One of the most significant outcomes of Cape Town 2010 is The Cape Town Commitment (CTC). The CTC follows in the footsteps of The Lausanne Covenant (1974) and Manila Manifesto (1989) and we pray that the Lord will use the CTC to draw together the Church to focus more intentionally on world evangelization.
The CTC resulted from a three year consultation process involving thousands of Christian leaders around the world. This process identified the issues that were discussed at the Congress and later emphasized in the CTC. Framed in the language of love, The Cape Town Commitment is a biblical affirmation of evangelical faith and a call to action on world evangelization that will guide Lausanne’s work for the coming decade.
Chris Wright, Outgoing Chair of the Lausanne Theology Working Group, was chair of the Cape Town 2010 Statement Working Group. In an article earlier this year in Lausanne World Pulse, Chris wrote of the process behind the development of the CTC and concluded that,
“We can only pray that it will express something of the ‘voice of Cape Town,’ but more importantly, something of what the Holy Spirit wanted to say through that event, and still wants his people to hear.” Read More From Chris
To help understand more about The Cape Town Commitment, I did an interview with Chris at his home in London. We’ll be releasing more of that interview with him in the coming weeks and begin with the following clips:
- Shares his hopes for The Cape Town Commitment
- Suggestions on how to read and digest The Cape Town Commitment
- Answers the question as to why The Cape Town Commitment has two parts
- Gives the background of how Part 1 of The Cape Town Commitment was developed
- Explains that the development of Part 2 of The Cape Town Commitment was a bit different
David Bennett, Lausanne Chief Collaboration Officer and Teaching Pastor, says collaboration is key to how the Movement is organizing itself around The Cape Town Commitment. Read More from David.
Read the CTC online and learn how you can get a printed copy of the CTC – available in a growing number of languages.
Knud Jorgenson, adjunct professor at MF Norwegian School of Theology and at Lutheran Theological Seminary in Hong Kong, believes that,
“. . . Cape Town 2010 was an event that left its strong mark on the 4200 participants. The torches and flames from Cape Town will, in turn, spur fresh visions and create many bush fires in regions, countries, towns and villages. An essential factor in spreading the experiences and new insights is to have them published in various corners of the world and in various languages.” Read More From Knud.
Morten Hørning Jensen, associate professor at the Lutheran School of Theology in Aarhus and part-time pastor, provides a Danish perspective on The Cape Town Commitment in his article in Lausanne World Pulse. Morten believes that the CTC can help transform Cape Town 2010 from a “was” event to something happening now with enduring impact on his country and its congregations, adding that,
“Through the gracious help of a translator and publisher, we have put the full [CTC] text into Danish and published it in both a free e-version and as an inexpensive booklet. Church leaders from across our region are blogging through the Commitment bit by bit on our Cape Town blog. The feedback we’re getting from church leaders is amazement over the profoundness of this document.” Read More from Morten.
Jean-Paul Rempp, coordinator of the French Lausanne Movement, says that they are delighted to make The Cape Town Commitment available to French speaking readers in a new book being published with BLF Europe (a French speaking publishing firm) and the National Council for Evangelicals in France. He commented that,
“Lausanne France chose to gather into this booklet The Cape Town Commitment and Lindsay Brown’s closing address of the Congress, “We have a Gospel to proclaim”, as well as The Lausanne Covenant, the founding text of The Lausanne Movement. Through this publication Lausanne France seeks to encourage the reading and the study of these documents. [We also] hope to build up the Body of Christ in French speaking countries in their diversity: in Africa, Pacific Asia, the Caribbean, Europe and Quebec. May these documents, in the Lord’s grace, bring great blessing to everyone speaking French everywhere. We are aiming to print at least 3000 copies of this book.”
Additionally, a group of scholars is putting together curriculum based on the CTC. Darrell Bock, Research Professor of New Testament Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary, says the team is exploring creating seminary classes built around The Cape Town Commitment,
“One will be an introductory class helping students to be global Christians. It will work through the Commitment and introduce key bibliography and resources for the topics. The other course being discussed is a more in-depth look at the Commitment and the materials presented at the Congress. These classes are structured in an open-ended way so they can be contextualized more easily than a set curriculum. We are still completing our discussions as to the exact form and participants. We may sequence the order of our work, doing the introduction first and then the more intensive course.”
Matt Ristuccia, Senior Pastor at Westerly Road Church in Princeton, NJ, calls The Cape Town Commitment “a remarkable document” and adds,
“Every time I read it, I hear the voice of God’s Spirit calling the global church to action in light of the Trinity’s redemptive design. The CTC is not something to gather dust on a shelf. Instead, it needs to be opened up, read, prayed through and applied by God’s people. From my standpoint as a pastor, it needs to be released into the pews of our churches, take center stage in small groups and Bible studies, and engage learners in adult education classes. Only then will God’s people be able to hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches (Revelation 2:7).”
Matt is helping lead an effort to develop an adult curriculum based on the CTC. While the curriculum is being contextualized initially for the USA, Matt says the curriculum will provide evangelical believers with an understanding of the content of the CTC and an opportunity to join others in active response.
“The design will be both multi-media and flexible, allowing for use in a variety of settings: Sunday school or small groups or campus fellowships. The twelve-lesson format will focus on critical passages from the CTC, while interactive guide sheets and media resources will help participants read through the entire CTC as part of the curriculum. Publishers are being approached about the project. In the meantime, please pray fervently for its timely completion. Through it, may those who have ears hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.”
Please be praying for the introduction of the CTC on many levels, including with Christian leaders, at Churches, in Seminaries, and to home Bible study groups. For more information on CTC curriculum development, or to share what you’re doing in your region in this regard, please email [email protected].
To receive regular updates on these and other developments within Lausanne, please sign-up for the Lausanne Connecting Point ENewsletter.
Reconciliation
On Tuesday, 19 October 2010, the topic of the day was reconciliation. The day began with a Bible Exposition from Ruth Padilla DeBorst (Costa Rica) on Ephesians 2. Ruth reminded leaders that,
“Thanks to Christ’s peacemaking life, death and ongoing ministry through life in the Spirit, Jesus’ followers are one, not in death but in Christ. So, Jesus is our peace. Jesus makes peace. And finally, in Paul’s words, Jesus came and preached peace.”
Watch her presentation here:
- Bible Exposition: Ephesians 2 – Ruth Padilla DeBorst
Download a written Session Summary of this session
Reconciliation also means “building the peace of Christ in our divided and broken world.” In the second morning session, Pranitha Thomas, International Justice Mission, discussed the issue of human trafficking, and said,
“In a world where there is so much pain and suffering, people struggle to believe that God is good.”
She emphasized the importance of Christians bringing the light of Christ,
“God is good. . . God has and will continue to demonstrate his goodness through the body of Christ, showing up in midst of the darkest brokenness in our world today. . . We must stand committed to bring the light of Christ into the hidden darkness. We must demonstrate that our God is just; that our God sees the suffering; he hears their cries and he rises to rescue.”
Watch her presentation here:
- Reconciliation – Human Trafficking, Pranitha Timothy
- Download a written Session Summary of this session
Multiplex sessions during the day addressed other issues of bringing peace and hope to our broken world including the environment, hope for people with disabilities and ethnicity.
Tuesday’s evening session showed how God is at work in our broken world using the hands and feet of his Church. Valdir Steuernagel, World Vision, along with Cristo Greyling and Princess Zulu, challenged leaders to begin reaching out to those in need, including those living with HIV/AIDS.
Watch the presentation here:
- Reconciliation – HIV/AIDS – Valdir Steuernagel, Cristo Greyling, Princess Zulu
- Download a written Session Summary of this session
On Wednesday, we’ll learn more about the Lausanne International Deputy Directors and hear from African leaders how Cape Town 2010 has impacted their region and their continent.
As always, we welcome your input and comments.
Until tomorrow . . .