29 OCTOBER 2012 – Runaway Bay, Jamaica. The Lausanne Global Consultation on Creation Care and the Gospel begins today and runs through 2 November in Runaway Bay, Jamaica. The Consultation is one of several global gatherings planned by The Lausanne Movement around the more than 30 priority issues identified in The Cape Town Commitment.
This Consultation, held in collaboration with the World Evangelical Alliance, brings together 60 participants (from 25 countries) including specialists, theologians, scientists, and leaders of international development agencies and churches.
Rev. Edward R. Brown, Lausanne Movement Senior Associate for Creation Care, emphasizes that participants are, “seeking God’s wisdom in understanding how Creation Care fits within the Gospel and are seeking God’s guidance in developing a truly self-sustaining global Christian Creation Care Movement.” Other partners in the Consultation include Tearfund (UK), World Vision International, and the Caribbean Graduate School of Theology.
Edward Brown, who is author of “Our Father’s World: Mobilizing the Church to Care for Creation”, says the gathering will focus on three major areas, “God’s World – evaluating the challenges before us; God’s Word – a theological foundation for Creation Care; and God’s Work – understanding what is already happening globally on this issue and then planning for the future.”
Sir John Houghton, former co-chair of the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) scientific assessment working group, and lead editor of the first three IPCC reports, has played a key role in shaping the program. Sir John is Professor Emeritus of atmospheric physics at the University of Oxford and former Chief Executive Officer at the UK Meteorological Office.
Dr. Las Newman, President of the Caribbean Graduate School of Theology and Lausanne International Deputy Director for the Caribbean, is hopeful that the outcomes of the Consultation, to be published by Lausanne, will help policymakers, citizens, and the Church as a global institution to develop effective strategies for Creation Care as a means to greater environmental sustainability.
Lindsay Brown, Lausanne Movement International Director, and Gordon Showell-Rogers, Associate Director of the World Evangelical Alliance, sent greetings to the participants.
Lindsay Brown says The Cape Town Commitment, “affirmed our love for God’s creation. Not mere sentimental affection for nature, which the Bible nowhere commands; still less . . . the pantheistic worship of nature (which the Bible expressly forbids); rather, it is the logical outworking of our love for God by caring for what belongs to him.” He continued, “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, so if Jesus is Lord of all the earth, Creation Care is thus a gospel issue within the lordship of Christ.”
Gordon Showell-Rogers said, “We hope and pray that the outcomes of this consultation will shape thinking about how to model good stewardship of Creation.”
The Lausanne website is hosting the Consultation papers and a discussion on Creation Care and the Gospel. Reports from the Consultation will be posted throughout the week atlausanne.org.
Background
Lausanne is a global Movement that mobilizes evangelical leaders to collaborate for world evangelization. It grew out of the 1974 International Congress on World Evangelization convened in Lausanne, Switzerland by Rev. Billy Graham and Bishop Jack Dain. The Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization (October 2010) in Cape Town, South Africa brought together 4200 Christian leaders, representing 198 countries. The resulting Cape Town Commitment serves as the blueprint for the Movement’s activities.
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For further information on this Consultation, please contact Naomi Frizzell at nfrizzell@lausanne.org.