THE ONGOING IMPACT OF THE LAUSANNE MOVEMENT: The Legacy of Lausanne Copyright © 2009 All Rights Reserved.

Lesson Overview 1. The Lausanne Committee 2. The Lausanne Movement 3. The Lausanne Conferences

The evolution of “Lausanne”

The Lausanne Committee The LCWE was formed in 1976 Initially 48 people, later expanded to 75 Leaders: Leighton Ford; Gottfried Osei-Mensah Function: to help be an international catalyst for world evangelization

Lausanne Working Groups The LCWE was initially divided into four working groups to oversee different strategic areas of the Lausanne Movement. These were: The Intercession Working Group The Theology Working Group The Strategy Working Group The Communications Working Group Subsequently, four additional working groups have been introduced: The Leadership Development Working Group The Resource Mobilization Working Group The Technology Working Group The Business, Government, Education, Media, and Medical (BGEMM) Working Group

Intercession Working Group The Intercession Working Group’s (IWG) purpose is to “Reawaken, encourage and equip the church to be involved in world evangelization through Prayer in Evangelism.” God summons us to pray in the pursuing of His purpose in evangelization of the world. So we seek to pray in God’s purposes and pray towards God’s purposes for World Evangelization. Bishop John Reid was the first chair. Rev. Sarah Plummer is the current chair.

Strategy Working Group The Strategy Working Group is commissioned to serve the Body of Christ in providing focus on the priority of world evangelization and is chaired by Paul Eshleman. The mandate of the Strategy Working Group is: 1. To help relationally connect a new generation of strategic thinkers throughout the world; 2. To discover the most effective tools and strategies for World Evangelization and spread them throughout the world; 3. To focus attention on the most neglected people of the world in terms of evangelization; and 4. To call the church to develop strategic actions that will increase both quantity and quality of evangelization.

Theology Working Group The Theology Working Group (TWG) serves the whole Lausanne Movement by ensuring that its passion for mission strategy and activism is grounded in careful theological reflection, and by challenging evangelical theology to have biblical effectiveness for holistic mission in the spirit of the Lausanne Covenant. Dr. John Stott was the first chair. Currently, the TWG is chaired by Dr. Chris Wright, the international ministries director for John Stott’s Langham Partnership.

Leadership Development Working Group The purpose of the Leadership Development Working Group (LDWG) is to advance the movement of the whole church taking the whole gospel to the whole world by catalyzing the development of Christ-centered leaders. LDWG members are responsible to: 1. Think biblically and strategically about ways to develop leaders for world evangelization. 2. Search for and identify the next generations of leaders for world evangelization. 3. Identify and mobilize resources for leadership development. 4. Research and communicate best practices of leadership development to the church. 5. Network for collaborative efforts in leadership development. 6. Advocate the distinctive role of Lausanne in leadership development for world evangelization. 7. Interact with other Lausanne working groups for effective coordination. 8. Identify and empower younger leaders who will assume the LDWG leadership in the future.

The Lausanne Movement The Lausanne Movement is an organized effort that mobilizes evangelical leaders to collaborate for world evangelization. Lausanne convenes leaders by sponsoring gatherings Lausanne encourages efforts by evangelicals Lausanne unites Christians in a common task: world evangelization!

The Lausanne Movement Lausanne Congress Lausanne Committee Lausanne Movement

“The Lausanne Movement is an international, transdenominational movement of evangelicals associated with the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization and dedicated to the study, promotion, and fulfillment of cooperative evangelism worldwide. The movement derives its name and spirit from the International Congress on World Evangelization, held at Lausanne, Switzerland, in July 1974.” -Jay Green The Encyclopedia of Christianity The Lausanne Movement

The Lausanne Gatherings Lausanne has spawned missions and evangelism conferences: 1. Three major global congresses 2. Two forums on evangelization 3. Lausanne affiliated gatherings See for a graphic view of the Lausanne Conferences.

Major Lausanne Gatherings Since Lausanne 1974, there have been three major international gatherings initiated by Lausanne: 1. The Consultation on World Evangelization (Pattaya 1980) 2. The Second International Congress on World Evangelization (Manila 1989) 3. The Forum on World Evangelization (Thailand 2004). In this lesson, we offer some critical background information about each of these major conferences.

Major Gatherings – Lausanne 1974 The International Congress on World Evangelization, later known as Lausanne I, took place in Lausanne, Switzerland in In one of the largest, most diverse and influential Christian gatherings in church history, the Lausanne Covenant was developed and the Lausanne Movement birthed. This Congress was the focus of the second presentation in this series on the History of the Lausanne Movement.

Major Gatherings – Pattaya 1980 The first international follow-up meeting, The Consultation on World Evangelization (COWE), convened in Pattaya, Thailand June Under the leadership of Leighton Ford (Chairman) and David Howard (Director), 650 delegates and 300 guests gathered for 12 days to consider strategic issues in world evangelization. The theme of Lausanne I was “Let the earth hear His voice”. It focused on the evangelistic imperative of the whole church taking the whole gospel to the whole world. The theme of Pattaya was “How shall they hear?” Embracing the concept of unreached people groups, the delegates divided into 17 mini-consultations, each tasked with devising an evangelistic strategy for evangelizing a particular people group (e.g., Chinese people, secular people, large cities, nominal Christians, Hindus.) The consultation produced the Thailand Statement and 17 Lausanne Occasional Papers (LOPs;

Pattaya Thailand Statement The Thailand Statement reaffirmed the mandate for evangelization and the primacy of evangelism, particularly by focusing on unreached people groups. It called for Christians to walk in love, humility, integrity, and the power of the Holy Spirit, and urged a spirit of cooperation in the task of world evangelization. The Statement ends with a 12-point pledge, covering: - living under the Lordship of Christ - working for the evangelization of the world - serving the needy and the oppressed - loving all those we serve - praying for the church and the world - studying God’s Word - giving with the generosity of Christ- going where Christ sends - laboring to mobilize Christ’s people- cooperating with all true believers - seeking the power of the Spirit- waiting for Christ’s return

Major Gatherings – Manila 1989 Manila 1989 is known as Lausanne II, the second International Congress on World Evangelization. Approximately 4,000 delegates from 173 nations convened in Manila, Philippines, under the leadership of Saphir Athyal (Chairman) and Edward Dayton (Program Director).

Major Gatherings – Thailand 2004 The Forum for World Evangelization convened in Pattaya, Thailand in September Roger Parrott chaired the gathering, which included more than 1,500 participants from around the world. The theme of the Forum was “a new vision, a new heart and a renewed call”. In terms of its format, Thailand 2004 was similar to Pattaya Extensive research surfaced 31 issues that impact evangelism. These issues became the organizing principal of the Forum. Representative voices from the global church were invited to participate in 31 Issue Groups. Each group contained between 30 and 70 persons who worked in researching, collecting best practices and preparing to articulate an action plan that the church can implement through denominations, local churches and focused ministries. The result of each Issue Group’s work was published as a Lausanne Occasional Paper. The papers cover such issues as Globalization and the Gospel, The Uniqueness of Christ in a Postmodern World, The Persecuted Church, Holistic Mission, Media and Technology, and Understanding Muslims.

Significance of Manila 1989 Purpose: to focus the whole church of Jesus Christ in a fresh way on the task of taking the whole gospel to the whole world. Representation: 4,300 in attendance from 173 countries, including the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, and with a larger proportion of women, lay persons and younger leaders than at previous conferences. Timeliness: building on the foundation of Lausanne '74, on the work which has taken place since then, and leading into the final decade of this century. Breadth: consideration was given to scores of important topics, ranging from the A.D movement, to the work of the Holy Spirit, to liberating lay people, to the heart-cry of the poor of our world—and all related to Christ's global cause.

The Movement in the New Millennium Since the year 2000, Lausanne has held numerous international gatherings. Pattaya, Thailand in 2004, Hong Kong in 2005, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2006, Budapest, Hungary in 2007, Buenos Aires, Argentina in 2008, and Seoul, Korea in In 2006, the second Young Leaders Gathering was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Over 550 younger leaders from 107 countries gathered together to prayerfully consider how the Lord might choose to use them to reach the next generation. Lausanne continues in mission to help the church be encouraged to bring the whole gospel to the whole world. Upcoming is the Third Congress on World Evangelization, Cape Town 2010, which will be held in October of Over 4,000 senior leaders, younger leaders, men and women will gather in Cape Town, South Africa to consider the critical issues facing the world in the 21 st century. Additionally thousands more will join the Congress remotely through the internet as a part of GlobaLink and The Lausanne Global Conversation.

Conclusion This lesson has taken a brief look at the Lausanne Movement and some of the major conferences since In addition to the congresses, Lausanne has sponsored dozens of regional, national, and issue-based gatherings and consultations. For further information about Lausanne, please visit the website at

HERE IS A SHORT QUIZ TO HELP YOU REVIEW THIS LESSON. Review Quiz

Lausanne Consequences – Review Quiz Question 1 Number these missionary conferences in date order (from earliest to latest). ___ Manila: International Congress on World Evangelization ___ Lausanne: International Congress on World Evangelization ___ Thailand: Forum on World Evangelization ___ Berlin: World Congress on Evangelism ___ Edinburgh: World Missionary Conference ___ Pattaya: Consultation on World Evangelization

Lausanne Consequences – Review Quiz Question 2 Paul Eshleman says the Lausanne Movement is effective because it enables evangelicals from different persuasions to meet around just … ___ the task of world evangelization ___ the clear teachings of Scripture ___ the chief purpose of God ___ the person of Jesus Christ

Lausanne Consequences – Review Quiz Question 3 Which conference sought to flesh out what it means for (a) the whole church to take (b) the whole gospel to (c) the whole world? ___ Thailand 2004 ___ Pattaya 1980 ___ Manila 1989 ___ Berlin 1966 ___ Nairobi 2000

Lausanne Consequences – Review Quiz Question 4 Who chairs the Strategy Working Group at present (2010)? ___ Chris Wright ___ Doug Birdsall ___ Samuel Escobar ___ Paul Eshleman

Lausanne Consequences – Review Quiz Question 5 The Lausanne Theology Working Group (TWG) serves the whole Lausanne Movement by ensuring that its passion for mission strategy and activism is grounded in careful theological reflection, and by challenging evangelical theology to have biblical effectiveness for holistic mission in the spirit of the Lausanne Covenant. ___ True ___ False

Lausanne Consequences – Review Quiz Question 6 The Manila Manifesto … ___ affirmed and expanded on the Lausanne Covenant ___ rebutted and reformulated the Lausanne Covenant ___ had minimal connection to the Lausanne Covenant

Lausanne Consequences – Review Quiz Question 7 Which of these Lausanne Working Groups was NOT one of the four established in 1976? ___ Theology ___ Strategy ___ Communications ___ Leadership ___ Intercession

Lausanne Consequences – Review Quiz ANSWERS 1.Edinburgh, Berlin, Lausanne, Pattaya, Manila, Thailand 2.The person of Jesus Christ 3.Manila Paul Eshleman 5.True 6.Affirmed and expanded on the Lausanne Covenant 7.Leadership

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