Picture taken by Gordon Govier

Recently, I had the tremendous opportunity to participate in the Lausanne North America Young Leaders’ Consultation in Madison, Wisconsin.   For those not familiar with Lausanne, it is an evangelical movement birthed in Lausanne Switzerland at the 1974 International Congress on World Evangelism in 1974.  The following description is from the Lausanne website:

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 4000 Christian leaders, representing 198 countries. The resulting Cape Town Commitment serves as the blueprint for the Movement’s activities.

Lausanne’s vision is to: See the whole church take the whole Gospel to the whole world.  If you have never read the Cape Town Commitment, I would encourage you to do so, it is breathtakingly beautiful in both language and tone.

I am a big believer in what Lausanne is about and what it is doing.  Too often we see only part of the church (inevitably, our part) take only part of the Gospel (the part we are most comfortable with) to only part of the world.  The Great Commission is so much greater than this and is only possible if we put our denominational differences aside and humbly work together.   We can never see the whole church take the whole Gospel to the whole world if we keep ourselves and our organizations isolated in safe and comfortable denominational silos.  This is where Lausanne has been a catalyst movement, breaking down the silo ministry mentality and facilitating mission bridge-building and collaborative partnerships to see world evangelization happen.  This is the context and backdrop of the consultation I had the privilege to be part of.

Picture taken by Gordon Govier

The North American Young Leaders’ Consultation involved the consultation of 120 select thought-leaders and change-agents from across North America to discuss key elements of the Cape Town Commitment from a North American perspective (there will be several other Young Leader Consultations in different parts of the world culminating in a world consultation at some point in the future).   Within the consultation, I had the privilege of being in the Media and Art’s Working Group (my passion and growing area of expertise) where we discussed the areas of the Cape Town Commitment related to the Media and Arts.

In terms of reactions, my time in Madison was phenomenal on several fronts:

1. The people I met were amazing, resulting in the creation of some life-long friends, partnerships and connections.
2. The discussions were profitable, fruitful and honoured Jesus.
3. The experience was incredibly hopeful.  I meet some amazing change-agents, authors, and leaders, resulting in an extraordinary hope for the future of the church in North America.  My new friend Adam Jeske (@adamjeske) skillfully expresses this hope here.
4. The collaborations and discussions that occurred will lead to catalytic partnerships, ministries and future dialogue that will have an enduring impact on world evangelism.

My participation in Lausanne (this consultation in particular) has helped to re-orientate my life, ministry and passion around the mission of God to see the whole church bring the whole Gospel to the whole world.  It my joy and privilege to join with others to serve our Triune God in His mission for His beloved world and for His glory alone.