BUDAPEST, HUNGARY — More than 360 Christian leaders from 60+ countries participated in the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization (LCWE) Bi-Annual International Leadership Meeting, a week-long planning session that ended here June 22. The meeting was an opportunity for leaders to pray, plan, and work together toward Lausanne III: Cape Town 2010, the Third International Congress on World Evangelization to be held October 16-25, 2010.
The Budapest meeting of global Lausanne leadership discussed the potential barriers and opportunities of global evangelization, and how the Church can share the hope of the Gospel with every nation on earth. The Rev. S. Douglas (Doug) Birdsall, LCWE Executive Chair, urged the leaders to work together for the cause of Christ “because there is so much at stake. The task is bigger and the urgency more obvious.”
Plenary and breakout discussions tackled questions related to opportunities, challenges, priorities, and organization — including the differing connotations of the term evangelical.
Leaders agreed that some of the most significant challenges facing the church include maintaining the importance of evangelism; increased involvement by leaders from the Global South; reaching the next generation; marginalized people and children at risk; the importance of urban evangelists; hunger; poverty; and HIV/AIDS.
They acknowledged that the Church also faces significant opportunities such as coaching and mentoring young, emerging leaders; ministry to and with students; leveraging technology; pioneering reconciliation between different groups; encouraging more women in leadership; and greater inclusivity in the broader body of Christ.
“The focus this week has been on listening, and we have heard many new things that — to our shame — we haven’t even thought of before,” said Ramez Atallah, Chairman of the Lausanne III: Cape Town 2010 Program Committee during a summary session June 21. “A real surprise were the emphases on HIV/AIDS and the environment, some issues that were not dealt with prior to this [conference].”
The first International Congress on World Evangelization (Lausanne I) was held in 1974 in Lausanne, Switzerland. The gathering was convened under the leadership of the Rev. Billy Graham and drew more than 2,700 evangelical leaders from 150 countries. In 1989, more than 3,600 leaders from 190 nations attended Lausanne II in Manila, Philippines.
