It may seem a little strange that the words Integral Mission and Issue Network should appear in the same sentence. After all, integral mission is not simply one issue among many.
Integral mission speaks to the very nature of Christian mission itself. It is the conviction that the good news of Jesus Christ touches every dimension of life. It reminds us that God’s mission cannot be reduced to isolated parts, and that the proclamation and demonstration of the gospel belong together. In that sense, integral mission sits at the heart of Lausanne’s vision of seeing the whole church take the whole gospel to the whole world.
So why an Integral Mission Issue Network? Well, because throughout history, Christians have repeatedly struggled to hold together what belongs together.
Why Integral Mission?
In the early centuries, some expected God’s salvation to arrive through political power, national restoration, and the defeat of earthly enemies (John 18:36). Others were drawn towards philosophies that treated the material world as something to escape, reducing human flourishing to spiritual enlightenment or private religious experience.1 Against both tendencies, the apostles proclaimed a far bigger story. The Kingdom of God had broken into history through Christ (Rom 8:19-23). God’s work was neither merely political nor merely spiritual. It was the renewal of the whole person, the whole community, and ultimately the whole creation (Col 1:19-20).
God’s work was the renewal of the whole person, the whole community, and ultimately the whole creation.
These tensions have resurfaced in different forms throughout Christian history.
At times, Christians have been tempted to advance God’s kingdom through conquest and coercion rather than sacrificial witness. Yet throughout history, voices such as Francis of Assisi, John Wesley, Mother Maria Skobtsova, Desmond Tutu, and Samuel Escobar have called the church back to a different path, one marked by humility rather than domination, reconciliation rather than violence, service rather than power, and faithful witness rather than coercion – all as an embodiment of Christ’s Lordship over all.
In more recent centuries, competing visions of ‘salvation’ have continued to emerge. Some have placed their hopes in political revolutions, economic systems, or social programmes like communism or various theocracies, imagining that a redeemed society can be built through human effort alone. Others have reduced the gospel to personal prosperity, private spirituality, or an escape from the realities of life in the world. Whether expressed through utopian political projects, consumerist versions of faith, or prosperity-driven Christianity, the temptation to reduce God’s mission to something smaller than the gospel itself remains the same.
Today, these questions are no less pressing. As new technologies reshape society at an extraordinary speed, fresh promises of ‘salvation’ are appearing. Across both secular culture and the church, we encounter competing visions of what will ultimately heal the world. Some place their hope in technological innovation, artificial intelligence, or new forms of social organisation. Others look for salvation in personal fulfilment, identity, or individual spiritual experience.
Many of these developments bring genuine opportunities and benefits. Yet they also raise profound questions. What is ‘the good life’? How do we find it? What is human flourishing? Or where (or in whom) is our hope ultimately placed? For Christians, these are not merely practical or political questions, but deeply theological ones.
The church is again challenged to discern the difference between genuine participation in God’s purposes and alternative stories of ‘salvation’.
Recent Christian reflection has rightly drawn attention to the need to evaluate modern visions of progress and human flourishing in the light of the gospel. As humanity gains unprecedented power to shape the world and even reshape itself, the church is again challenged to discern the difference between genuine participation in God’s purposes and alternative stories of ‘salvation’ that ultimately place their hope elsewhere.
Belonging together
When René Padilla, Samuel Escobar, and others helped popularise the term ‘integral mission’ in the twentieth century, they were not inventing a new theology. Rather, they helped the global church recover fresh language for an ancient Christian conviction: that God’s mission encompasses both word and deed, both personal conversion and social transformation, both evangelism and discipleship, both faith and public witness.
Today, these questions remain just as relevant.
The Lausanne Movement is home to many Issue Networks focused on specific concerns, including evangelism, business as mission, creation care, children at risk, media engagement, student ministry, and many others. The Integral Mission Issue Network does not exist because these concerns are disconnected from one another, but quite the opposite. Its role is to help us consider how they belong together.
Integral mission functions as a kind of theological glue within the Lausanne Movement. It creates space for those who care deeply about the relationship between these various dimensions of Christian witness. And it encourages us to resist false choices and instead seek a richer, more holistic participation in God’s mission.
What’s happening now?
For many years this work was faithfully led by Dr. Ravi Jayakaran. In mid-2026, leadership passed to new Co-Catalysts Maria Alejandra Andrade and me, Phil Hilditch, and we are very grateful to be supported by an experienced and globally diverse core team.
As we enter this new season, our ambition is not to duplicate the excellent work already being carried out by friends and partners such as INFEMIT, Micah Global, Langham Partnership (in fact, please go check these guys out if you don’t already know them!), and countless other churches, organisations, and networks around the world. Rather, we hope to serve as a connector and catalyst.
We envision the network as a ‘network of networks’, a place where practitioners, theologians, church leaders, students, and advocates can learn from one another, share resources, forge relationships, and cultivate a deeper and more integrated understanding of God’s mission.
This is an ambitious task. Like the wider church, we do not always get it right. Yet we believe these conversations matter, perhaps now more than ever.
As part of the relaunch, we invite you to join us for two upcoming webinars:
- 3 November: Issue Network Relaunch: Celebrating Lausanne’s Integral Mission History and Ongoing Legacy
- 2 February: Integral Mission Today: NextGen and the Mission of the Church
You can also connect with us through the Lausanne Action Hub and participate in the ongoing life of the network.
We are looking for people to join the movement, people willing to learn, contribute, listen, encourage, and collaborate. Whether you are a practitioner, scholar, church leader, student, or simply someone passionate about God’s holistic mission in the world, we would be delighted to welcome you.
Together, may we continue pursuing the vision of the whole church, bringing the whole gospel to the whole world.