Lausanne Covenant

The Lausanne Covenant is a voluntary, Christian Evangelical Declaration of Commitment in 1974, which aims to actively promote the spread of Christianity. The statement was formulated as part of a conference entitled "International Congress on World Evangelization " and adopted by more than 2,300 people.

History

The meeting was held in the Swiss city of Lausanne on Lake Geneva at the invitation and under the presidency of the American evangelist and preacher Billy Graham instead. Among the 2700 conference participants were approximately 150 leaders of different churches and free churches.

Content

Form

The Lausanne Covenant is written in the form of a non-denominational guilty plea, divided into 15 articles, in which first the author, then also regret later signatory not to have worked enough to spread the Christian message. The Declaration explicitly emphasizes faith in the ecumenical commitment of Nicaea, which was formulated in the year 325. The undersigned declare their will to devote himself now reinforced the spread of Christianity. The statement was largely, first written in the English language, by Rev. John RW Stott. Translations are now available in more than 20 languages.

Preamble

"We, members of the church of Jesus Christ from more than 150 nations, participants in the International Congress on World Evangelization in Lausanne, praise God because He gave His salvation and rejoice in the community that He gives us and each other with Him. God's work in our time moves us deeply. Our failure leads us to repentance. The unfinished task of evangelization calls us out. We believe that the gospel is God's good news for the whole world. By His grace we are resolved to obey the command of Jesus Christ by proclaiming His salvation of all mankind, to make disciples of all nations. That's why we want to reaffirm our faith and our resolve and give public expression of our commitment. "

Article

The first three of the 15 articles of the Lausanne Covenant explain evangelical view of the saving plan of God, the authority of the Bible and the uniqueness and universality of Jesus Christ. The following articles deal with the essence of evangelism and the practical implementation. In addition to the question of social responsibility of Christians, the relationship is treated to other cultures. The last four articles deal with the spiritual background of evangelism, the confrontation with evil, possible persecution of Christians, the Holy Spirit and the expected return of Christ.

Reception

For the widely ramified evangelical movement, the Lausanne Covenant was an important theological consensus document. Resetting ecclesiological quirks and issues in favor of an evangelistic missionary commitment is the main feature of this paper is characterized by movement. The Lausanne Covenant is thus one of the most important documents of evangelical mission theology and the evangelical cooperation within the evangelical movement.

In Germany missionary services founded as a result of the shared commitment Lausanne Movement Germany in conjunction with the German Evangelical Alliance and the Association (AMD ) in the Evangelical Church in Germany.