Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization

== Lausanne I ==
In July 1974, over 2,500 participants, including evangelists, missionaries, mission leaders, theologians, pastors, and national church leaders from 150 nations gathered in [[Lausanne|Lausanne, Switzerland]], for the First International Congress on World Evangelization.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/264670431 |title=Perspectives on the world Christian movement : a reader |date=2009 |publisher=William Carey Library |others=Ralph D. Winter, Steven C. Hawthorne, Darrell R. Dorr, D. Bruce Graham, Bruce A. Koch |isbn=978-0-87808-390-9 |edition=4th |location=Pasadena, Calif. |oclc=264670431}}</ref> [[Time (magazine)|TIME]] magazine described it as ‘a formidable forum, possibly the widest-ranging meeting of Christians ever held’.<ref>{{Cite news |date=5 August 1974 |title=TIME Magazine}}</ref> The congress drew a substantial number of leaders from the evangelical communities of Africa, Latin America, and Asia which were emerging at the time''.''<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wright |first=Christopher J. H. |title=Whole Gospel, Whole Church, Whole World |url=https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2009/october/main.html |access-date=2023-01-11 |website=ChristianityToday.com |date=4 September 2009 |language=en}}</ref> Leighton Ford, program chair of the First Congress, wrote, ‘It was not an easy task to discern which topics in the tumultuous world we needed to deal with, and what speakers and leaders could best help us discern directions for the future. We wanted to achieve genuine diversity of viewpoints, while remaining firmly committed to biblical authority. We did not want the predictability of only offering a platform to well-known personalities. Our desire was to have a true interchange of thoughts, concerns, and ideas, and to build relationships. That was indeed a challenge with such an international group.'<ref name=":0" /> This has remained the framework for all of the subsequent congresses the Lausanne Movement has held.

=== Outcomes of Lausanne I ===
The [[Lausanne Covenant]] arose as a result of the congress. It defined the necessity and goals of evangelization, unified evangelicals from diverse backgrounds and shaped much of their endeavors for the rest of the century. The [[Lausanne Covenant|Covenant]] was drafted by an international committee chaired by [[John Stott]] and publicly signed by leaders and participants at [[First International Congress on World Evangelization|Lausanne I]].

Secondly, [[First International Congress on World Evangelization|Lausanne I]] highlighted the subject of [[unreached people group]]s (UPGs). Acclaimed as ‘one of the milestone events in missiology’, [[Ralph D. Winter|Ralph Winter's]] plenary address in 1974 introduced the now widespread term. At a crucial point in church history, [[Ralph D. Winter|Winter]] contended that cross-cultural mission needed to be the primary task of the church, as thousands of ethnic groups remained without a single Christian witness and with no access to Scripture in their native language.

Thirdly, the global congress brought to the church's attention the topic of [[Integral mission|holistic mission]]. The congress urged the necessity of both [[evangelism]] and [[social responsibility]] in mission at a time when the church was facing polarization towards one or the other. The voices of Latin American theologians Samuel Escobar and [[René Padilla|Rene Padilla]] were among the clearest to be heard on addressing the issue. This created a significant paradigm shift in evangelical thinking at the time, and today the widespread acceptance of holistic or [[integral mission]], which incorporates [[evangelism]] as well as [[social responsibility]], can largely be attributed to the 1974 Congress.

=== From single congress to movement ===
The [[First International Congress on World Evangelization|1974 Lausanne Congress]] ended with a call by delegates for a continuation committee. Under the leadership of Leighton Ford, the continuation committee's first meeting was organized in 1975 in [[Mexico City]].<ref name=":0" />

The committee articulated the aim of the movement as furthering ‘the total biblical mission of the church, recognizing that in this mission of sacrificial service, evangelism is primary, and that our particular concern must be the [then 2,700 million] [[Unreached people group|unreached people]] of the world.’<ref name=":1" />

Four initial working groups were established, each one focused on one of the following topics: intercession, theology, strategy, and communication. Later, four more working groups were added, focusing on leadership development, resource mobilization and technology, and combined business, government, education, media, and medicine. The formation of these issue groups, along with the appointment of regional leaders and committees, sought to put into action the deliberations of the congress in Lausanne.

Furthermore, by the 1980s a large number of major [[Evangelicalism|evangelical]] mission agencies in North America and in many other countries had reframed their statements of faith in light of the [[Lausanne Covenant]]. This meant that the emphasis on world evangelization through the [[Lausanne Covenant|Covenant]]’s 15 sections spread quickly and the essence of Lausanne gained momentum, sparking what became known as the Lausanne Movement.