Research resources from and for missional Christian leaders
Occasional Papers
Lausanne Occasional Papers are our in-depth essays addressing key issues related to global evangelism, missions, and contemporary challenges facing the church. They provide analysis, theological reflection, and practical insights to equip Christians for effective ministry and mission work.
Jewish Evangelism: A Call to the Church
We are Not Ashamed of the Gospel Jewish evangelism means to share the gospel with Jewish people. Jesus did it and the apostles did it. The first communities of Jewish believers in Jerusalem and Galilee did it. The early church took shape through...
Lessons from My Daughter: Reflections of Church and Ethics
ON NOVEMBER 23, 1993 we were suddenly thrown into the unknown country of people with disabilities and their families. Our daughter Karis was born with cerebral palsy. For more information go to Lessons from My Daughter: Reflections of Church and...
Making Disciples of Oral Learners
From the time of the Gutenberg Bible, Christianity “has walked on literate feet” and has directly or indirectly required literacy of others. However, 70% of all people in the world are oral communicators • those who can’t, don’t, or won’t learn...
Marketplace Ministry
Many may have had the experience of stepping onto a train in London, Sydney or elsewhere, to the ritualistic incantation of the words ‘Mind the Gap’ warning you not to fall between the platform and train. This is an apt analogy for the gap between...
Media and Technology: The Rainbow, the Ark and the Cross
Why Media Concerns UsMedia Specific ConcernsMission Specific ConcernsModel Specific ConcernsMedia CasesDiscussion Guidelines for the Local Church For more information go to Media and Technology: The Rainbow, the Ark and the Cross on the Lausanne...
Mental Health and the Church: Strategies for Faithful and Compassionate Ministry
It has been said that much of the world is in a mental health crisis, especially in this post-pandemic era. “At least one in five, and in some parts of the world perhaps as many as one in two, people experience mental ill health during the course of...
Ministries of People with Disabilities: ‘All in’
‘Disability ministry is not disability ministry unless the disabled are ministering.’ – Joni Eareckson Tada Question: What are the barriers (social) and obstacles (all other spheres) to called and gifted people with disabilities serving in all areas...
Ministry among People with Disabilities
In South America, a woman with cerebral palsy has been lying in bed for 7 years in a back bedroom of a cinder-block home. In Africa, a young girl with Down syndrome is left on a river bank to perish because her parents believe she is a bad omen. In...
Mission with Children at Risk
Born to a teenage mother and an adopted father, Jesus started his human life in extremely uncertain circumstances. In order to fulfil the economic demands of an oppressive empire, his parents were required to leave their community and travel to...
Modern, Postmodern and Christian
It is widely acknowledged that the first context – located in western countries and among westernised elites in the two-thirds world – has been to a large extent determined by the thought processes described by the words ‘modernity’ and ‘postmodernit...
New Faces of the Church: An Indian Case Study
‘Matta, Pitta, Guru, Devam,’ is an oft quoted maxim in India. It simply means, ‘Mother, Father, Teacher, God,’ and signifies the order of priority that many adopt in their lives. In the Indian view of life, therefore, fidelity to one’s family and...
Partnership and Collaboration
When Jesus was preparing to leave this earth, a key element of His prayer in the 17th Chapter of John dealt with “unity.” This is familiar to all of us. And our inability to fully realize Jesus’ prayer is too. For more information go to Partnership...
Passing on the Faith to the Next Generation
How does the Bible describe the importance of passing on the faith to the next generation as a fulfillment of the Great Commission? One way to address this question is to consider the consequences of not passing on the faith. In Hebrews 3:7-4:13,...
People on the Move
Since the dawn of civilization, human beings have been on the move. Some people move in search of greener pastures, to find livelihood, to seek safety, for education, in search of employment, join family, for trade, to engage in business, or for...
Polycentric Christianity: Theological Multiplicity and Unity
In Acts chapter two, the second volume of his two books written for Theophilus, Luke documents a momentous event that occurred on a Pentecost day in Jerusalem. The event of that day has great significance for what we today call Christianity or the...
Prayer in Evangelism
The vision of Issue Group 13 on ‘Prayer in Evangelism’ was to ‘Embrace God’s agenda for World Evangelization through Prayer in Evangelism.’ Its purpose was to ‘Reawaken, encourage and equip the church to be involved in world evangelization through...
Radio in Mission
Since the beginnings of the Church the great Commission has remained unchanged. Yet the environment in which the Church functions today is considerably more complex than in the days of the apostles. Not least is the enormous challenge we face of a...
Reconciliation as the Mission of God
The chapter presents a theological vision for reconciliation as God’s mission in a broken world. While pointing to signs of hope, the paper analyzes how the Christian community is being caught up in many destructive conflicts and divisions across...
Redeeming the Arts: The Restoration of the Arts to God’s Creational Intention
For an established and respected mission organization to recognize the arts as strategic to the life and mission of the church, and to commission a paper about the arts in the context of faith and redemption, is both visionary and long overdue....
Religious and Non-Religious Spirituality in the Western World
In the Western world there is a growing sense of need to have some spiritual orientation in life. However, those who pursue this quest for spirituality are uncomfortable with institutionalised religion. They are also disturbed by explanations of...
Saturation Church Planting: A Call to Collaboration
We live in a time of great potential for collaboration among ministries. Organizations, movements, and churches working together to bear witness to the love of Christ and the already present but not yet fully consummated kingdom of God is in itself...
Seven Challenges for the Global Evangelical Outreach
The Global Listening Team of the Lausanne Movement conducted its third listening project from January to May 2024 after the listening research plan had been finalized in December 2023 with members actively participating in the processes of research...
Signs, Wonders, and Ministry: the Gospel in the Power of the Spirit
This article examines the inseparable relationship between the Holy Spirit and the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The subject matter is considered from the viewpoint of contemporary Christianity in the global south, particularly, African-led...
Spiritual Conflict In Today’s Mission
The Theology and Strategy Working Group and the Intercessory Working Group of the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelisation (LCWE) together with the Association of Evangelicals in Africa (AEA) convened a consultation on spiritual conflict 16-22...
Technology and Missions: How Technology is Changing our Lives and Why it Matters for the Great Commission
We live in a rapidly changing technological world. Globally we are beginning to understand some of the impact of technology on our world. But in some ways humanity seems to lag behind due to the sheer speed of technological development and the...
The 12/25 Challenge Reaching the Youth Generation
We are called to develop a passion for the young generation. What is the generation like? They are a generation of unbounding energy, a generation with high powered creativity, a generation characterized by existential questions, a generation with...
The Evangelical Church Interacting between the Global and the Local
The leadership team of the Lausanne Movement took the initiative to hold listening calls, inviting evangelical leaders of the world by region and issue network, in preparation for the Fourth Lausanne Congress to be held in Seoul, South Korea, in...
The Formation of Disciples for Mission and the Formation of Disciples as Mission
The need for this paper arises from two widely perceived problems. The first may be seen in relation to the end or outcome of mission: the low level of spiritual maturity, the lack of Christian formation, and evidence of anemic discipleship within...
The Glen Eyrie Report: Muslim Evangelization
At the opening session of the conference, this mood of expectancy was overshadowed by a painful reality. The keynote address raised the question: “Why is not the Muslim world better evangelized?” The probing went deeper. Related questions were asked:...
The Global Public Square
The World Missionary Conference that met in Edinburgh in 1910 recognized the ‘world’ as a single unit, united not merely scientifically (one human species living on planet Earth) and technologically (‘organically knit by the nerves of electric cable...