Lausanne World Pulse – Themed Articles – The Lausanne Movement: Celebrating God’s Faithfulness
By Lindsay Brown
October / November 2011
Future of Lausanne
What will be the focus of The Lausanne Movement in the years to come? More than 150 leaders met in Boston in June 2011 to reflect over the past year and plan for the future. Executive chairman Doug Birdsall wrote about the commitments which came out of this gathering.
Lausanne will have the following focus in the next decade:
1. The provision of human resources as servants to the Church in seeking to encourage the application of the Commitment. This will be done through our team of IDDs:
Tom Lin (North America) Las Newman (Caribbean) Marcos Amado (South America) Nana Yaw (EPSA) Emmanuel Ndikumana (Francophone Africa) Andrea Zaki (Middle East) Anatole Glukhovski (Eurasia) Ivan Satyavrata (South Asia) David Ro (China/Northeast Asia) Philip Chang (Southeast Asia) Daniel Willis (South Pacific)
Europe (to be appointed)
Alongside the IDDS we hope to appoint a team of senior associates who have recognised gifts as servants and ministers to help in different spheres of Christian ministry.
2. The formation of Lausanne Global Analysis, a team under the leadership of Darrell Jackson, will provide regular global analysis for those interested in global trends and reflection on the state of the Church and its witness globally. Learn more at www.lausanne.org/briefing.
3. We will continue to focus on the identification and equipping of young leaders, with the provision of an international congress for young leaders in 2015.
4. We will provide occasional regional and international gatherings over the next ten years, including two international gatherings for leaders in mid-2013 and 2017, with the purpose of reflecting on progress relating to the Commitment and provision of an update regarding the state of the Church globally.
5. In the next five years we will hold a number of international consultations on key issues coming out of Cape Town. We are consulting with WEA and others about the issues to be addressed. The gatherings, for up to seventy people, will include topics such as media and the gospel; bearing witness to Christ in secularized and nominal Christian cultures; the challenge of bearing witness to Christ in Islamic contexts; the need to encourage the defence and articulation of biblical truth in the public sphere, including the world of academia, politics, and business; and a critique of prosperity theology. Further information on these consultations will be forthcoming.
6. We hope to provide a series of books arising out of these consultations that will lead to the provision of a library which will serve churches and biblical, missiological, and theological institutions. We will also provide resources on the Lausanne website and the Lausanne Global Conversation, which will be coordinated by Naomi Frizzell, chief communications officer, and her team.
Principles & Guidelines
We will be guided by several principles as we engage in these areas of ministry:
- Avoid duplication of effort by others
- Where possible, seek to partner with others
- Focus on cutting-edge issues and provide a platform for evangelicals while endorsing the good work of others
- Function as an “honest broker,” providing space for evangelical leaders to reflect and serve the global Church by providing creative and critical perspectives on the challenges facing us, in the belief that Lausanne fruit grows best on other peoples’ trees
- Listen to and reflect convictions and concerns expressed by evangelical leaders from across the globe, avoiding domination of any one perspective
- Live under the authority of scripture and commit ourselves to the task of passionately and effectively encouraging the Church to bear witness to Christ in every area of the world, which includes the expansion of the Church, as well as seeking a deeper penetration of the gospel and teaching of scripture in every sphere of society, including the realm of ideas
- Work for depth through networking, rather than in isolation
Thank you for your prayers and encouragement as Lausanne moves forward into the future as we seek to be faithful to God’s calling and blessings.