THE Salvation Army has a strong representation at the Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelisation in Cape Town, South Africa. Eighteen delegates from nine Salvation Army territories and International Headquarters are at the event, continuing the strong bonds between the Lausanne Movement and the Army.
Commissioner Christine MacMillan, Director, International Social Justice Commission, conducted a congress workshop on sex trafficking and was a featured speaker during the Tuesday morning plenary session.
Doug Birdsall, executive chairman of the congress, described the gathering as 'the most diverse gathering ever in the history of the Church and the most united expression of the Church the world has ever seen'. The 4,200 delegates were drawn from 197 countries.
Originating in Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1974, through the vision of Billy Graham and scholarship of John Stott, the Lausanne Covenant stands as an evangelism standard-bearer for evangelical Christianity. The Second Congress in Manila, The Philippines, in 1989 expanded the original call for evangelistic clarity with corresponding social action. It is thus a natural setting in which The Salvation Army is strongly represented.
The Cape Town congress is marked by a clear emphasis on biblical exposition and active delegate participation. Every day commences with an in-depth textual study of Ephesians, and each delegate sits at a table group to allow constant dialogue and interaction.
The congress is reaching out to young, ethnically diverse, influential evangelical leaders. Issues of pluralism, world faiths and globalisation are all being addressed. Additionally, it is hoped the gathering will mark a shift in the empowerment of a lay evangelism movement. ‘Evangelism has become too event-centred and too professional,’ commented workshop presenter Becky Pippert.
At the invitation of the Western Cape Divisional Commander, Major Patrick Booth, on the opening Sunday morning of the congress the visiting Salvationists participated with testimony and preaching at the eight corps in the Cape Town area.
Many of the main congress events are available on the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelisation website: www.lausanne.org
