in World Missions
  • The Rise of Celebration 2000
    Read words that inspired millions to mark the year 2000 as Jesus’ jubilee, the first and highest millennial focus.
    • The Bimillennial–A great year coming
    • A Wake-Up Call from God
    • The Bimillennial Era Has Begun
    • The Watchword and the Year 2000
    • The March of the Millennium
    • Celebrate Jesus 2000 campaign
    • The Spirit of Christmas 2000
  • Reflections on AD 2000
    From 1989 to 1994, I worked closely with this research group (later renamed), led by Dr. David Barrett and Dr. Todd Johnson to monitor the AD 2000 evangelism phenomena.
  • AD 2000 & Beyond Movement
    This coalition, led by Luis Bush, had great promise, but like its 19th century predecessors, failed to reach its century-end targets.
• • What Mean These Stones?
    Here is the 20th anniversary “Watchword Consultation Report,” from a conference I hosted in March 1999. Note the forecasts for the year 2025. A fitting summary.