1. What is Lausanne?
Lausanne is a global movement that mobilizes evangelical leaders to collaborate for world evangelization. Together we seek to bear witness to Jesus Christ and all his teaching, in every part of the world—not only geographically, but in every sphere of society and in the realm of ideas.
2. What happened at The Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization: Cape Town 2010?
Cape Town 2010 has been called the most representative gathering of Christian leaders in the 2000 year history of the Christian movement (Christianity Today). Four-thousand Christian leaders representing 198 countries attended the Congress in Cape Town, South Africa. The Congress was brought together by a globalized leadership team from Africa, Egypt, Malaysia, India, North America and elsewhere. Several thousand more leaders participated in the Congress through the Cape Town GlobaLink, Cape Town Virtual Congress and Lausanne Global Conversation.
Cape Town 2010:
- Sounded a ringing affirmation of the truth of Jesus Christ;
- Presented a clear statement on Christian witness among people of other faiths;
- Provided a re-focused emphasis on evangelism and the integral mission of the Church;
- Issued a clarion call to eradicate Bible poverty;
- Called the Church back to humility, integrity and simplicity; and
- Offered an earnest challenge to new collaborative initiatives and partnerships addressing the important issues facing the church and God’s world.
3. What is The Cape Town Commitment?
The Cape Town Commitment, issued out of Cape Town 2010, stands in the historic line of The Lausanne Covenant and Manila Manifesto. The Cape Town Commitment is a profoundly elegant and biblical affirmation of evangelical faith, framed in the language of love, and is a purposeful articulation of our call to action with regard to world evangelization. The Commitment is the result of a three year consultation process that brought together hundreds of Christian leaders from around the world. These leaders helped identify the issues that were discussed at the Congress and then emphasized in the document. The Cape Town Commitment will serve as the road map for The Lausanne Movement for the coming decade.
4. What is next for Lausanne?
Lausanne hopes to translate ten days of talk and ideas at Cape Town 2010 into ten years of solid progress for world evangelization. By the grace of God, The Lausanne Movement will serve the global body of Christ as a catalyst for world evangelization by:
- Investing in the lives of Christian leaders (including younger leaders, leaders who are women, oral preference leaders and non-Internet connected leaders);
- Convening Christian leaders for discussion, prayer and action related to the major issues of our day; and
- Informing Christian leaders on important mission and evangelization topics using both traditional and new media.
Undergirding our work together is a commitment to the ideals of the spirit of Lausanne: humility; prayer; study; partnership; and hope.