The 2004 Forum for World Evangelization was held 29 September – 5 October 2004. It brought together more than 1,500 Christian leaders from around the world to focus on the task of global evangelism. The Forum was a working consultation with leaders exchanging information and ideas for several months before attending the September gathering.
Through a comprehensive world-wide research effort, thirty-one specific issues were identified as roadblocks to evangelism. Learn more about how the issues were chosen.
Based on these issues, teams of 30 to 70 people, called Issue Groups (IGs), were formed through a careful selection of participants from online applications submitted by international church leaders. See a list of all issue groups.
Coming out of the Forum, IGs were asked to prepare a paper concerning their issue that will include a strategic action plan for addressing the concern. Following the 2004 Forum, Lausanne worked relationally around the world, encouraging leaders to prayerfully make the ideas generated by the IGs the active agenda of ministries and denominations.
The 2004 Forum for World Evangelization is only the fourth time in the past thirty years that the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization has called such a comprehensive global gathering. Leaders also said that never before has such a meeting sought to develop such specific action plans to combat the challenges facing the church.