The year 1973 has been designated as a time of special evangelistic effort in the United States and Canada to be known as Key 73.

Evangelism has always been central to evangelicalism both at home and abroad. The uttermost parts of the earth have been the recipients of the good news of the Gospel. In recent years it has become clear that North America is also a mission field that is ripe for harvest.

We are grateful to God for the impact and outreach of the Berlin Congress and the U.S. Congress on Evangelism and believe that Key 73 owes its dynamic and inspiration in part to these Congresses.

Therefore, the National Association of Evangelicals calls upon its constituency to rally in the spirit of Key 73 and to pray for every effort to reach men for Christ. We encourage our denominations and organizations to harness their resources and to develop their own programs of evangelism, cooperatively where possible, so that every person in North America will hear the Gospel by 1973.

We call upon our people to look beyond Key 73 to the bicentennial celebration of the United States and urge them to do all they can to make the 70’s the decade of evangelism as well as a time of spiritual awakening looking for a new baptism of power by the Holy Spirit that will capture the energies of Christians and help to bring healing and justice as well as racial understanding and harmony to all men.